Suitable seats

SDMC001 · #1 20th February 2007, 18:07

I am now at the point of looking for seats, i have tried a couple, unfortunatelly being 6 F 3 in I have a problem with height. When trying the marlin seats, I seemed ok height wise, and although they are nice seats I would like to try others, can anyone suggest another supplier of very low seats.

I have tried Corbeau, which are not bad, but still could do with being 2 inches lower, I recon I have about 2.5 inches clearance from the floor, before I touch the roll cage.
Thanks

Steve

limpabit · #2 20th February 2007, 18:11

Hi Steve.

There have been a few on here that bought Lotus Elise seats. Not sure if they are suitable for you though.

Cheers

craig · #3 20th February 2007, 19:03

Steve, as you know I bought new elise seats and fitted them about 5 weeks ago and they are perfect from floor to top of runner on mine are 45mm and of course they slide which is even better.

They are I believe lower then the marlin ones as the other half could drive the demo but can't see over the bonnet in the lotus seats!

Go for s2 or exige though as the s1 seats are a nightmare for being uncomfortable and don't look as modern

Craig

ps slight mods are needed for the runners to fit a flat floor give me a ring if you need to

alackofspeed · #4 20th February 2007, 19:40

I've also got Elise seats, but mine are "as new" condition series 1 leather. I've not fitted mine yet, but from playing around with them in the car to get a feel for location, it's certainly feasible to have the seat pad little more than 30mm off the Marlin chassis.

The other option is a set of vx220 seats, which I found very comfortable on a trip to Le Mans and back.

I went for Elise seats, as they seemed the best way of getting a low seat, with good support, but most importantly on runners - where I like sitting on track, and where I like sitting on a longer drive is quite different.

Steve, you've said you're 6' 3", but you haven't mentioned your build. I would have said that anyone much more heavily built than me ( probably about 5' 10" and definitely 88kg), wouldn't fit in them overly well. I've a friend who's, shall we say, a portly squire, and he almost certainly won't fit.

craig · #5 20th February 2007, 21:05

Steve I forgot to mention that thye way I have the seat set up, although the runner is 45mm from floor pan the bottom of the seat is only 5mm from floor!

Height wise I am 6' 1" but only medium build

Craig

SDMC001 · #6 20th February 2007, 21:08

John

I like the portly squire bit, John (limabit) knows me, and would tackfully put me near that catagory.

Chaps, thanks for the feedback, Elise seats were on my radar. I have come across some old catalogues picked up from shows, I have one from a company called intatrimtelford, they look pretty low.

http://www.intatrimtelford.co.uk/

Cheers

Steve

Jon@JNRacing.co.uk · #7 20th February 2007, 21:13

Not sure if I can help here but, I am also 6' 3" and a medium build and Nick is about 5' 10" medium build, because we are racing I like to have a well surported seat, we are going for the Cobra Suzuka. I can fit in this seat fine I clear the roll cage which is the same hieght as the standard bars. Mine is bolted directly to the floor, as we are not aloud to use runners for safty reason etc. if you like a firm ride you can always take the padding out the bottom of the seat that lowers you about 2-3", very firm ride tho.

Jon

limpabit · #8 21st February 2007, 05:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by SDMC001

John

I like the portly squire bit, John (limabit) knows me, and would tackfully put me near that catagory.

I would put you in the catagory as a medium build Steve.

Unfortunatley, you could do with borrowing a seat and trying it in the car. Could one of the friendly guys above that have not fitted there's borrow you to try? Even if you went to visit to see if your comfortable in them.

The other problem you will have is fitting them.

The ideas we had was:
Weld a few brackets each side (see this at Brands)
Fix a strip of steel across ways then fix the seats to them.
Fit a complete floor section then bolt the seats to them. This was our choice and there solid. But can be removed when needed.

craig · #9 21st February 2007, 16:01

The elise seats were extremly easy to fit and took me about 3 hours which includes modifying the runners to fit a flat floor.

I did not have to put anything else in to the car apart from modified runners which had to be lowered slightly as the standard seat sits lower than the standard runner. £18 and 5 mins at b&q bought the parts

Each seat has 4 m8 allen bolts thats it!

Craig

alackofspeed · #10 21st February 2007, 16:53

How are the factory seats attached?

I'm opting for welding some box section to the chassis, then bolting the elise runners straight to the (tidied and painted) box. Unless I've massively overlooked something, it looks pretty simple once I'm happy with the location.

craig · #11 21st February 2007, 22:06

John, unless the s1 seats are massively different from the s2 seats they are fixed with 4 x m8 bolts one each seat! Did you get the subframes with the seats? You will see the bolt holes

You have chosen a differeny way from how I did it but yes your right it only took me about 3 hrs, it was a very stright forward job

I chose to slightly toe in the drivers seat (same as elise) to account for the offset wheel
Craig

ps please check your email I am in need of your help!

limpabit · #12 22nd February 2007, 04:13

The bit I found I could not work out is trying to get the seat runner holes to line up with the chassis. It was the diagonal that was the problem. And I wanted the bolts to be parallel all round instead of different distances to account for the diagonal.

craig · #13 22nd February 2007, 08:22

It is not important that the bolts be parallel as on the elise seats they are not parallel standard, nor are the exige seats the runners on both are completly different lengths each side. So I would have thought that any other seat could be made to fit diagonal chassis rails in the same way.

Craig

alackofspeed · #14 22nd February 2007, 12:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by craig

ps please check your email I am in need of your help!

email on the 20th? I replied to that about 10 minutes after you sent it - very odd. Anyhow, I've used Mk1 golf mounts on the rear, and gearbox of my car. Approx 3" OD - I've not got the part number to hadn unfortunately.

alackofspeed · #15 22nd February 2007, 12:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by craig

John, unless the s1 seats are massively different from the s2 seats they are fixed with 4 x m8 bolts one each seat! Did you get the subframes with the seats? You will see the bolt holes

OOps - I wasn't very clear; I was wondering how the Marlin seats attach.

Incidentally, what series are my seats? I said s1 above, but I'm not sure! I didn't give it a moments thought when buying them, just thought they were ideal, and bought them!

http://www.johndry.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4311

craig · #16 22nd February 2007, 22:53

John, your seats are s1 you did well in finding a pair of s1's in such good condition.

Do the golf bushes come with the metal sleeve as all the ones I have bought upto now have been rubber only and the mount that goes with them unworkable

Does this look right
http://www.vwspares.co.uk/product_in...oducts_id=1623

or this
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Engine-mountin...QQcmdZViewItem

alackofspeed · #17 24th February 2007, 08:50

Craig - 2nd one - you get everything in the picture.

alackofspeed · #18 25th February 2007, 19:09

Steve - in amongst these pictures you'll find some of my passenger elise seat - they may help you get a feel for size.

http://www.johndry.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=8352

SDMC001 · #19 26th February 2007, 06:27

John

I like you toughts for the runners welding to the floor, we have now tried a sesat from Corbeau, we both like it but I am still to high in it. I am taking it back today and will see if they can modify it to make it lower. I do not think the alteration will be a problem, just altering the seat foam I feel. I need to be below, or a leat level with the crash bars, thats my aim, I may not have runners because that will save height.

Thank for the pics

alackofspeed · #20 26th February 2007, 18:10

Steve,

The runners on the Elise seats are to the side of the bucket, so don't compromise the height. The base of mine, with the 1" bar welded to the chassis as it's necessary to raise the seat slightly, is only about 4mm off the white chassis rails.

How do you find the front to back length of the cabin? To be comfortable, I need the elise seat pretty much backed against the bulkhead, but I guess that's a feature of how low I sit - head is about 4" (at a guess) below the roll hoop.

Cheers,

John.