Aluminum Driver's Seat In ERA FIA ?

tkb289 · #1 (**permalink**) 02-16-2010, 07:58 PM

Any tall guys out there running with an aluminum driver's seat (Kirkey or other?) to get more room behind the wheel?

ERA has some very nice street seats that can be tailored for tall drives and bolted to the floor ... just wondering if anyone has gone the aluminum race seat approach for more room in an ERA ?

If so ...

- Which seat
- Bare or covered
- How is it mounted in the car
- How much 'room' was gained?

Thanks!

Got the Bug · #2 (**permalink**) 02-16-2010, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tkb289

Any tall guys out there running with an aluminum driver's seat (Kirkey or other?) to get more room behind the wheel?

ERA has some very nice street seats that can be tailored for tall drives and bolted to the floor ... just wondering if anyone has gone the aluminum race seat approach for more room in an ERA ?

If so ...

- Which seat
- Bare or covered
- How is it mounted in the car
- How much 'room' was gained?

Thanks!

Have you sat in the seat that Dave Brown has in his Kirkham? I'm not sure what brand it is, but looks like it might be a Kirkey.

tkb289 · #3 (**permalink**) 02-16-2010, 10:21 PM

Doug,

Dave gave me a very nice ride in his Krikham, but I have not had a test sit on the left side of his car. I'll have to ask him what seat he is running and see about a test sit when he gets his car back ... I believe the motor is close to going back in after some upgrades. Thanks for the lead.

LMH · #4 (**permalink**) 02-16-2010, 11:19 PM

Steve Sunshine's Ken Miles replica seat. Top Notch!
Larry

RICK LAKE · #5 (**permalink**) 02-17-2010, 04:07 AM

tkb289 I have mine bolted to the floor with extra supports for my extra wieght. The seat is very comfortable with the extra pads installed in the right places and snapped. The seat covers can be removed and washed. My legs don't fall asleep while in the car and racing. I do 98% of autocross and road racing. The seat that came with th car is also very comfortable with the adjuster for location. Cruising it's great, racing even with 5 straps on you I slide around in it. My Kirkey is 10 years old. no problems. It doesn't look right in the cobra but the safety issue rules out over looking pretty or perfect to an original car. I think most serious racers are running this kind of seat in there cars. Get the right size to fit the hips or you will not fit or be flopping around in the seat. They have different seat cover colors and custom ones if you want.

Rick L.

Dangerous Doug · #6 (**permalink**) 02-17-2010, 02:55 PM

Tim: Saw this recently on summitracing.com:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/KIR-41900V/

Covered or uncovered? I don't know about you, but I don't think my butt could handle an uncovered aluminum seat...

DD

ack fia · #7 (**permalink**) 02-17-2010, 03:24 PM

I bolted the seat in my ERA FIA directly to the floor to get my head under the roll bar. No padding either. It is hard but track sessions are only 20 minutes at a time. I plan to get a Kirkey vintage soon.

jeffy · #8 (**permalink**) 02-17-2010, 04:30 PM

About halfway down on the linked page, there begins an interesting discussion of the Ken Miles and the Kirkey seats:

http://www.kmsac.com/forum/index.php?topic=278.450

Be sure to keep reading beyond the first page, because it goes on in detail about the individual inserts you can make for the Kirkey.

FIA-ERA · #9 (**permalink**) 02-17-2010, 05:31 PM

Hey Tim, I've installed the Kirkey Vintage buckets in my FIA. They do look a little different but not bad in my opinion. They do have the "vinyl/ leather feel" but the small hump in the crotch I wish wasn't there. BUT, only people on this website could tell you they don't belong. The seats are very comfortable and I really wanted an aluminum seat for "safer" reasons if you will. I wanted a seat that would really bolster you down and lock you in. The sides are a little higher than normal too. The Ken Miles seat are nice too, just pricier for all the right reasons. I did chose the largest size 1900V? of Kirkey seats and they really just barely fit in there (side to side). They do offer some extra leg room though. I could have put the battery behind the seats if I had known better, there's that much extra room. I did have to make my own brackets and that was a challenge but well worth it. The original seats (non FIA) have too much padding and are really just a couple of round tubes for support. The FIA seat was nice but still too high for me. Like others have said my butt is about 1 1/2 inches off the floor. I will try and posts some pics if I can. Thanks, Matt.

SF_SN888KE · #10 (**permalink**) 02-17-2010, 08:31 PM

There are some vintage aluminum Bomber Seats on eBay.
http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=bom...r+seats&_rdc=1
Also some from Speedway Motors
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Produc...seats&deptId=0
The incline angle is probalby less than the Kirkey, and the width?

tkb289 · #11 (**permalink**) 02-17-2010, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RICK LAKE

tkb289 I have mine bolted to the floor with extra supports for my extra wieght. The seat is very comfortable with the extra pads installed in the right places and snapped. The seat covers can be removed and washed. My legs don't fall asleep while in the car and racing. I do 98% of autocross and road racing. The seat that came with th car is also very comfortable with the adjuster for location. Cruising it's great, racing even with 5 straps on you I slide around in it. My Kirkey is 10 years old. no problems. It doesn't look right in the cobra but the safety issue rules out over looking pretty or perfect to an original car. I think most serious racers are running this kind of seat in there cars. Get the right size to fit the hips or you will not fit or be flopping around in the seat. They have different seat cover colors and custom ones if you want.

Rick L.

Rick

Did you have to modify the Kirkey to get it to fit? The seat looks pretty wide. Do you recall what model number seat you have? Thanks.

tkb289 · #12 (**permalink**) 02-17-2010, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dangerous Doug

Tim: Saw this recently on summitracing.com:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/KIR-41900V/

Covered or uncovered? I don't know about you, but I don't think my butt could handle an uncovered aluminum seat...

DD

Doug,

The seat looks good ... but some 'butt' padding would be in order, otherwise on a cold day it would be like sitting in a football stadium.

tkb289 · #13 (**permalink**) 02-17-2010, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ack fia

I bolted the seat in my ERA FIA directly to the floor to get my head under the roll bar. No padding either. It is hard but track sessions are only 20 minutes at a time. I plan to get a Kirkey vintage soon.

ack,

So, did you use the fiberglass race seat the came with the car and just take out all of the padding?

Probably OK for racing, but I would imagine on a long drive, some padding would be necessary.

tkb289 · #14 (**permalink**) 02-17-2010, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffy

About halfway down on the linked page, there begins an interesting discussion of the Ken Miles and the Kirkey seats:

http://www.kmsac.com/forum/index.php?topic=278.450

Be sure to keep reading beyond the first page, because it goes on in detail about the individual inserts you can make for the Kirkey.

Jeff,

Cool article, they cut the seat in half, pulled 1.5" of width out and then made a custom liner, nice! Seems like a lot of work, but a nice end result.

tkb289 · #15 (**permalink**) 02-17-2010, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIA-ERA

Hey Tim, I've installed the Kirkey Vintage buckets in my FIA. They do look a little different but not bad in my opinion. They do have the "vinyl/ leather feel" but the small hump in the crotch I wish wasn't there. BUT, only people on this website could tell you they don't belong. The seats are very comfortable and I really wanted an aluminum seat for "safer" reasons if you will. I wanted a seat that would really bolster you down and lock you in. The sides are a little higher than normal too. The Ken Miles seat are nice too, just pricier for all the right reasons. I did chose the largest size 1900V? of Kirkey seats and they really just barely fit in there (side to side). They do offer some extra leg room though. I could have put the battery behind the seats if I had known better, there's that much extra room. I did have to make my own brackets and that was a challenge but well worth it. The original seats (non FIA) have too much padding and are really just a couple of round tubes for support. The FIA seat was nice but still too high for me. Like others have said my butt is about 1 1/2 inches off the floor. I will try and posts some pics if I can. Thanks, Matt.

Matt,

Would love to see some photos. Sounds like you have a Kirkey seat for the passenger as well?

I have not seen a Kirkey seat up close, but what is the 'small hump in the crotch' from?

Bottom line (so to speak) , I would like to sit in the car, not on the car!

jeffy · #16 (**permalink**) 02-18-2010, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tkb289

Jeff,

Cool article, they cut the seat in half, pulled 1.5" of width out .

That seemed a little silly, because you can order it in various widths, but, as you can tell, that guy went way overboard on everything.

ack fia · #17 (**permalink**) 02-19-2010, 08:59 AM

I used the ERA FIA seats without any padding. They hold you pretty good but the Kirkey Vintage is probably better. The bomber seats don't look much different than the ERA's (only aluminum, not glass).
My seat arrangement is hard on my butt but as I said, the track events are only 20 minutes. If I were using it on the road I would go with regular Cobra seats. Probably would buy some of the new ERA steel tube units.
The best originality look (IMO) is s Kirky Vintage on the left and a leather standard seat on the right.

Dangerous Doug · #18 (**permalink**) 02-19-2010, 04:40 PM

Tim: Here's another source for vintage look seats: http://www.classiccarseats.com/

Very nice, but the look pricey.

DD

FIA-ERA · #19 (**permalink**) 02-19-2010, 07:30 PM

Hey Tim, All of my pics were on my computer that just blew up, literally. I will try and get some more pics posted soon. My computer geek is going out of town so it will be a few days. The hump is extra padding to lock in your bum. The seats are very well made and the only draw back is making the mounting bracket. I made mine and it sits about 1 1/2 inches off the floor. Mine are the largest size available and the width is close but workable. I'm pretty short legged (30" in seam) so I have to sit pretty close to the wheel just to reach the darn pedals! I will get some photo's soon. Matt

tkb289 · #20 (**permalink**) 02-21-2010, 12:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ack fia

I used the ERA FIA seats without any padding. They hold you pretty good but the Kirkey Vintage is probably better. The bomber seats don't look much different than the ERA's (only aluminum, not glass).
My seat arrangement is hard on my butt but as I said, the track events are only 20 minutes. If I were using it on the road I would go with regular Cobra seats. Probably would buy some of the new ERA steel tube units.
The best originality look (IMO) is s Kirky Vintage on the left and a leather standard seat on the right.

Good idea, two different seats might be the way to go ... a low to the floor special seat on the driver's side and a traditional Cobra seat on the passenger's. Functional and a good looking combination.