Track Seat Mounting Help

[Axes-Of-Evil]

Dave- I completely understand your concerns from an experienced enthusiat and an instructor's perspective I don't think you're busting my balls don't worry. I'm well aware I'm a newbie anyway. Autocross humbled me already from thinking I was a good driver lol. I'll keep my eyes out for a good deal on a roll bar but it'll probably have to be a "used" one due to my lack of cash but I'll make sure it's a full roll bar. I know several people on here use the Autopower/ I/O /MM roll bars and cages.

Steve- How did you make your own and where'd you get the materials?

Sleeper08- I've read about the GG lock before but I really wanted the seat because I like that fact that if I crash the force will be distrubted throughout my skeletal structure and not my organs

 

[Gray Ghost GT]

OR, if you're the only one that will be driving your car, skip the sliders, and hard-mount the seat in place. You'll be able to put it in the PERFECT position, not just front-to-back, but also height and pitch as well.

I agree - this would be the best option (exactly what I did in my dedicated road course car) to achieve the perfect position. Also, +1 on the 4 point roll bar (minimum) and a 5 or 6 point seat harness.

 

[SoundGuyDave]

Axis- I've got the Autopower 4-point, and Philostang has the Maximum Motorsports piece, and honestly if I had to do it over again, I would go with the MM. I like their mounting points a bit better than the Autopower. Check the classifieds here (make sure it's a road-race bar, and NOT a drag bar: they are NOT the same!), as well as your NASA region, and at racingjunk.com. Now is the time you can come up with some pretty cool deals.

 

[SoundGuyDave]

Also: re: distribution of force... With the CG lock and the rest of the stock driver restraint system active, it's really no different than stock. With the stock setup, there's a pyro charge that fires in the shoulder reel that snugs the belt and locks it, putting you in the perfect position for a nice gentle (?) landing in the airbag in the event of an "oh shit" moment. The CG lock only really pre-tensions the lap portion of the belt, but that said, they really do work quite well. I used one for a year before going to the 5-points.

 

[Philostang]

I like the one's Steve made - closer to the type made for the FR500S. If I did it again, I'd probably do something closer to that than what I did.

Here's mine (not a great pic, sorry).

Here are the FR500S ones.

As far as cost goes, it really depends on what a welder will charge you for the work. The pre-made bases are not that expensive, all things considered. I certainly don't think they are not worth the money; I just made mine because I had the time and inclination. I didn't save all that much money, especially if I tacked on an hourly rate for my time. A lot depends on your tools and skill set.

Best,
-j

 

[Axes-Of-Evil]

I haven't had a chance to play with the actual height yet but I ordered my harness today from ultrashield and decided just to ask the guy what some people do with their seats and I was told some people also bolt their seats directly to the floor. Will that end up being far too low for me to even see over the hood? I'm 5' 10" and if height wise it was possible would you advise against bolting it straight to the floor?

 

[Axes-Of-Evil]

Philostang- those are pretty cool but like you said given my tools and skillset I think I'll save those for when I'm older and more experienced. At this point I've never fabricated anything or have any idea what strength materials I'd need.

 

[SoundGuyDave]

If you mount the seat directly to the floor pan, I think you'll find your eye-level to be about even with the center of the tachometer...

A quick how-to for seat mounting! This assumes that you're using some sort of mounting base and side brackets.

Materials and tools: 13mm, 15mm, 9/16" sockets, 9/16" combination wrench, Allen key set, drill with 13/32" bit, centerpunch, fresh Sharpie marker, tape measure, rat-tail file. 2-3 rolls 4" blue painters tape, 2-3 rolls each of 2" and 1" painter's tape. Four 3/8" UNF x 3/4" bolts, twelve 3/8" flat washers, 3/8" UNF x 3/4" button-head machine screws (Allen socket head), eight 3/8" fender washers.

First, after you pull your stock seat, mount the seat base into the car using the stock factory hardware.
Next, prep the seat. Pull the upholstry, and cover the sides with a layer of blue painter's tape, and also cover the side rails of the seat base with tape. Next, and it may help to have a second person, mock up the seat position. Use assorted thickness rolls of tape to space the seat up, set pitch, and determine front/back location of the seat for your personal best fit.

Then, with the seat in place, prop the side brackets up on the seat base and against the seat itself, use the tape measure to ensure the side brackets are evenly positioned front-to-rear, and mark on the painter's tape where you'll need to drill the seat and the seat mount to connect them all. TAKE YOUR TIME HERE! Once you start cutting holes, you'll be pretty well locked in... Also, there are usually between three and five different mounting holes on the side brackets. Do NOT use the top one, but one of the holes below that. That will give you some height and pitch adjustment for fine-tuning later. Double-check that your proposed drill locations on the seat will not hit the seat pan itself, but will ride on the sides above the pan, and don't forget to accomodate the diameter of the fender washer. If necessary, you can grind down one edge of the fender washer to clear, making more of a "D" shape.

Once you have all of your points marked, take it all apart, then do some verification. With the seat out, double check that the side brackets look even front to rear, and that the drill points are evenly spaced side to side as well. In other words, keep the side brackets square to the base, but realize that the rear of the seat is narrower than the front, so... After that, re-measure the drill points on the seat, to check that they're even on each side, so that you don't inadvertently put some roll axis offset into the mount. Once you're sure that's all set, clamp or tape the side brackets onto the mounting base, and re-fit the seat as a final check for position. If you're happy with your seating position, and all the marks still line up, it's time to start drilling!

Remove ALL the materials from the car, and drill away. Pay close attention to getting the drill straight in, and not at an angle, then clean up the holes with the rat-tail file. Assemble the seat outside the car, so that you have easy access to everything. I like to assemble the hardware loosely, so that you can get everything situated prior to snugging up, which makes things a little easier. Start by mounting the side brackets to the base, with the bolts running downwards: Bolt, washer, side bracket, seat base, washer, Nylock nut. Then, mount the seat: button-head screw, fender washer, seat, side bracket, fender washer, Nylock, from the inside out. If you have a little slop in the side brackets, you can sandwich an extra fender washer between the seat and the side bracket with no drama to take up the slop. After all the hardware is started, go ahead and tighten all the pieces, then install the entire assembly into the car. DONE!! Total time should take you around 2 hours, assuming that you have all your materials and tools laid out. Again, don't rush it!

 

[Axes-Of-Evil]

Awesome write up thanks so much Dave! I'll update once I've gotten everything together to start the install. Thanks for everyone's help.

 

[wgnths]

I just mounted fx1 pros with corbeau brackets/dbl lock sliders...out of the box, they sit way too high and im only 5'9". I'm either gonna try wedge (used their stuff before) or do some modifying to the corbeaus.