OlderThanMe Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 I had this idea since my seats are shot... why not just remove all the junk from the stock seat and build a seat off the stock frame that had big side bolsters? I think it would be comfortable and easy to do. Has anyone done this rather than buying new seats? I was looking at kirkey seats but I think it would be a little hard to get into unless you had a quick disconnect steering wheel. plus it would be almost free to modify the stock seats since I am in welding school and I can get some small steel tubing for cheap and use a TIG welder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 A friend of mine did this like 15 or 20 years ago. They stripped a Z seat, added two big huge bolsters made from round tubing, covered them in foam and they literally stuck out of the normal upholstery. He called it "The Iron Maiden" and they were in his 510 for a long time until I think he couldn't fit between the bolsters anymore. I sat in it a couple times and it was really uncomfortable, but I think that was more because of how he did it and the angle that the bolsters were at, not a reflection on the idea itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted March 22, 2006 Author Share Posted March 22, 2006 I would definitely want it to be comfortable and I would probally build an aluminium body for it (I have a 4x8 sheet of .063 (1/16"), 3003 series aluminium for my dash project). I would just build some side bplsters and then cover it in aluminium and then get some really dense foam to cover it...Basically make a kirkey seat off of the stock frame. I will probably pull the seat apart this weekend to asess the situation. I had the frame welded at a muffler shop for $15 when I bought the car because it was busted in one spot. I'll probably grind out their welds and section in a new piece of tubing and TIG weld it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted March 22, 2006 Author Share Posted March 22, 2006 I mean why pay $$$ for seats when you already have the most of the materials and can make it to fit your body? I would rather spend $$$ on some camber plates that I will need soon rather than buy some cheap ebay seats... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austenp405 Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 I don't think that there is anyone that is going to argue you can't do it, but how pretty do you want it to be? Obviously if you go adding pieces here and there, then the stock upholstery isn't going to cover your new additions. Duct tape does make a nice friction surface, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted March 22, 2006 Author Share Posted March 22, 2006 I was not planing on using any of the stock upholstry...just using the frame...and I plan on riveting all of the aluminium to the steel tubing with little tabs welded onto the steel. it doesn't have to be pretty but the aluminium will look good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad-ManQ45 Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 Why not use the stock seats, then use garbage bags to hold the spray in expandable foam to get them form fitted (spray the stuff in and before it dries sit in the seeat for an exact fit)? You can have a lot of excess and then shape/shave the excess foam off and contour the bolsters and edges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted March 22, 2006 Author Share Posted March 22, 2006 That is a good idea brad...I would still need to put padding on top of the aluminium and I haven't found a foam that I thought was dense enough. how would that spray foam hold up? I would think that it would compress after a while. I think that could work very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 tube80z had a post a while back where he talked about these beads that were specifically for molding seat foam. I think the idea was pretty much the same. Bag over seat, put the beads and the catalyst in, sit in the seat and it would expand around you. Normal expanding foam is stiff and wouldn't make good padding. You can also buy upholstery foam from an upholstery store, and you can cut it with one of those 70's electric carving knives, if you remember those... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted March 22, 2006 Author Share Posted March 22, 2006 as my name implies My Z is older than me...by a lot...but I think we have one of those cutters for cutting styrofoam around here somewhere. infact the day I bought my Z it was twice my age. I bought it the day before I turned 16...with my own money...that was about 2 years and 11k miles ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spotfitz Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 This afternoon I am dropping off my seats('94 Eclipse seats) to have them redone. The seats themselves are fine, as for shape, but the fabric got screwed up when the car was in paint jail. It is going to cost about $225 per seat to have them redone in vinyl. Even after I managed to remake all the interior vinyl by hand, including the rear strut towers all sewn together(double back stitched: http://album.hybridz.org/showphoto.php?photo=4354&cat=500&ppuser=7958 ) in one piece per side, I didn't think I could cover the seats and make them look good. Way to many curves to consider. Money well spent in having someone else do it. If you feel you can do it, I say go for it! Making your own seats from the stock frames and then forming the padding to your body and then making the coverings is going to take alot of time and money. How much material and time would be involved in doing this with the stock seats? You have to figure the padding, bracing, the fabric and time involved. Is this cost affective? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted March 22, 2006 Author Share Posted March 22, 2006 I don't think I am going to cover the entire seat in fabric. I was thinking the bottom and bolsters I could cover with leather and leave the other parts bare aluminium. These seats are going to be made for function rather than looks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wingnutthehutt Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 Why not just buy a used dirt racing seat and modify that a little bit? It sounds like that's the look you're going for. The circle track seats are not too uncomfortable, especially if you upholster them right, and they come in different sizes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2126 Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 olderthanme, If you haven't checked, you can buy new entry level race seats for about $200.00 each! I would imagine these would be less $$$ than the time and materials it will take to fab and recover customized stock seats......and with no warranty to boot! Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted March 22, 2006 Author Share Posted March 22, 2006 yeah but it is soo much cheaper to DIY!!! I mean I would rather spend the $400 on camber plates rather than seats...I may even build my own camber plates! I have looked at kirkey seats but I have a small flow of cash right now...and I already have enough aluminium to do a lot of stuff for my car... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK-Z Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 Lol. I have a bucket for a seat right now literally lol. Its just in there so I can move the car around the yard untill I'm done with the seats. lol. I cut it in half and put 2 bolts in it to bolt it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted March 22, 2006 Author Share Posted March 22, 2006 that's funny! but I don't think it would be strong enough for my driving...maybe yours but definitely not mine!!! J/K...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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