I have used a number of different seats over the last 15 years and found that a good fit is the most important feature.

Seat mounting is a critical safety feature that is ignored by tech. It is your personal responsibility to have it mounted so it cannot move during a severe accident.

DO NOT bolt it to the floor pan. These cars are notoriously weak in this area.

Buy the one that fits you best.

SvoChuck wrote:


Sorry Chuck, I'll make sure I'm more vigilant!

Jim, I am interested in seeing what setup you run as well, I remember seeing butler seats on racingjunk a few months ago and it got me interested.

Thanks for all the responses so far, I'll certainly try to get to a shop and fit myself to a few different seats. I will say I like the idea of the full containment, but I'm not unwilling to go with a standard seat either.

I'm sure a sit down in a seat is what would be best, but I'm afraid that after sitting in my ejection seat with a chute harness, survival vest LBE, and all the restraints, anything short of a plywood box will be infinitely more comfortable and I won't be as picky as I should be.

Any recommendations on race shops in the Dallas/Ft Worth area?

Thanks again guys!

Ryan, while the seat is out, inspect the floor very carefully. The floors of these cars tend to buckle and tear over time. I always recommend reinforcing the floor and tieing-into the tunnel and rocker (and cage, if legal) rather than relying on the 15 year-old floor sheetmetal.

Hank

I'm with JF. More and more often now, you're seeing the 'NASCAR' style (for lack of a better term) seats in road/sports racers.

Never seen Joie installed in a sports type car but have seen them at a couple of safety equipment seminars and they are first rate. After my next bank robbery. Nice.

Take a look at the modular Kirkey 53 series. Almost a custom fit. Probably the next seat I buy. Series 45 if it fits you is cheaper. Butler Advantage series. Ultrashield Road Race Halo is what I currently have in the car.

Hank is exactly correct. Early chassis will at least be cracked around the driver left rear mount area. Would never mount to the oem points on an early. Late chassis are much stronger. Used 6 instead of 4 mount points. Considering the late cars inside seat-belt attached to the seat and not the tunnel and they had to pass crash test you might use em. But the better way is as Hank described.

Guys always complain about the cost. The cheaper seats above are slightly less than a set of tires. The high end about twice. I figure I'm worth more than a single set on a bad day and more than 2 sets on a good day. Maybe.

What does your wife/girl friend say about your worth?

Big Dog

Nice!

Big Dog wrote:



I'll take a look at the Kirby as well, but those Butler's are starting to look more and more like what I had in mind. I'll need to get a quick release hub, but I'm all about making sure I've got quality safety equipment.

What are the most common seat angles? I think 10 degrees would be too vertical (like my ejection seat) but I tend to drive my own cars with the seats more upright than most.

I'll ask the previous owner how he had the seat mounted, if it's floorpan, I'll get it changed to the tunnels ASAP.