paradisenb

I'm changing the driver's seat in my 79 SC and am having fitment problems. The car came with a Kirky which I do not like. I have Cobra Imola S seats. The sizing chart shows them with an overall width, bolster to bolster, of 20.5 inches.
My car has an opening of 18 inches between the trans hump and the frame on driver's left. With seats 18" or less they will be able to sit on the floor giving me needed headroom and a lower center of gravity. The only seats I have found are Circuit Pro from Sparco.

Any experience with these. Any suggestions? What are you guys with these car using or doing to fit the seats on the floor?


TIA

chrisp

My Cobra Evolution GT (GT=wide) fit fine. I don't have the factory seat rails. I ditched those in favor of a welded in sub-structure. So, I'm well below normal seat level and in between the center tunnel and side sill.

Are you trying to drop a seat in between the factory rails? I'm not sure there's a seat on the market that'll fit except possibly the 15" aluminum seats.

Also, I wouldn't bolt directly to the floor. The floor pan is too thin. Get some sort of strong sub-structure in there. I am 6'3" with a very long torso (36/37 sleeve) and my helmet just barely rubs the headliner. I have 1" square tubing in between me and the floor and it's about 1/4"-1/2" off the floor.

Circuit Motorsports

I know some of the Recaro seats have pretty narrow bases. I'll see if I can find the numbers for you.

Are you looking for a head restraint seat in particular or any FIA seat?

Also is the 18" width consistent from the bottom to the top of the trans hmp/door sill?

paradisenb

Chris. What year is your car? My rails, which were built on top of the tunnel and side sills, have been removed. I need to place the seat/s in between these. I'm putting rails w/sliders so my wife can AX the car. These will add an inchish which I can deal with since I'm 5'8".

paradisenb

Width is consistant. Have not check the web for Recaros. I did see one on J3 in the RSR but that seat is out of my budget.
I like the Halos seats but have emergency exit concerns. These usually envolve the window whos opening is compromise by the halo.

chrisp

It's an '83.

Circuit Motorsports

The OMP WRC has a bolster to bolster width of 18.1.

The measurements I have for some Recaros. Also can be found on their website. I feel as though these aren't the full width to the edge of the bolsters but I think the ones I list are the narrowest because the bolster don't curve out very far. Others would be an issue.

Recaro Profi 15.5 inches
Recaro Pro Racer HANS 15.5


EDIT: Here's the list I've been looking for. It's exactly what you are looking for.

http://www.flyinmiata.com/tech/seats.asp

Gary R.

Randy, those are old Kirkeys, the new ones are better and more comfortable. As for Recaro's, I had no problem putting SPG XL's in my 930 (same as my SC) using the Recaro mounts.

Chris M.

I'm also confused on what you're trying to do. So let me get this straight; you want to attach the side mounts to sliders then bolt the sliders direclty to the floor? If the factory seat rails are gone there should be plenty of room to do this. How is the seat installed right now?
FWIW I use Sparco seats, Sparco sliders, and Brey Krause side mounts bolted to the factory rails and there's plenty of room on both sides, even for using the factory seats belts. If I didn't have the factory rails I could just bolt the sliders directly to a substructure as chrisp does.

chrisp

Here's a pic on my set up. Side mount brackets (Brey Krause) are bolted to this structure and my Cobra's are bolted to the brackets.

chrisp

here's a pic I poached off of Pelican BBS. This is very similar to mine and gives you an idea how it fits in relation to the tunnel and sill. Mine is different in that my flat plate is stitch welded to the sill and center tunnel and my plate covers more of the open area to give protection should something come up through the floor.

paradisenb

Here is my delima with the Cobras. Note the OD of the bolsters ('A') in this chart http://www.subesports.com/products/?option=seats. The sides rest on top of the tunnel and sill not allowing the seat to drop into the opening giving me more headroom and still letting the seats slide. The car is at the shop or I would post pics.

Looks like the Recaro Pro Racer Hans will drop right in and still slide. The straight up and down bolsters make that happen. Now, how does the seat fit?



Thanks for the help.

Circuit Motorsports

Randy,

Another thing you can do to get the bolsters to fit is to rotate the seat back a bit. It will raise the front of the seat where the bolsters are above the narrow area.

As for fit. I like the Pro Racer HANS. If I had to rank it for fit of the halo seats I've recently been in it would be second after the Racetech. However I fit in all the seats reasonably well. I guess I have a generic butt.

chrisp

so it sounds like I'm not having the same problem because my seat isn't as deep into the floor area as you are trying to do but, I argue, why would you go any lower than the two pictures shown? My 21" (measurement A) seat is ok.

paradisenb

Two reasons:
1) more clearance. I want my head to have a greater margin between the roof and cage
2) lower center of gravity

Tilting the seat: It would have too much angle if I did it like that. Tried it.