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  Nov. 20, 2010 8:22 p.m. vintagegirl628 None

  Hi everyone...

  Well, last August I attended the Monterey Historics @ Laguna Seca and it's safe to say I've been bitten - if not infected - with the racing bug. Since then I've attended as many events as possible.

  This last week I purchased my first project car and am embarking on a restoration/conversion to race car of a 1964 Volvo P1800S. It's a long road ahead of me, I know but the whole racing conversion is new to me so I have a ton of questions. I was pointed to a couple forums - this being one of them - for answers.

  My first question is how do you decide what racing seats to put in a vintage car? Being comfortable is a good rule for a seat but are there other things to consider?

  Thanks! ~Sasha

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  Nov. 20, 2010 9:33 p.m. BoxheadTim Dork

  My list would go something like this:

  • Comfortable with good fit, ie no sliding around, but you also don't want it to be an 'interference fit'.
  • Safe. Safe. Safe. Oh, and safe with all the required safety approvals for whatever class you run in.
  • Period looking might come in handy if you're not going for the pro-touring look, but that would be a distant third for me.

  A good seat will cost a significant chunk of change but IME it's worth it.

  Sanity is vastly overrated.

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  Nov. 21, 2010 10:56 p.m. dougie Reader

  Oh it's a slippery slope your heading down. The vintage bug bites hard, but your in a good area for help. I have Vintage 31 light weight aluminum seats in my big Healey vintage racer from Scott Brown, a top MGA vintage racer from Sonoma, CA. A lot of Porsche and LBC owners use them for the reasons Tim mentioned. You can see them close-up at GRL's Sonoma Historic's this June at Infineon Raceway. http://www.vintage31.com/products.html

  Dougie

  

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  Nov. 22, 2010 8:24 a.m. Gary Reader

  Your Vintage 31 seats are beautiful Doug. I think they look much better on a vintage race car than modern high-back racing seats like Kirkey. Some people would probably argue that the high-back seats are safer, but I assume you have a padded head restraint welded to the roll bar. I’ve had my eye on a pair of Vintage 31 seats for my early Spitfire road car since the first time I saw them a few years ago. They may be pricey, but they’re perfect for the right vintage look. I have 2 questions: The seat covers look great, where did they come from? And second, how did you mount the seats to the floor, commercial brackets or custom?

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  Nov. 22, 2010 8:34 a.m. BoxheadTim Dork

  dougie wrote: You can see them close-up at GRL's Sonoma Historic's this June at Infineon Raceway.

  You're planning to go again the coming year? So are we (as spectators)...

  Sanity is vastly overrated.

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  Nov. 22, 2010 12:26 p.m. Vince New Reader

  All good points and of course you need to consider how they'll fit in your car. The narrow GT6+ for instance limited my available choices. You might want to consider a seat that will hug your sides to help you with the GForces of cornering too. Depending or the design of cage you can also consider integrating the seat mount into the cage so that it is independant of the body of the car just for added safety. Lot's of things to consider for sure.... Best of luck!

  Vince

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  Nov. 23, 2010 1:09 a.m. dougie Reader

  Gary - I'm luckey to have a very skilled custom interior shop just up the road. http://www.guysinteriors.com/contact.html I worked with Guy on designs that would look similar to the original style used on the AH 100-S. I develop my own adaptor to fit these seats onto the stock Austin-Healey adjustable seat mounts. These custom aluminum seats are very narrow and hold you nice and tight, you just can't be a fat-a##. I've been very happy with them, plus Scott & Ed at Vintage 31 are pretty cool guys and wicked good vintage racers.

  Dougie

  

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  Nov. 23, 2010 1:27 a.m. dougie Reader

  Tim - I plan to be there this year. Great event, great track, and great area of NoCal. GRL runs a terrific race weekend. There's an additional day of practice (Friday) this year which will be a nice change. I'm really looking forward to it. Still thinking of Monterey too.

  Dougie

  

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