Sport Seats, What is a good fit? Options

[ChicagoChris]

I want to put in new seats with better side bolster. I will have the car on the track so racing seats are an option. But have not run into a seat that I can sitin without hitting my head on the roof.

What seats are out there for a tall guy wearing a helmet?
Now are there any that can be had for a reasonable price?

Chris

[jd74914]

I don't know if you want to retain the stock backpad or not, but if you do you could always bolster the sides of the stock seats.

[flesburg]

Are you handy with fiberglass?

Do you know someone who can upholster furniture?

If yes to the above, see a picture of seats I made for my DE car, and my wife upholstered.

If you are interested, I'll send info on where I bought my materials including the cloth upholstery.

[Dave_Darling]

If you're tall, the choices are very limited. I have found that the best option for me is to remove the bottom seat cushion from the stock seat. That puts me another couple of inches lower down in the car, and gives my hips some lateral support.

There are a couple of other seats based on the stock seats (e.g., Renegade's seat, Scheel or Koenig seats) that are as low as the stock ones.

AFAIK, most or all of the regular aftermarket racing seats are going to sit higher up in the car than the stock seats. Stock seats from any other car I know of will be significantly higher.

--DD

[brp914]

how about GTS LeMans? Are they taller than stock also?

[ChicagoChris]

Dale - the seats look great. I figured I would have to get handy with the sewing machine. I tried an aftermarket seat (kirkey) in my race car and had bad luck. The flat bottom raised me up to high in the car. I would bang my head. Yours seem to be about what I want. Are you willing to send more photos so I may emulate your work?

Chris

[VegasRacer]

QUOTE (brp914 @ Dec 11 2005, 12:19 PM)

how about GTS LeMans? Are they taller than stock also?

Yes. You do sit a bit higher in the LaMans compared to a stock seat.

[J P Stein]

I modified a Kirkey to sit on the stock upper seat rails....it retains adjustability. It also sits lower than the stock seat W/pad. Tain't pretty and the padding is thin. They do make a better cloth cover.

[flesburg]

Chicgo Chris,
Yes, but be patient with me.

I took an old stock seat apart, saved all the foam pads etc.

I cut up the fiberglass shell, and added side "bolsters" made out of 1/8" masonite, and reatached the upper edge pieces. Kept modifying it until I got a shape I could fit in, and that I liked. I cut a hole through the center of the headrest for harness belts. When I had the shape I wanted, I fiberglassed a couple of layers on the inside and the outside of the shell. I used pipe insulating foam for new edges and around the headrest, and appllied foam rubber to the outside. The bottom cusion was made new so it is thinner, and the "fanny fit" is right for my body.

Joan then made patterns and sewed the covers.

Send me a pm with your e-mail address and I will send you some pics and sketches of what we did. I will be getting a new e-mail address in the next month or so, because I am changing from an earthlink dial up over to a verizon DSL and will have a new e-mail address.

I would offer to make them for you, but the first one probably took us 20 to 30 hours to make, but my time on winter weekends is not worth much when I am doing it for myself.

Another picture. This is all I have right now.

[guiltless]

How tall are you? I am 6'2" and I am wondering now if I am going to run into the same issue.

[d914]

in the blue car we notched the crossover support and used 911 sliders to keep the seat low and retain some adjustability. If done over I'd replace the cross over and mount the 911 slider on the floor. Add in some reinforcement further up..

[olav]

QUOTE (VegasRacer @ Dec 11 2005, 12:38 PM)

QUOTE (brp914 @ Dec 11 2005, 12:19 PM) how about GTS LeMans?  Are they taller than stock also? Yes. You do sit a bit higher in the LaMans compared to a stock seat.

If you call Stephan/Stephano(can't remember) at GTS Classics he said he would modify the seat and take out the foam to suit your needs.

That's what he was doing for a 908 customer.

[MikeP]

Used to be that you could send your seat to Renegade Hybrids and they would modify it for you. They did mine and they also offer a slimmed down pad for track use. I'm happy with mine.

[Mrs. 'I"]

GTS has the best seats goin for fit and comfort.I have a set of RallyST in my GT. Good value and quality for the $.

[r_towle]

I am 6'2

I took the normal seat pad and cut it in half...


Take it out and take a look at the bottom of the pad.
Its is stapled to a piece of masonite which is bonded to the foam.

Take off the vinyl cover by removing the staples...

I took it to a big band saw I have, but a normal hand saw works well also...I cut about 1-2 inches off in height...

I put the vinyl conver back on, stretched it to fit snug, and stapled it back on.

Now I have no issues.

Also, when driving on the street, you can adjust the bottom of the seat so the front part is lower...but when using a helmet, you may need to "recline" the seat so your helmet head fits.

Rich

[ChicagoChris]

I'll look in the GTS seats. That is basicly what I was looking for. I have an extra seat and I think I'll try to modify it first like Dale did.

I am 6' and when I have tracked it in the past I just removed the seat bottom. I am looking for a bit more comfort this time arround.

d914 - How much lower are the 911 seat brackets then the 14. I feel prett low already. And would solid mounting the 14 tracks, minus the tilt, do the same thing?

Chris

[TimT]

I have a MOMO Nascar seat in my GT3 914, Its mounted to the floor on the MOMO brackets.. this is the way the car was when I bought it.. The seat bottom is lower than a stock seat, and you could always cut away that section of the floor to get the seat lower.

I did have to relocate the seat though, the guy I bought the car from was 6'4"

Im 6' and I dont have problems with helmet clearance with my seat set-up

But I hate whacking my head on the roll bar :s

[ChicagoChris]

Tim - Are MOMO seats in the reasonable ($) range for sport seats? I have been seeing seats around $500-600.

Chris

[TimT]

Price is relative...

I bought a Kirkey 20 deg intermediate seat for my 911 around $200 then the

The MOMO Nascar is around $500 I think.. havent checked recently, though I should since is nearing its exp date

Id shoot some pics but my car is locked in the trailer, and it winter and its....

[ChicagoChris]

I tried a Kirkey in my race car and i just didn't work. Maybe it was to upright but I tried. The flat bottom was nice but the stock seat dips between the rails so the bottom is lower. How did you get past that?

Chris