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Thread: Wide Load seat install

  1. #1
    Chassis Designer
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
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    Grapevine
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    90

    Default Wide Load seat install

    All of this has been in an effort to add a roll bar so I could get some track days in. Gotta get the helmet below the roll bar, hence the new seat.

    Trying to decide what I could fit in the car that would also fit me, I searched internet but didn't come up with a whole lot. Figured I'd share what I did so other lard asses could maybe have a point of reference.

    I started out buying a Momo seat that was reported to support up to a 38" waist. I realized that a 38" waist doesn't necessarily apply to everyone wearing 38 jeans. A narrow fella with a giant belly might use 38s and so might a really wide thin guy. Anyway, the Momo wouldn't accommodate me comfortably.

    I ended up buying a Kirkey "Pro Street Drag" in the 18 inch version. I figured it could be made to fit with some effort.

    A hole was cut in the floor/transmission tunnel. You can also see in this pic that the catalytic converter has been temporarily removed to make room. The factory rear humps for the seat mounting bolts have been removed too.





    A buddy let me cut some seat brackets out on his plasma table. I welded them up and put a crappy coat of paint on them:





    The dark foam is a filler piece because there's quite a step up at the front of the seat and it's uncomfortable. Kirkey sells a seat cover with padding, but I have a different plan. A piece of angle aluminum was used to extend the seat bottom out an inch and a half, strictly for comfort.





    Here you can see how close this seat will sit to the floor, for maximum helmet clearance.




    With helmet clearance taken care of it was time to address leg room. The seat was moved back as far as possible - an effort was made to have the seat back resting on the package tray, it ended up being about 1/4" gap. It took some doing, but the end result was worth it, much more comfortable. You can see how much was removed from the seat belt tower. When the roll bar is installed the seat belt attachment point will be moved to the bar.






    Here's how it looks from underneath:

  2. #2
    Chassis Designer
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Grapevine
    Posts
    90

    Default

    Finagled the stock seat belt receptacle to come through the hole in the seat (mostly. still a PITA to use). There was an empty threaded plate near the floor that I'm using. I assume it was the factory seat belt attachment point on early cars.




    Patched the floor:



    It's all sealed up and functional now. Hope to get the seat foam all squared away this weekend. Then I need to get an offset catalytic converter and weld it in and it should be good to go.
    Last edited by jakepkoe; 06-03-2011 at 10:10 PM.

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