Fitting "bucket" seats in a Chimaera.??
Discussion
Has anybody fitted one or two bucket seats in there chimaera.
Im after something that holds you in the car , not like the "rubbish" standard seats that stop half way up my back.
If you have made your car into a race car, what seats did you fit.
My car will be used on track, but not for racing..
I realise they have to be reasonably thin at the top to be able to fit ...
Any help would be great....
Im after something that holds you in the car , not like the "rubbish" standard seats that stop half way up my back.
If you have made your car into a race car, what seats did you fit.
My car will be used on track, but not for racing..
I realise they have to be reasonably thin at the top to be able to fit ...
Any help would be great....
most race seats will fit. I used to have sparco sprint seats in mine and they were ok. I have just fitted light weight fibreglass shell seats like the Tillet ones for a caterham. I got they from a guy in blackpool - half the price of tillet and beautifully made.
I assume you don't have a cage? the areas you have to be careful of are.
1.the width of the front of the base of the seat where your thighs are especially if you have a large posterior. the seat can catch on the tunnel there.
2.at shoulder level particularly if you have a cage or roll hoop if the seats have wings they can catch there.
You can move the seat base mounts sideways towards the tunnel wall to free up more space.
When you fit the seats get a flat steel plate welded between the outrigger and the bottom chassis rail of the tunnel and drill holes and bolt through the plates. the standard fixings just bolt through the fibreglass floor which is close to useless in a proper shunt.
Also best if you can fit a harness. 3 point should do the trick. you can buy them with a standard seat belt buckle which is less hassle to wear and will pass an MOT
I assume you don't have a cage? the areas you have to be careful of are.
1.the width of the front of the base of the seat where your thighs are especially if you have a large posterior. the seat can catch on the tunnel there.
2.at shoulder level particularly if you have a cage or roll hoop if the seats have wings they can catch there.
You can move the seat base mounts sideways towards the tunnel wall to free up more space.
When you fit the seats get a flat steel plate welded between the outrigger and the bottom chassis rail of the tunnel and drill holes and bolt through the plates. the standard fixings just bolt through the fibreglass floor which is close to useless in a proper shunt.
Also best if you can fit a harness. 3 point should do the trick. you can buy them with a standard seat belt buckle which is less hassle to wear and will pass an MOT
Edited by jesfirth on Thursday 9th June 20:27
Edited by jesfirth on Thursday 9th June 20:28
One of the Griff owners I know has had some Cerbera seats tweaked and fitted, very nice and very supportive on track days:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
phazed said:
As above.
Or you can fit the Lotus Elise or Exige seats .
For anyone thinking about the Elise seats, I'd suggest finding someone with them fitted and doing a long-ish journey. I binned the standard seats on my Elise because I found them really uncomfortable after about 15 minutes. OMMV, depending on what shape you are I suppose. I replaced them with Tillet B5's, which suited my body shape better, and were really comfy.Or you can fit the Lotus Elise or Exige seats .
If you can get them, Tuscan seats fit and give more support - you take the seat base pads out for track days.
You can use harnesses, but I found it hard to fit the harness belts to the bottom anchor points without removing the standard belts, and I prefer to keep those as well for road use.
I use a CG lock instead, fitted on the standard belts, which at least locks the lap part of the belt tight across your hips.
As to floor fixings for the seats, I found that Tuscan seats fit best with the front fitting holes drilled down just in front of the outrigger cross member, so at least my front bolts are through the outrigger corner plates, rather than just through the fibreglass floor, as mentioned above. I will probably get plates welded in as suggested by jesfirth above, to give better safety.
Tuscan seats in place:
You can use harnesses, but I found it hard to fit the harness belts to the bottom anchor points without removing the standard belts, and I prefer to keep those as well for road use.
I use a CG lock instead, fitted on the standard belts, which at least locks the lap part of the belt tight across your hips.
As to floor fixings for the seats, I found that Tuscan seats fit best with the front fitting holes drilled down just in front of the outrigger cross member, so at least my front bolts are through the outrigger corner plates, rather than just through the fibreglass floor, as mentioned above. I will probably get plates welded in as suggested by jesfirth above, to give better safety.
Tuscan seats in place:
Some great suggestions chaps...
Ive had a quick look a the the JK composites web site,,,
http://www.jkcomposites.com/GT-page.html
But am undecided as yet.
I like the look of the Tuscan seats. As they look, "factory".
I also have a SP6 Cerbera which has these fitted and do like them.
Although im unsure of the total lateral support they might give whilst under hard cornering..
QBee, did you have any issues when fitting them in the Chim.?
Forgot to mention im 6ft5" tall , long legs, and slim build. No its not a description for a dating site,
more an overview of my size and shape..
Ive had a quick look a the the JK composites web site,,,
http://www.jkcomposites.com/GT-page.html
But am undecided as yet.
I like the look of the Tuscan seats. As they look, "factory".
I also have a SP6 Cerbera which has these fitted and do like them.
Although im unsure of the total lateral support they might give whilst under hard cornering..
QBee, did you have any issues when fitting them in the Chim.?
Forgot to mention im 6ft5" tall , long legs, and slim build. No its not a description for a dating site,
more an overview of my size and shape..TailEndCharlie said:
Some great suggestions chaps...
Ive had a quick look a the the JK composites web site,,,
http://www.jkcomposites.com/GT-page.html
But am undecided as yet.
I like the look of the Tuscan seats. As they look, "factory".
I also have a SP6 Cerbera which has these fitted and do like them.
Although im unsure of the total lateral support they might give whilst under hard cornering..
QBee, did you have any issues when fitting them in the Chim.?
Forgot to mention im 6ft5" tall , long legs, and slim build. No its not a description for a dating site, more an overview of my size and shape..
No, no issues fitting them in the Chim that couldn't be overcome by me. And I am not very good at DIY. Ive had a quick look a the the JK composites web site,,,
http://www.jkcomposites.com/GT-page.html
But am undecided as yet.
I like the look of the Tuscan seats. As they look, "factory".
I also have a SP6 Cerbera which has these fitted and do like them.
Although im unsure of the total lateral support they might give whilst under hard cornering..
QBee, did you have any issues when fitting them in the Chim.?
Forgot to mention im 6ft5" tall , long legs, and slim build. No its not a description for a dating site,
more an overview of my size and shape..I first had to unbolt the runners from the seats, as I needed to fit longer front fixing bolts than the 75mm ones that came fitted (and were bent). I couldn't work out how to do it, so called D&C Trim (who I believe built the things in the first place at the factory) and he said get a core drill and actually cut holes in the fibre-glass corners of the base of the seat to be able to undo the runner nuts. After that it was easy. They position naturally, and I pretty quickly worked out the positions to drill the holes in the floor for added strength of fixing, ie down through the outrigger corner plates, and I fitted 100 mm bolts, though 90mm would have been better.
I do think that you might have issues with your height, though Phazed has sat in them (6 ft 3) and seemed ok, but the roof was off at the time and he didn't have a helmet on. Without my roll hoop I could have the seats further back, so maybe you would be ok - I have a two to three inch gap behind the seat backs. I can measure that if you are serious about buying some. And with the seat pads out they are remarkably comfortable still, which gives you an extra inch or two.
You are welcome to come and try mine - bring your car and do a trial fit if you like, as I need to take them out to re-glass my floor, which at the moment would be excellent for sieving cauliflower for Sunday lunch. Newark on Trent. I also have some race seats you could try, but frankly I didn't find them very comfortable.
Edited by QBee on Friday 10th June 21:12
+1 for the Intatrim Odyssey II seats. It sounds like I'm a similar build (6'6", 37" leg, 15 stone) and these fit me fine, even with a dodgy back I can happily drive the distance a full tank will give me, only having to stop to refuel. I also compete in the TVRCC Speed Championship and find them supportive enough for track use. They are fixed back and are set at a more reclined angle than most, but this can be addressed somewhat by adjusting the base angle to achieve a compromise. I'll find some pics and post tomorrow.
Just had a Cobra Monaco Sport fitted last week. It's a narrow version of the Monaco and, apparently, based on the dimensions of the Sparco Sprint.
NOT FIA approved but I only wanted something for the occasional track day as I was sliding all over the place in the standard seats. The intention is to swap back to the standard seats when not on a track day although the 75 mile trip home from TVRSSW was actually very comfy.
I also used the Cobra standard runners. We had to drill new holes in the seat base to make the runners wide enough apart, bolt runners to seat then tack the (through floor) mounting bolts to the runners. The runner mechanism needed a bit of gentle bending to make it work properly. We also drilled 4 new holes through the car floor which brought the bucket seat runners slightly inboard and forward of the originals.
At the same time I had "strengthening bars" fitted, 30mm x 4mm flat steel bar bent to shape and welded to the chassis from front to rear along the lines of the seat runners. Both standard and bucket seats now bolt through the bars. Looking at how enlarged a couple of the holes through the fibreglass had become I'd say that this was a worthwhile job even if your not fitting a bucket seat.
NOT FIA approved but I only wanted something for the occasional track day as I was sliding all over the place in the standard seats. The intention is to swap back to the standard seats when not on a track day although the 75 mile trip home from TVRSSW was actually very comfy.
I also used the Cobra standard runners. We had to drill new holes in the seat base to make the runners wide enough apart, bolt runners to seat then tack the (through floor) mounting bolts to the runners. The runner mechanism needed a bit of gentle bending to make it work properly. We also drilled 4 new holes through the car floor which brought the bucket seat runners slightly inboard and forward of the originals.
At the same time I had "strengthening bars" fitted, 30mm x 4mm flat steel bar bent to shape and welded to the chassis from front to rear along the lines of the seat runners. Both standard and bucket seats now bolt through the bars. Looking at how enlarged a couple of the holes through the fibreglass had become I'd say that this was a worthwhile job even if your not fitting a bucket seat.
Edited by BmthRob on Monday 13th June 14:34
Edited by BmthRob on Monday 13th June 14:50
BmthRob said:
At the same time I had "strengthening bars" fitted, 30mm x 4mm flat steel bar bent to shape and welded to the chassis from front to rear along the lines of the seat runners. Both standard and bucket seats now bolt through the bars. Looking at how enlarged a couple of the holes through the fibreglass had become I'd say that this was a worthwhile job even if your not fitting a bucket seat.
Couldn't agree more, did the same thing myself.Richard 858 said:
+1 for the Intatrim Odyssey II seats. It sounds like I'm a similar build (6'6", 37" leg, 15 stone) and these fit me fine, even with a dodgy back I can happily drive the distance a full tank will give me, only having to stop to refuel. I also compete in the TVRCC Speed Championship and find them supportive enough for track use. They are fixed back and are set at a more reclined angle than most, but this can be addressed somewhat by adjusting the base angle to achieve a compromise. I'll find some pics and post tomorrow.
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