Hi all,
I bought a Sparco Rev Plus, which is a side mount seat. I am looking to make a custom seat bracket, but I do not feel like I have the confidence and tools to fabricate one. :(
I read Iain's write up, and that looks exactly what I needed to get the seat low enough to clear the rollbar.
Anyone has the tools and experience to help this weekend?
TIA,
Alan
I got about 95% of the way through the install of my Sparco Speed 2 seat and decided that the seat was too narrow for me and that it was going to make getting into and out of the car difficult. I had a few issues during the install: 1) cutting that bar stock was pretty difficult when you're using a battery powered circular saw with battery packs that barely hold a charge any more; 2) drilling the bolt holes in the exact right spot on the bar stock was also more difficult than I had anticipated, I had to make the holes a little oblong to line up with the floor holes; 3) you will need a vice to bend the bar stock to make it match the angle of the floor (you'll see when you look at the stock brackets).
It really was not all that hard to do, it just took me longer than I thought because of the issues I had. I now have a different miata with a sport bar instead of the hard core bar. I'm finding it difficult to get my head far enough below the bar for safety. I've cut out the "shovel" area of foam and really like how the seat feels now. However, I'm still not as low as I'd like. I'm going to have to go back in and remove foam from the top of the seat.
I'd like to find a seat that will let me sit lower, hold me better, and not overly interfere with entry and exit from the car (I drive the car almost daily). I'm not sure what that seat is though... maybe lotus seats or the Sparco Chrono?
Moonie and Alan, if you have to cut barstock, I highly recommend using either a chopsaw or (what I use) a jigsaw with a metal cutting blade. And to drill holes in the right spot, use a punch to make a dimple and then drill it. It's easier, especially for the big holes, to make a smaller hole and then a bigger hole. A drill press really helps too.
I know that TDR sells precut strips to mount a seat with. They used to be on the website, but I don't see them any more. It might be worth picking their brain for the install too since they do a lot of these installs.
I tried to get a set of brackets from them when I was doing my install but they were out of stock at that time. They may have made more since then. I would happily grab a set of them if I was going to install a racing seat. If you have the time and tools to make your own, it's not bad. With a 9 month old at home, time is not something I have a lot of these days.