Correct GT3 Euro Bucket Seatbelt Receptacle Position?

Since I installed my set of euro buckets in my C4S I've been running the stock 3 point seatbelt receptacle on the outside of the seat bolster (see link for photo) seatbelt. However, recently I saw on Instagram someone using a seatbelt receptacle extender through the hole instead of on the outside of the bolster. Can you or are you supposed to be running the standard seatbelt receptacle through the seat hole or is the way I have it set up now still safe? Or is there a lower mounting point on stock slider bracket for the stock receptacle that allows you to lower it so you can run a receptacle extender through the seat hole? At some point in the future I'd like to run a harness bar with a harness but since I mostly street drive the car, I'd like to stick with the 3 point seatbelt setup for now. Any advice is appreciated! Instagram

You are currently using an untested (by the factory) configuration and it is not as safe as having the belt pass thru the cutout which will keep the belt low and across your waist / hips in the event of an accident. Fishing the receptacle thru the window is a PITA but probably doable. I did that at one point, but it was not comfortable. I don't know about an extender, but you might find a shorter receptacle at a junkyard. It's fine as long as you don't crash........................

Here you go.

Quotes source post: 19148860

I don't know what below has to do with your question. You need the longer receptacle. 99780318310 99780318303

Lately, I have looked at many pictures of GT3 Clubsports/M003 that came with those seats from the factory as part of the M003 option. On none of them have I seen the receptacle on the inside of the seat. Instead they all looked exactly as in your picture. Based on the GT3 Clubsport pictures I am sure that's the way Porsche intended it. Having said that, in my view it results in a less than optimum position of the lap belt as it doesn't run as tight to the hip bone closest to the buckle as on the the other hip, which is what you want for optimum safety in case of a crash. HTH

Quotes source post: 19148899

thanks for this

@gq486 I attached pictures of my set up including racing harnesses to confirm the picture you originally attached. I have never seen any different seat belt configuration used with these seats. If you are going to use harnesses, you cannot have anything in the driver side (right) hip belt hole. So any extension is really a mute point.

Quotes source post: 19149566

great pic, too. Thanks. I just can�t do full harness in street car.😎

Quotes source post: 19149584

The way it is done over here, where racing harnesses aren't street legal, is fit both and wear the 3-point belt on public street and the 6-point at the track. Perhaps that is an option for you too?

Quotes source post: 19149584

I hear you. I have them in there for the track. But if you never plan on tracking the car, why have them unless you have a roll cage and want to complete the set-up for the heck of it. No question from a novelty stand point, adults and kids love to get in the car and buckle up just to see what it's like. When I am on the track instructing, students not only find it pretty cool, but they also appreciate what the seats and harnesses do.

Quotes source post: 19149566

what you have shown is not the safest nor the proper configuration for using a three-point belt with GT3 seats. I could see doing it that way, causing the seat to fail. When not using the harnesses, you pull the lap belt out and replace it with the receptacle.

Quotes source post: 19149862

Doubt it. But sure, anything could happen. If someone is that worried, they should find another seat.

Quotes source post: 19149875

You wouldn�t drive on the race track with the lap belt over the bolster, so why would you do it on the street? What�s the difference?

Quotes source post: 19149893

Like I said, if it bothers you, then you should get a different seat. But I would much prefer to be in my GT3 seat during an accident with the seat belt than an oem seat.

Quotes source post: 19149920

What bothers me is that the op only asked about a three point belt and your photo shows the improper way to do that. Porsche made parts available to do it properly so no reason to find another seat. It doesn�t seem to bother you that you are providing them with bad info.

Quotes source post: 19150001

Hahaha. Looks like 6th grade let out early today.

read this? https://rennlist.com/forums/997-gt2-...cket-seat.html you're welcome :-)

Quotes source post: 19149485

I've owned four Mk1 996 GT3's, one of which was a Clubsport, all had bucket seats, I also owned a 996 GT3 RS and a 996 GT2, both of which were fitted with bucket seats from the factory. None of them had the seat belt receptacle "threaded through" the seat shell. I crashed one of the GT3's heavily into a tree at speed, side on. The seat belt retained me perfectly, (some may say too perfectly, as I fractured a couple of ribs where they impacted on the seat shell). If the factory don't see fit to thread the receptacle through the seat, and I elect to be a crash test dummy, I call BS on this "theory" mainly perpetuated by folk on here. That's not aimed at you BTW This was the result of what I estimate to be a 70mph off road excursion (backwards) in the dark : This is the bulkhead between the engine and the cabin, and it's the other side of the car from the point of impact. Those spot welds have been ripped apart and the bulkhead deformed to the point the engine was trapped between the chassis legs. That should give some idea of the forces involved in such an accident, and why I don't buy into the seat belt receptacle "myth". Had a suffered some kind of injury/trauma to my hips or pelvis, I might concur with this nonsense, but I didn't, so I don't.

Quotes source post: 19151246

So how was it run? I�m confused now.

holy moly. glad you are still with us. I have run my receptacle through and outside the seat. I understand why through the seat would have a benefit but currently keep it outside. I may be a bit thick, as it were, and the belt is relatively close across my hips. on a side note, not sure why you get to have four gt3s and I don't get one. such is the nature of things.

Quotes source post: 19150032

Glenn, Don't be jerk as he is letting you know your driving things are potentially unsafe.. I would think that has value to you and your life.. Also he is correct about making sure you or anyone doesn't share unsafe info.. Take the feedback and adjust accordingly with correcting it..

Quotes source post: 19151455

Unfortunately, he is wrong on this one. But appreciate his efforts.

Quotes source post: 19151455

Justin some people will just never back down. The OP asked a question about 3 point belts with GT3 seats. I provided the factory parts diagram showing the correct routing and provided part numbers to accomplish this. The OP thanked me. I also had an experience with a PCA instructor taking a ride in his car that had 3 and 6 point belts. Since I didn't have posts on my helmet for a hans device he removed the lap belts and routed the receptacles through the holes. This is all the information I have or have found. I'm relatively sure that for a regular sized american either way would be safe. A very small person or a child, you will never convince me that through the hole is not safer. From a post about this subject.

A couple of points. 1. No way would i consider feeding the seat belt thru the right hip hole on the street or track. The reason is that in an accident, you want not only protection during the accident, but you also want to be able to get out of the car quickly. Last thing you want is to not be able to get it out of the hole. 2. I applaud the idea of using a 997 part as a potential improvement to a 996 GT3 seat set up. However, you will need a much longer strap than the 997 strap to not only make it comfortable but also to work with a waist belt from a racing harness. If you have both fitting thru the right side hip hole, the seat belt strap will need to be plenty long to fold it out of the way so you can use the harness waist belt. As you can see from the pictures, it's very tight. 3. As been suggested by many of us in this thread, porsche and recarro both have not come up with any suggestions beyond running the oem seat belt over the right side of the 996 GT3 seat and plugging it into the connector. Hence why it's what has historically been done. But as I said many times, if this is an issue, the 996 GT3 seat owner may have the wrong seat.

Quotes source post: 19151400

This was my Mk1 Clubsport : All my other GT cars equipped with factory fitted buckets seats (But NOT 6 point harnesses) had the receptacle outside the shell too. If you want to be properly restrained (ie on trackdays) fit a sub bar, a Tequipment cage (the minimum) and use the factory six point harnesses. For road use the standard 3 point belt with the receptacle outside the shell is fine, and I say that as someone that's crashed the car at considerable speed, into something very solid. I was 165lbs and 6 feet. As regards getting out of the car quickly. After the crash I've posted images of, the car started to fill with smoke (or I thought it was) it was actually the powder from the passenger door airbag deploying, I thus thought I needed to get out of the car smartly. Under those circumstances there was no messing around trying to find the seat belt receptacle and it's release button (which would most likely would have injured me had it been inside the shell) because if my torso was thrown against the seat shell with sufficient force to fracture two ribs, I'm pretty sure my hips/pelvis would have hit the SBR with sufficient force to cause some localised trauma. It's interesting to note that some of you guys think the SBR being on the outside of the shell is dangerous, yet when a fellow Rennlister decides to do a seat install and uses thinwall aluminium box section to raise a seat up and questionable fabrication skills to form a seat belt attachment bracket, none of you batted an eyelid... I have no doubt whatsoever that if my seat had been mounted using this set up, and my seatbelt attached to the seat mounting frame with this bracket, the outcome of my accident would have been VERY different indeed.

These 997 seats are essentially the same as 996. I would imagine when the parts came out for the 997 they updated the 996 parts diagram.

Posting more images doesn't make your case any more valid I've owned a Gen 1 997 GT3 fitted with those seats (it got used hard too) the 997 seats are different, they're far narrower and nothing like as comfortable as the 996 versions.

Ok i will admit after looking at 996 GT3RS's they came from Porsche routed to the outside. It also seems they changed to the inside with the 997. I still believe this is a safer setup and that's what I was communicating to the OP. We are all entitled to our opinions and I hope the OP will consider everyone's and decide for themselves.

Quotes source post: 19152156

Im reading along too as I�m adding a bucket as well, good info for all.

Quotes source post: 19148899

I know this is an old thread but I want to make sure no one reads this thinking this is the correct information like I did. I ordered these latches and they are not as the original poster describes as being the parts you need to fit passenger and driver hardback seats with extended latches. In fact BOTH part numbers you have listed are PASSENGER (Right) side belt latches. The difference between the two being that ONE has the wiring and the OTHER has no wiring. The lengths are identical. 997-803-183-03 (Below) is NOT the correct part number for what you are looking for. 997-803-183-03 is a PASSENGER (Right) side extended latch with NO wiring. It will not allow anyone to install without triggering a seatbelt light. 997-803-183-10 (Below) is ALSO a PASSENGER (Right) side extended latch. However it DOES come with the wiring. See attached.

Quotes source post: 19796872

Thanks for this info. Unfortunately I ordered these same parts the last week of November, and they are arriving on Monday. I was hoping to use them for my 3 point belts with my Sparco Evo QRTs when I'm on the street and not using my 6 point harnesses. I sounded like from this post that the solution worked for some folks, but is there something they missed? https://rennlist.com/forums/997-gt2-...l#post13352871 Have you found something else that works for you?

As we can see on this thread, there are differences in design and therefore locations for the seatbelt receptacle positions based in whether its a 996 or 997 GT3 seat. If you want an accurate answer and part numbers on your Sparco seats, you may want to call the manufacturer or distributor that you bought them from, or talk to your indy about what parts and locations are needed so you can accurately and safely run the seats on the street and track.

I have a spare set of OEM euro blocks (one seat's worth) if anyone is looking.

@e90steve I got my 997 GT2 receptacles installed this week onto my Sparco Evo QRT seats and they worked great! They threaded through the side holes with no issues and are very comfortable even with my 6pt harnesses through there too. Car is at the shop right now, but I can post pictures later if anyone wants to see the setup. My car has an airbag light on, but I'm guessing this is from the side airbags being gone, not anything related to the 3 point receptacles. Parts I ordered were: 997-803-183-03 and 997-803-183-10.

Quotes source post: 19848564

For sure, post pictures! The more variations we all can see depending on the seats, the better.

I drove the car home from the shop today for 45 minutes and had zero issues with the GT2 buckles. My Sparco Evo QRT seats are size large due to having broad shoulders, but my hips are comparatively small with a 29" waist so there is some breathing room in the lower part of the seat. This might be part of what makes this setup feel perfectly comfortable for me. YMMV

Quotes source post: 19851291

Looks great. What seat mount did you use? I've got the Planted brackets and I'm not loving the positioning of them. My problem with those extended buckles isn't that they won't work. I think they will actually end up working really well. It's that the second buckle didn't come with the wiring to plug into anything. I was trying to fit a solution that would plug right in and not have any issues with airbag lights. I think your post said you now have an airbag light. I was trying to avoid that. But the extended receptacle will do a great job of putting the buckle in the right place.

Ah I see. I'm not sure if my airbag light is from just the missing side airbags or also the seat belt wiring. I do plan to spend some time down the road exploring the faults and see what I can code out. The shop wouldn't do it for me. I'm using the CMS Performance Ultimate Race Seat Mounting Kit.

Quotes source post: 19852975

I�m using the same mount. What sort of sleeve spacer/collar did you use to mount the seat belt receptacle on the driver side? I think the size of the eye opening is around 13mm or 5/8.

Quotes source post: 19936690

I'm not sure. I had a shop install them for me. But I'm planning to swap the driver and passenger seats soon myself (different sizes) and can take a look at what they did.

Quotes source post: 19936813

Sure that would be great! No rush. I have somewhat Jerry-rigged a setup and built a custom spacer and used some Schroth sleeves while I shop around for a real one. How do you like the GT2 belt receptacle? What made you go with this one versus the slightly shorter GT3?

Quotes source post: 19938019

The GT2 belt receptacle is pretty good. I bought it because it's apparently the only one long enough to fit through the belt hole and lay properly across your lap. I'd say it fits fairly well across my lap, although maybe still not quite as "low and tight" as a stock 3-point belt would in non-race seats. The risk of an abdominal injury will be lower than having the belt receptacle outside the seat (laying over the bolster), but still not perfect.

So I've been thinking about the 3-point problem a bit more. I initially bought the 10.5" long 997 receptacles because they would fit through the belt holes on my Sparco Evo QRT seats, and I was hoping that they would wire up and prevent additional system errors. But only the driver side belt had a wiring connector, and I'm pretty sure the shop left that unplugged. Also, the way the buckle sits inside the bolster could become uncomfortable on track (when using my 6-point harness) or for tighter fitting seats. The way the buckle rests is right between the top of your femur and your hip bone, basically against your TFL muscle. My TFL gets cranky (outside of driving) so I don't want to do anything to irritate it. You can't push the receptacle out of the way without removing the seat. There are some goods posts in this thread if you want to explore the 997 receptacle route more: https://rennlist.com/forums/981-foru...l#post15994492 I think a better (and cheaper) solution might be to have a short stiff 5-7" receptacle that sits entirely outside the bolster (below the belt hole) and then a soft seatbelt extender that you can thread through the harness hole into the receptacle. This extender could sit lower across your lap and could be removed when you are on track. I did some testing and the clasp for my BMW and Porsche are the same, so I think BMW parts could work. Here are some parts that might work: Short receptacle for $60 (the 4.5" or 7.5" options here could work): https://www.seatbeltplanet.com/i-304...et-buckle.html Extender for $20: https://www.seatbeltextenderpros.com...belt-extender/ Alternatively, the BMW 750Li rear seat belt receptacle (part number 7269508) looks like it might be just about the right size on its own. Looks like it could be had for $30 or less. I'm not certain how these solutions might work out, but I will likely give these a shot in the future to see if they're more comfortable than what I have right now. If someone else goes this route, please let me know how it works.

The short receptacle and extender seems like a great idea @fleetfoot15 . My only concern is the size of the short receptacle and the length between the CMS seat base belt mount brackets with additional extender. Short receptacle may need to be angled towards the side openings on the Sparco seats. I ended up going with the 997 GT2 seat belt receptacle (part number 997-803-183-11) for now, mostly because local folks with Caymans use them with the Sparco seats. I got to say, comfort and fit is night and day difference from the original 991-era seat belt receptacle found in the 718s. I no longer feel like there is something stabbing me in the side of my bum. New receptacle seems to also put less pressure on my hip (every body is different). Also, in case anyone is wondering in the future: a combination of Schroth sleeves for bolt-in brackets (specifically SR S65) and the BBI Harness Install Kit for OEM Bucket Seat (bbi.[phone removed]) were enough to fit and allow the seat belt receptacle eye to pivot around the sleeve for the 7/16-20 bolt on the CMS seat base. The ability to pivot while also makes the receptacle more comfortable (and probably safer). Solved two of my problems with one purchase! My poor wallet 🫠. Now it's time to use the $35 piwis and hope we can reset the airbag light 🏎️. Preliminary research shows that the bags will still go off and the lights are from the missing thorax airbag in seat bolsters.

I purchased one of the BMW 750Li rear seat receptacles this week for $17. I'll test it out when I get a chance to see if it works and feels better than the extended 997 receptacles I already have. My current 997 receptacle seems to be attached with something similar to those BBI/Schroth parts you listed above. It pivots. And that PIWIS setup looks interesting! I might have to try that. The airbag light hasn't been as annoying as I thought it would be. In other news, I'm beginning to think the Sparco Evo QRT Performance seats I got aren't the right ones for me.. I just can't seem to get them to be comfortable on the street or track. I've tried a ton of different cushions now, and nothing feels great. I sat in the Sabelt GT-3 and Recaro SPG Profi over the weekend and they felt WAY better. The lumbar support was good, the uppers hugged my ribs better, the base fits my hips snugly, and there was space for my shoulder blades to retract. I might be doing a swap here soon. Not sure why I didn't pick up on these things during my initial sit tests.

Quotes source post: 19954557

What did you find to be uncomfortable in Sparco Evo QRT? Just curious. It seems like all these seats are very personal due to different body shapes. In my case, I did notice that I�ll need more butt cushion. I find a bony *** to get sore after 30 minutes in it. Bog-standard medium-sized Evo QRT size was super tight in thighs and the Evo L was much better there. This also means that abdomen support is a little loser than in medium sized seat. All my local colleagues with these seats somehow fit into mediums and they�re all larger or taller than me! 😶

So the 750Li buckle showed up today. This is getting REALLY close to a perfect solution. It's way more comfortable than my 997 receptacles and sits much lower on my hips. The only issues are: 1) it's a bit too long, so the buckle would clasp closer to my middle, instead of down low by my hip bone. 2) it's a "center" buckle so it doesn't clasp at all...haha oops! I'm going to keep looking for a webbed solution like this that's a bit shorter and not a "center" buckle. I think 6.5" of webbing (7.5" from bolt hole to bottom of buckle) would be perfect. I'll post back here if/when I find that. With regards to my Sparco Evo QRT seats, I have multiple gripes: 1) The wings push my shoulders in too much when I'm driving on the street. This puts me into a "head forward" posture and causes neck strain, ultimately leading to pain on longer drives. This isn't an issue on track because I'm wearing my hybrid HANS and that pushes me out of the seat enough to create space for my shoulders. 2) There's zero lumbar support. I tried adding the sparco lumber pad, but this didn't help much. Lumbar support is WAY better on the Recaro and Sabelt seats I recently tested. 3) The sub strap belt doesn't rise cleanly between the seat base pads. Properly tightening the belt causes the pads to get crimped, which will tear them up long term. 4) I keep sliding down in the seat on track so that I'm slouching by the end of a session 5) I've got a size medium and large seat. I'm currently using the large to fit my shoulders, but this leaves a huge gap around my hips and torso 6) The base cushion on the regular non-Performance version of the QRT was too thin. It's fine on the Performance version (different foam I guess?). But I replaced that base cushion with one from RaceTech that has a centered sub-strap hole to solve #3 above. That cushion feels pretty good to my bony butt. I agree that seats are very personal, so my issues are likely just due to me having a small waist/torso with wide shoulders.

After much searching, I think I found a suitable webbed buckle. It's this one in the 25cm (9.84") length: https://seatbeltspecialist.com/Buckl...4306181&Lng=en I mocked the fitment up with the BMW buckle I have, and it seems like it will sit perfectly and can be easily retracted for track days when I'm using my 6 point harness. I'll post pics here once I get them installed. It will likely be sometime in May once I get my new seat. Total cost for the pair was only $65 shipped, which is less than a quarter of what I paid for the 997 receptacles.

Does it have the electrical sensor connection?

Quotes source post: 19962214

No. But I'm pretty sure the 997 driver-side plug wasn't compatible with my 981 ('ll know better when I uninstall it) and the passenger-side receptacle didn't come with a sensor at all.

Yea i have an audi receptical but the plug is different. I guess i could just use the resistor but i want the car to know if the belt is pluged in or not for the srs syatem. I need to find some old bad recepticals and canabolize the plugs. I do like the idea of the webbed buckle for the hard shell seats.

Quotes source post: 19962230

Did you retain the seat electronics harness with the yellow cassette? The 997 plug should slide into that yellow box. It did on my 718 GTS 4.0. Afaik my old 981 also had that harness, although I'm not sure if the female plug section was the same. Excuse the painters tape, I have mine taped to the bottom of the seat.

Alright I've got the my new Recaro Profi SPG and webbed seat belt receptacle installed! Super happy with how much better the Recaro feels compared to my previous Sparco. It's also much smaller in the cockpit. I'm also really pleased with the webbed 25cm seatbelt I ordered from seatbeltspecialist.com. It's exactly the right length, so it sits just where I wanted it to on my hip bone. And then because it's webbed, I can push it back out the harness hole when I'm on track using my 6pt harness. I'm excited to get out there for my next track day! Oh and I did check, my 997 receptacle was wired into the car harness. So that is one advantage to that part, but there's a big comfort hit if you've got tight seat bolsters. perfect hip placement (not too low or too high) The 3pt receptacle just attaches to this location on my CMS seat mount kit Receptacle pushed back for track days

Fleet foot can you give that part number for the buckle please

Quotes source post: 20004326

Name: Car seat belt receiver receiver 14 type: A (21mm) made from E24 quality parts product number: OW-BK14A25BL Locatie: D1B found here: https://seatbeltspecialist.com/Buckl...4306181&Lng=en Be sure to pick the 25cm length . 23cm will be too short and leave the buckle at 90 degrees in the side hole. 30cm would be too long and put the buckle too far towards the center of your body compromising the reach of the shoulder belt. I reused the bolts from my stock receptacle.

Thank you I ordered them

Quotes source post: 20004584

FYI shipping took about 14 days. The first portion was tracked, but then once the package cleared customs, it was handed off to USPS for last mile delivery and they didn�t provide a tracking number.

I'm going to sell my 997 extended seat belt receptacles (997-803-183-03, 997-803-183-10). Please let me know if you're interested in buying them. They were $451 shipped when I bought them new earlier this year, and may cost more now with the tariffs.

Quotes source posts: 19796872, 19954209

Resurrecting this thread as I'm working on a bucket solution for my 991 and transferring over the original receptacles doesn't work well as they sit too low and dig into the hip. Thanks you BOTH @e90steve & @maschinetheist . This thread has been SUPER helpful. If I'm understanding what's been posted in this thread, these are the correct Porsche part #s for both the driver and passenger seat if you're looking for the longer extension with the electronic cable: 997-803-183-10 for Passenger 997-803-183-11 for Driver Is this correct? I'm not sure why I thought I read somewhere that you can use the driver side receptacle for both sides. What makes them different? Presumably on both, the red button is closes to the center console and they don't seem to have a different shape or angle. Am I misunderstanding something?

I'm selling the two receptacles 99780318310 & 99780318303 if anyone is interested: https://rennlist.com/forums/market/1511291