My new dirt cheap racing seats

[bpestilence]

Just thought I would show off some minor fabrication. Today I installed the first of two super cheap eBay special fiberglass racing seats into the Talon ($320 shipped for two, with brackets and sliders), and I was surprised to see how little room there really was to deal with. I was also surprised to see that the OEM seat isn't symmetrical; you actually sit several inches to the right of the centerline of the seat. Weird. Anyway, onto the fab.

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Here is the fab. After careful measurement of the bolt locations of the OEM seats, I came up with some minor mods to the universal sliders that come with the seats. A few pieces of steel welded to the sliders made short work of the bolt hole compatability issue. In total it added about 5 ounces to the total seat weight.

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Of course I still have to repaint the sliders and the new steel. You may also notice that the seats are red. The red seats were $60 cheaper than the black ones, and I am making grey seat covers to match the interior anyway. (stay tuned for that)

Clearance:

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Closest approach to the console.

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Console clearance.

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Side clearance. This is the part where the OEM seat was not symmetrical. Not a problem, though...

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Because it's not like there is a lot of room on this side, either. Another two inchs in width and it wouldn't clear in either direction.

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Yeah.... Red is rice, but that is only temporary.


Overall impression:

Comfort improvement: Excellent. Even cheapo racing seats (which are really just knockoffs of well-known brands) are more comfortable and supportive than the stockers. Especially since my OEM seat was broken.

Aesthetic improvement: Good. Would be better in grey, which I am working on (waiting on the charcoal colored fabric to arrive in the mail)

Weight savings:
OEM Seat: 46.21 pounds
New Seat: 23.86 pounds (including the bracketry)
Total: 22.35 pounds lighter.

By comparison, I only saved 19.26 pounds by switching to a CF hood.

 

[KingSwift82]

Very slick bro!

I see what you mean by the red though. It would look better matched when you get the materials but the red doesn't look bad or rice, that just depends on how your interior is set up IMO. Looks great though, I didn't know the driver seat sits further to the right like that, learn something new everyday. Keep us posted on any updates.

 

[Bud92gsx]

well id have to say good job. the red dont match but as you say it wont be for long.

 

[dylan702110988]

CLEAN THAT CAR

Do these seats sit lower or higher than OEM?

I need some seats that sit about 1in lower.

 

[Defiant]

Try not to crash with those little welds levered that far away from the mounting points.

 

[AndrewD5418]

Try not to crash with those little welds levered that far away from the mounting points.

Better than being fabbed up with wood... Yes.. I know someone who actually did that

 

[silver bullit]

Nice when you get done should be 40 or so lbs.

i would add the bracket a bit longer to allower it to bolt to the rail with some thick bolts just incase and ad some more bracing...

 

[bpestilence]

I guarantee those "little welds" will hold much better than the thin steel mounting tabs that the OEM seat uses. In any case, in an accident the stresses will be applied in shear against the brackets so the "lever" won't matter.

How low the seats sit is entirely dependant on the installation. If you wanted you could have the bottom of the seat resting on the floorboard. Just depends on the hole locations in the side brackets.

 

[Noogabox]

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I have some Grey ones made by alpha I had a local place do an install and they are literally rocking around like a childs toy. They arent welded or anything. They also put them way too close to the steering wheel. I am like a clown in one of those little cars!

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I may be sellin the grey ones soon in you are interested. they are Suede!

 

[bpestilence]

Update: Passenger seat done:

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Total weight savings: 37 pounds.

Next project: Schroth Autocontrol harnesses. (got a pair for $150)

 

[projecTSI]

Just curious, but how comfortable are those F1Spec seats? I was thinking about picking up a pair of the black/gray ones.

 

[bpestilence]

Comfy. Unless you're fat. Then... Painful.

 

[bpestilence]

Updated:

Made one of the seat covers. Still working on the other one. These things are a lot of work to make.

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The headliner material I got (used 4 yards) is way more plush than the stuff the seats came with. So it is even more comfortable now. And charcoal. Well, back to work on the sewing....

 

[red97tib]

That is such an improvement from the red it's not even funny. Good job on the seats and the covers.

 

[spammy123]

good job on changing the fabric, looks like it came from the factory that color

 

[white_dsm]

Paint your carpet and you'll be good.

 

[bpestilence]

Paint my carpet? Uh, okay. Maybe I should just clean it first. Go ahead and take your OEM seats out and see how dirty it is down there.

Anyway, finished the second cover.

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I am well on my way on the appearance goals of the car now!

 

[projecTSI]

That looks awesome. VERY nice job on the covers.

 

[costas14]

no way the stock seat weighs 43 pounds? cant be, i was close to ordering racing seats off ebay for my non turbo, will be ordering some recaros for my 90 turbo this week

 

[costas14]

i also hate the hood with the bump, especially in cf, on ebay i saw one by vis or something that is an evo style without the bump but has clearance for the cams, so its raised i guess

 

[white_dsm]

Paint my carpet? Uh, okay. Maybe I should just clean it first. Go ahead and take your OEM seats out and see how dirty it is down there.

Anyway, finished the second cover.


I am well on my way on the appearance goals of the car now!

It wasn't meant to cover your messy carpet, just a suggestion to go with the different look of your interior. I see that light grey will match your silver looking seats but have you thought of a darker color to see if you might like that better. I plan on changing my carpet to the color black along with some black racing seats.



So you did all that yourself? how time consuming was it? Any instructions for beginners?

 

[fulanititoo8198]

I can't do without recline for special moments.

 

[jemsoccer]

I can't do without recline for special moments.

+1 on that...

 

[bpestilence]

The seats are now the same color as the stock interior: Charcoal.

How to do it? I didn't write a how-to because you can't just be shown how to do complex stitching. I was a parachute repairman in the Marines so am a good seamster. But... Basically I unstiched the red covers, copied the panels in the new material, and stiched it back together the same way it came apart.

And yes, the stock driver's seat weighs 46 pounds. The passenger side seat weighs 39 pounds. Weighed them myself with a hang scale.

i also hate the hood with the bump, especially in cf, on ebay i saw one by vis or something that is an evo style without the bump but has clearance for the cams, so its raised i guess

What was that about?

 

[RED TREAD 97]

Quick question... is the added padding kidney guards? Cause i got some cheap-o-s too and on long trips man do my kidneys hurt!! The seats look good man!!