Race Seats - DIY
 

Has anyone made their own race seats or no someone who has?

I haven't found a seat that will do what i want so i am looking into making my own, just wanted to see if anyone had experience doing this.

Personally... I wouldn't.

It's like making your own racing harness... or helmet... or airbags.

Tried the seat foam mod?

What do they not do that you want them to do?

Are you going to seek a SFI or FIA rating? If not you won't be making a race seat.


I've poured seats for formula cars, but that's a completely different thing.

+1 for what do you want that existing seats don't do?

Kyle (freedomgli) over at CR.net was working on making some carbon fiber or kevlar or something seats, but I dont think he ever finished.

ultrashield seats are real comfy. I went to a dealer and sat in a few cars that they were installed in and I really liked it. They are cheap to buy and the covers seemed high quality

if I could do it all over again, I'd probably have the TDR seats.

The only thing I can say is... DO NOT buy a seat unless you've sat in that model before.

I've had and sat in enough seats over the years to have found that they vary so greatly... that buying it sight unseen is EWW.

ie: Buddy club seats I've found are the golden standard for ME. They fit me like a glove and are comfy for long periods.
I picked up an Ultrashield Spec Miata seat and it Sucked for me. Shoulder harness points were below shoulder (i'm not even a tall person), side bolsters interferred with arms while driving.

Sit in the seats first... I can't emphasize it enough.

Slot of people make thief own seat, and if I can meet a sanctioning body guidlines I don't see why it would be an issue. Alot of people Make their own seats and belts.

There are some features that I want and I can go into more detail later.

Seats are safety items. No way in hell would I ever sit in a homemade race seat on track. My belts and seats are FIA cert through 2011.

Safety item really? Never thought of that.... I trust my design and fab skills alot more than some seat Made in china. As long as the nylon is stiched correctly there should not be an issue.

my shit is not made in chine. Remember that thread I made a long time ago about the guy dieing in his s2k in an HPDE?

He needs a seat to accommodate the stick in his ass.

Well that's one part of it....

Please do.

side bolsters. I find most production race seats to be a give and take between true race seat and something you can drive on the street. I find this to mostly accomplished by changing the side bolsters. Basically I have a surprisingly easy and efficient way of having removable side bolsters. A bolt set up that will keep the bolts in tensions the entire time, and removing shear from the equation.

I'd be weary of removable bolsters in a crash.


Have you had a chance to sit in a ultrashield rally seat with full harnesses on? For me it's the best cost effective compromise I've found.

The bolts would be stronger than the material the seat is made out of. The seat is bolted to the floor, I am not to worried about it.