ali seats

[LeonN]

has anyone done them yet?
had a quick search but to no avail.
i have made a better net than the one in the book from card:o . at least a moor ergonomic net:) , but i can not make a decision on the thickness of aluminum to use?
are there any rules to adhere to? bare the head restraint and correctly positioned harness holes.

[ozzy1]

Try this link, these look really good.

http://www.streetperformance.com/m/cats/208-racing-and-safety-equipment/374-seat/100672-kirkey-racing-fabrication.html

[LeonN]

Thaye do look cool. Apear to be in ither .100 or .125 of an inch and grade 5052 ally. My boss thought 3mm and did not mention a hardness. Any other thoughts?

[thwang]

hi
leon
semi hard is ok i would ask chris about the thickness you might beable to go down to 2mm with 5000 series ally.
thwang
have you mocked one up i would mind seeing one if you have.

[LeonN]

Have a cardbord one. Need to cross check all the meshermants and angles with trig.

[LeonN]

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/8978/imageqb.th.jpg (http://img405.imageshack.us/i/imageqb.jpg/)

[Tatey]

I have to say im quite impressed. Can i ask how you are planning on joining the seat together if you decide to go down that route?

[LeonN]

TIG. the seat can be folded from one peace 750x1500 and has 4 seams eatch side that i will TIG weld together.

[flyerncle]

You now have the start of a mould for a fibreglass seat Leon !:eek:

[LeonN]

Go on? Is it just cover that in glassfiber and resin?

[HandyAndy]

Go on? Is it just cover that in glassfiber and resin?

not really, there,s a bit more to it than that i,m afraid :o :)

andy

[LeonN]

I kind of thought as mutch. If that was all there was to it everyone wuld be at it.

[HandyAndy]

well there isn,t too much more to it, but yes its the starting point of making a mould, you would then make a seat from the mould you have made from the template you have created, not impossible but to make a nice job involves mixing the gelcoat / matting/ resin so that it creates a chemical reaction to ensure a strong GRP seat.

Having seen the seats being made last weekend by Triton Seats i would recommend them totally, the quality & finish was superb :cool:

andy

[LeonN]

Don't get me rong. I realy like the GRP seats avalable but I don't think I culd make a smooth flowing enough buck to do fiberglass seats justice and I surtanley canot aford to bye them. Thankfully I am confident I can produce arches and my bosses other companey produce fiberglass flagpoles. The wiser older chap from there (that remembers the envention of glass) is going to make my nose cone. Seats out of aluminum can be made at My work. I am concurned if there are any rules regarding the thicness and grade required for seats.

[thwang]

hi leon
as long as there are no sharp corners you should be ok im in the same boat as you i do fancy making some out of alloy as i would only have to buy the the raw materials. laser time or punch would be free i,ll have to wait till you,ve made yours so im watching this one closely.
thwang
p.s i dont think there arew any roadsters with ally seats but i could be wrong

[Spikehaus]

I had my seats laser cut last week with a load of other parts for a customers job. I will post photos as soon as they get delivered. They cost about £38 each.

[LeonN]

That is cool. Wot matereal have you used? Was that price for the cuting of the aluminam or the matereal aswell?

[Spikehaus]

Aluminium - ALI5251 3.00 mm @ £49.83 Each

Mild steel - CR4 3.00 mm @ £39.16 Each

+ VAT,

[flyerncle]

I am no expert but if you can make it from ally why not thin sheet steel and use this as a mould for the f/glass.
At least you can put the release agent on steel without fear of it sticking too much, Just a thought and I have been wrong before (many times).

Good luck and Leon you have some cracking idea's man.;)

[TQ_uk]

Funnily enough I was trawling online yesterday & came across these:

http://www.ultrashieldrace.com/thumbs.php?cat=Road+Race+Seats

Got ally specs etc, but its a US site & no idea regarding UK IVA etc laws & requirements

[LeonN]

TQ thay look cool. I may phone one of theys companeys and see if thay can advise over matereals.

Flyerncle. Thanks for your compliment. As regards fiberglass. I tutched on it before. I am not making fiberglass seats as I feal to do the matereal justice thay must be real free frow form. Fiberglass cind of looks like flewed. Allthough making a buck for that sort of style is not beyond me I think it will take a lot of time and matereal. Fine if I planed on making hundreds of seats but for just two I think it wuld be cheeper to contakt one of the existing makers with molded allreay there.

I am in now dawt that thay are lighter and debatabley better looking but beyond my finances to bye or make. Aluminum hawever is in a big rack at the back of work ready for me to pluck out a sheet and start cutting up. Maby in the future I will make some GRP seats once I have pases the iva and start to fine tune my roadster. This hawever is a wile off. Quite a wile.

[flyerncle]

I think you are on to a winner with the ally seat as in the book and look forward to seeing the end product.
The site in the link should give you a few idea's too.

Once again go for it and good luck.:D

[Spikehaus]

I not have the cad file for the seats and hope to laser cut them tomorrow. I left out the seatbelt holes as I though I would cut to suit once located in the car.

Pictures coming at the weekend....

[Spikehaus]

They have arrived, I am 5"10'

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2617/4086667290_659acf75ca_m.jpg

[LeonN]

Look good man. Canot wate to see them all folded up. Are you or have you roles the edges or are you opting for another way to blunt them?

[flyerncle]

Looking good boys!Just an observation that might save some grief/dissapointment. I spent the afternoon yesterday with Spud and Handy at Saturn sports cars and he has Triton seats in his roadster in which I was taken for an awsome drive around the scenery of Cleveland, you dont get in the car you "put it on " and become a part of it and the seats are the most important bit of it as you "wear them" and if they do not fit well in the car and around all the important bits you will not be comfortable and the whole feel of the car is wrong and you will get rattled about,I am not trying to cause problems and like the idea myself of the alloy seats but think some work must go into fitting the car and the body in them before deciding to go the whole hog and make them for the car and as there is no padding in the Triton seats they are surprisingly comfortable and as I said above you wear them not sit in them.
It may be a good idea to mock them up first.

Hope this makes sense guy's.:confused:

[Spikehaus]

It's all part of the fun to go down the trial and error route. I know that personally, I will buy a shiny new set of seats for my roadster, however I am not aware of anyone who has made the steel / ali seats???

This is a perfect opportunity for an idiot like me to waste some time tying it out! :D

The laser cutting did not really cost anything as I added it to a large order I place with them.

I think the seats will be perfect for mock up and sitting in the car while I build the rest around it. Its all about the personal challenge of building what I can.

I do not really want to but any fibre glass seats in as they will get damaged easily in out workshop.

I bet the seats will be great by the time I am finished with them.....??? What this space.................:rolleyes:

[flyerncle]

Idiot,dont think so!;) Waste of time,definately not !!!!
Just an observation I thought I would share and I know you will understand where I am coming from once you are sat in the beastie.
Trial and error is the name of the Roadster game.

Watching with interest Spikehaus and if you sell any let me know.

Good luck and I know you will sort it :D .

[Spikehaus]

A quick update for anyone is is planing on using the book design for the steel / ali seat, I marked out the design ready for folding today, but decided to take a check measurement of the seat width before starting work. I soon became apparent that once folded the seat would be too wide to fit into the chassis.

I have reduced the width of the seat by 10mm. Lucky i checked or a lot of disappointment to follow!!!!

[Bonzo]

Good job you had a double check on the measurements Nick ;)

You would have been well gutted if they were welded up prior to test fitting :eek:

Look forward to seeing the end result :)

[flyerncle]

Daft question Nick,How wide is the seat base when folded as I have tried Triton wide seat and being a large ar5e I dont fit in it. I need about 20 ins ish to be comfortable or fit a seat without high sides.

[Spikehaus]

450 mm wide, but I have reduced to 440 mm, then modified the fold to suit. I know people seem concern about the ali/steel seats, but surely its simply a structure element to build the seat off??

My project is not about saving weight, with a 2.9 l V6 I may need to add some!

[flyerncle]

Cheers Nick,are you thinking of making some to sell "flat pack".

[Spikehaus]

I don't think it would cost effective to do so as the Fibreglass seats are great value, but my time is free so its cost effective for my project!

[flyerncle]

Cheers Nick,do you have the file in cad I could beg off you.

Cheers.

[Spikehaus]

got it in dxf format, pm me your email address

[flyerncle]

PM sent Nick thanks.

[Spikehaus]

Gents

I finally got round to sorting a bit more on the seats! Still not fitted but a good bit of progress. Just a few cut outs for the seat straps and some finishes!

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4008/4291318912_708cd88ebd_m.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4049/4291318802_1da42047be_m.jpg

[HandyAndy]

nice work there Nick, i think your seats are the first i,ve seen made from the plans in the book, well done mate.

are you putting any padding on the seat or leaving bare with just edge trim around the edges?

cheers
andy

[Tatey]

I have to say they do look quite good, with some extra padding and being covered by some leatherette they would look the business.

Will you be going down the expanding foam seat moulding route for that extra bit of personalisation?

[Spikehaus]

I was thinking about hot wire cutting some foam padding that would be bonded and sculpting to the seat. Then a leather / plastic coating.

[Spikehaus]

Due to a workshop move, I no longer have room to store to the steel seats I fabricated. I need to get rid of them by next Saturday at the very latest from Plymouth Devon, or I will have no choice other than to put them in the the ever increasing scrap pile. I would rather they went to a good home if they can be of any use to someone and can continue this part of my project.