• From: Houston, Tx
  • Registered: 2009-08-24
  • Posts: 490

Topic: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

Adding up the total cost of everything that a racing seat entails, (seat, harness, mounting brackets, harness mountings, etc.) I am quickly approaching 1000 bucks for new Sparco stuff.  Are there other resources I should be looking at to get a seat or is this a normal price range for a racing seat set-up?

El Capitan de Substandard Racing -  Houston, Tx
2009 Yee Haw! It's Lemons Texas: 1973 Gremlin - Gremwow!
2010 Gator-O-Rama: 1973 Gremlin - Gremlin Express, Lassiez le Crapheaps Roulette - Gremlin - Most Heroic Fix
http://substandardracing.blogspot.com/

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  • From: Portland
  • Registered: 2009-05-02
  • Posts: 568

Re: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

komododave wrote:

Adding up the total cost of everything that a racing seat entails, (seat, harness, mounting brackets, harness mountings, etc.) I am quickly approaching 1000 bucks for new Sparco stuff.  Are there other resources I should be looking at to get a seat or is this a normal price range for a racing seat set-up?

craigslist!  although, 1000 split 4 ways to not die in a car wreck is a bargain

Matt
Free Range Racing
  • From: Houston, Tx
  • Registered: 2009-08-24
  • Posts: 490

Re: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

Actually, it's 6 ways, so your argument is valid.  We have some people on the team kvetching about the fact that  my 1000 bucks per person cost estimate is being crossed by expesive safety equipment.  I keep telling them that the next race will be cheap-o-cheapy after paying for all this stuff now, but they don't listen.  We're aproaching 1250 per person with everything involved.

El Capitan de Substandard Racing -  Houston, Tx
2009 Yee Haw! It's Lemons Texas: 1973 Gremlin - Gremwow!
2010 Gator-O-Rama: 1973 Gremlin - Gremlin Express, Lassiez le Crapheaps Roulette - Gremlin - Most Heroic Fix
http://substandardracing.blogspot.com/

komododave's Website

  • Registered: 2009-04-30
  • Posts: 287

Re: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

komododave wrote:

We're aproaching 1250 per person with everything involved.

Welcome to Lemons!

Fall South 09- 23rd place
Southern Discomfort '10 Magnum PU- 5th place
Spring South '10- 1st...... LOSER!
  • sergio
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Re: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

ecugrad wrote:
komododave wrote:

We're aproaching 1250 per person with everything involved.

Welcome to Lemons!

But but they are $500 cars............

  • From: St Catharines, Ontario
  • Registered: 2009-07-16
  • Posts: 142

Re: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

Buy a used aluminum raceseat...  Like a Kirkey seat..

Team Magnum PI ness  #357  -

106th place at Nelson Ledges - The Lamest Days
-oil pressure failure leading to engine failure

MagnumPI's Website

  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 96

Re: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

Corbeau FX $300, double locking rails $100+, Simson belts $114

sawinatthewheel...sometimes too much, sometimes not enough...just like life
  • From: Tampa, FL USA
  • Registered: 2009-05-02
  • Posts: 248

Re: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

ecugrad wrote:
komododave wrote:

We're aproaching 1250 per person with everything involved.

Welcome to Lemons!

Not just "Welcome to Lemons... but welcome to racing in general!"  Ain't nothing cheap.  If you go cheap, or cut corners, you die.  Just ask Dale Sr.

We are the people your parents warned you about.

Tajracing45's Website

9 Reply by CaptainRat (edited by CaptainRat 2009-08-26 02:33 PM)

  • From: Charlotte, NC
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 113

Re: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

MagnumPI wrote:

Buy a used aluminum raceseat...  Like a Kirkey seat..

I agree, that's what we run.

Brand new Kirkey's are around $150 at Summit Racing.  A cam lock harness is another $150.  What are you racing in that is upwards of a grand?  There is cheap stuff that's unsafe, but then there's cheap stuff that's just not luxurious.

Mike
Lab Rats Motorsports
1988 Mitsubishi/Dodge/Fiat Colt Carpocalypse Edition
  • From: Emeryville CA
  • Registered: 2009-04-30
  • Posts: 572

Re: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

komododave wrote:

Actually, it's 6 ways, so your argument is valid.  We have some people on the team kvetching about the fact that  my 1000 bucks per person cost estimate is being crossed by expesive safety equipment.  I keep telling them that the next race will be cheap-o-cheapy after paying for all this stuff now, but they don't listen.  We're aproaching 1250 per person with everything involved.

Getting over that first hump is the hardest part. It's easy from there out....

Nick_LemonsHQ's Website

  • Registered: 2009-07-19
  • Posts: 1,585

Re: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

OMP seats are nice, and FIA certified, so no back brace required. The basic TRS seat runs $339 new from SafeDrives, and if you have any large team members (6'2"@275 here), then the OMP Extra for $499 is a steal. It's the most comfortable racing seat that I've ever sat in. I drive hundreds of miles to/from events and I love it. They bolt to standard inexpensive Sparco sliders/mounts, so it took me less than 10 minutes to get the seats securely mounted in the car.

Everybody grab your brooms, it's shenanigans!
  • Troy
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Re: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

Nick_LeMonsHQ wrote:
komododave wrote:

Actually, it's 6 ways, so your argument is valid.  We have some people on the team kvetching about the fact that  my 1000 bucks per person cost estimate is being crossed by expesive safety equipment.  I keep telling them that the next race will be cheap-o-cheapy after paying for all this stuff now, but they don't listen.  We're aproaching 1250 per person with everything involved.

Getting over that first hump is the hardest part. It's easy from there out....

That easy part can come any time now.  It's easier but there are still difficulties.  Like getting team members to pay on time.  When are our fees due for Yee Haw 2009?

Regarding seats, we have a pair of Kirkey Pro Drags (yes, we have a passenger seat), I bought both used from Craigslist and eBay.  One thing to remember about Kirkey's is the covers are sold separately for about an additional $100.

We started with Latch Links, the belts weren't that expensive but then we needed tabs to weld to the car to bolt them too.  Them we realized we needed wrap arounds up top so return shipping + new shipping cause we were down to the wire added another $30 or so.

If you are in the Houston area, Smiley's is on the north side of town.  theyu are mainly a cirle track shop.  They carry Kirkey and Ultra Shied seats, most of your personal safety gear and I am pretty sure they have harnesses too.  Their prices seem to be inline with Summit.

I bought Nismo Clip in Cam Locks off eBay early this year.  They came with the hardware and were dated 12/08.  I think they were around $80 each.

There seems to be a lot of misconceptions (denial) about what it costs to build one of these cars.

Our $500 car would have only been about $350 if it didn't have several thousand dollars of safety gear.

Troy

#35 LRE
1973 Datsun 240Z

13 Reply by TeamPaisley (edited by TeamPaisley 2009-08-27 05:01 AM)

  • From: North East
  • Registered: 2009-07-27
  • Posts: 116

Re: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

Look here, Looks like under $170 for everything! "not including the belts"

http://www.jegs.com/p/JEGS/JEGS-Pro-Hig … 7/10002/-1

  • From: Knoxville, TN
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 76

Re: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

Go to pull-a-part/pick-a-part, get a seat from a 240sx for $24.68. Has large side-bolsters and a hole for the shoulder harness. Should be plenty comfortable, too. Is it as safe as a OMP seat? No. Way cheaper and unlikely to fail (especially if you secure the seatback to the main hoop of the cage. Also the bracket/slider sits very low, so dont worry about head clearance.

theallpowerfulme's Website

  • From: ny
  • Registered: 2009-05-15
  • Posts: 525

Re: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

theallpowerfulme wrote:

Go to pull-a-part/pick-a-part, get a seat from a 240sx for $24.68. Has large side-bolsters and a hole for the shoulder harness. Should be plenty comfortable, too. Is it as safe as a OMP seat? No. Way cheaper and unlikely to fail (especially if you secure the seatback to the main hoop of the cage. Also the bracket/slider sits very low, so dont worry about head clearance.

make sure the padding isn't shot in the side bolster though.  i autocrossed a friend of mine's 240 and my kidney was killing me for a week afterward from that damned seat

  • From: Toronto, Ontario
  • Registered: 2009-05-03
  • Posts: 1,114

Re: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

Great tip! Any issues adapting the 240's seat mounts to another car?

Jim "Endo" Anderton
30 years of racing and still not Brambilla.....
  • From: Knoxville, TN
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 76

Re: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

eljefe17 wrote:

make sure the padding isn't shot in the side bolster though.  i autocrossed a friend of mine's 240 and my kidney was killing me for a week afterward from that damned seat

The padding was gone on mine as well, but I sourced some foam and stitched the fabric together with zip ties. Worked great!

jimeditorial wrote:

Great tip! Any issues adapting the 240's seat mounts to another car?

I was able to adapt the mounts to an SVX with only slight modification (had to move one of the bolt holes 1.5 inches. The main concern is that three of the four bolt holes mount to the floor (horizontal-ish-ly), while the fourth mounts to the trans tunnel (vertical-ish-ly). The subaru seat mounted virtually the same way, so I was ok. Other cars may require some fab work to that fourth mount, but hey, you are likely fabbing everything else anyway!

theallpowerfulme's Website

  • Troy
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  • From: Houston, TX
  • Registered: 2009-04-30
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Re: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

TeamPaisley wrote:

Look here, Looks like under $170 for everything! "not including the belts"

http://www.jegs.com/p/JEGS/JEGS-Pro-Hig … 7/10002/-1

Those seats are not very good or comfotrable.

Troy

#35 LRE
1973 Datsun 240Z
  • From: Clover, SC
  • Registered: 2009-05-13
  • Posts: 205

Re: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

CaptainRat wrote:
MagnumPI wrote:

Buy a used aluminum raceseat...  Like a Kirkey seat..

I agree, that's what we run.

Brand new Kirkey's are around $150 at Summit Racing.  A cam lock harness is another $150.  What are you racing in that is upwards of a grand?  There is cheap stuff that's unsafe, but then there's cheap stuff that's just not luxurious.

It is actually a Butler Built, but hey, what's the difference? 

www.racingjunk.com may have some stuff, if not definitely ebay or craigslist it up.

"Sharp as Bear Claws and Slicker Than Goose Shit"
Lab Rats Motorsports
1990 VW Jetta
Charlotte, NC
  • From: Houston, Tx
  • Registered: 2009-08-24
  • Posts: 490

Re: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

Awesome! All these responses!! 

TeamPaisley wrote:

Look here, Looks like under $170 for everything! "not including the belts"

http://www.jegs.com/p/JEGS/JEGS-Pro-Hig … 7/10002/-1

One guy was pulling for this seat but I thought it looked uncomfortable.  I almost went with it cause it was cheap.   Thanks for the tip.

rmcdaniels wrote:

OMP seats are nice, and FIA certified, so no back brace required. The basic TRS seat runs $339 new from SafeDrives, and if you have any large team members (6'2"@275 here), then the OMP Extra for $499 is a steal. It's the most comfortable racing seat that I've ever sat in. I drive hundreds of miles to/from events and I love it. They bolt to standard inexpensive Sparco sliders/mounts, so it took me less than 10 minutes to get the seats securely mounted in the car.

Some of us are along that persuasion so this might be the best one for us.  Bigger guy seats are rough to find.

Thanks for all your help so far.  Keep on keepin on.

El Capitan de Substandard Racing -  Houston, Tx
2009 Yee Haw! It's Lemons Texas: 1973 Gremlin - Gremwow!
2010 Gator-O-Rama: 1973 Gremlin - Gremlin Express, Lassiez le Crapheaps Roulette - Gremlin - Most Heroic Fix
http://substandardracing.blogspot.com/

komododave's Website

21 Reply by TeamPaisley (edited by TeamPaisley 2009-08-28 03:30 PM)

  • From: North East
  • Registered: 2009-07-27
  • Posts: 116

Re: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

Troy wrote:
TeamPaisley wrote:

Look here, Looks like under $170 for everything! "not including the belts"

http://www.jegs.com/p/JEGS/JEGS-Pro-Hig … 7/10002/-1

Those seats are not very good or comfotrable.

Its a racecar seat, not a pillow.

  • From: Knoxville, TN
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 76

Re: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

TeamPaisley wrote:

Its a racecar seat, not a pillow.

You'll wish it was a pillow after the first 30min or less.

theallpowerfulme's Website

  • Troy
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  • From: Houston, TX
  • Registered: 2009-04-30
  • Posts: 1,634

Re: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

theallpowerfulme wrote:
TeamPaisley wrote:

Its a racecar seat, not a pillow.

You'll wish it was a pillow after the first 30min or less.

We sorta have an extra pillow for our seat too.  It's about a 2" high density foam booster for a short driver.

We used an RCI drag bucket for the first race.  After a while it isn't very comfortable.

On the safety side, the cut outs for the harnesses were really too low for most drivers and it scrunched your back if the belts were real tight like they are supposed to be.

The reason for our booster, our short driver was too low for the belts since the cut outs were kinda high on the Kirkey.  The Kirkey ain't no Lazy Boy though.

Most races are 30 minutes or less so comfort is less of an issue.  If your pulling 1+ hour stints, comfort will help keep you more alert and focused on driving.

Troy

#35 LRE
1973 Datsun 240Z
  • From: SF Bay Area
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 146

Re: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

The aluminum racing seat in our car has about 1/2" of dense foam padding on it, plus slightly more built into the cover.  I never noticed any discomfort from it in our 2 hour stints at Reno...

http://TeamStimulusPackage.blogspot.com

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  • Mulry
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  • From: Dallas, TX
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 4,607

Re: Racing seat procurement on the cheap-o

We have a Kirkey intermediate road race seat in our car and I was really surprised at how comfortable it was with just the stock cover. Another bonus is that you can order it in several different widths; the 17" width fit even our stockiest driver and still fit in the relatively narrow confines of our salaryman special MR2. Cheers and good luck.

Pat Mulry, TARP Racing #67

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