Factory Five Racing Forum banner

Kirkey Seat Mount

17K views 27 replies 19 participants last post by  mdjr70 
#1 ·
Today I finished mounting my Kirkey vintage race seats.
Everything fit like a glove.
The only holes I had to drill was the ones to mount the Kirkey brackets to seat.
The adjustable seat tracks holes lined up perfectly with the holes in the Kirkey seat brackets.
I did have to make a custom cross over bar for the seat locks. No big deal there. The one that came with the tracks was to short.
The total cost of nuts, bolts, washers and cross over bar that didn't come with the kit/seat tracks or mounting brackets $16.







 
See less See more
4
#2 ·
Nice work Rich!

Hank
:darkbluecoupe:
 
#5 ·
Kirkey Adjustable Seat Mounting Copy Cat

Learned/Borrowed extensively from Rich A (thanks), and will do my share by providing part numbers:

-Seat tracks are Summit # SUM-G1153 (@$27.95 ea pair)
-Kirkey base mounts are Summit # KIR-99204 (@$42.95 ea pair)
-as Rich mentioned, stock latch cross connect wire is too short for our application, used 13" of 1/8" x 1/2" aluminum flat (@$7.47 for 8' at Lowe's)
-for mounting to chassis, purchased several 3/16" x 1.25" x 3' steel flats (@ 7.67 at Lowe's). intend to mount them fore and aft on the two tracks using the seat track bottom studs under the black round plastic hat covers, adding any additional bolts necessary to connect with the chassis steel (plate and 3/4" square tubing) under the cockpit floor
-about $6 of miscellaneous bolts, flat washers, nuts, and lock nuts out of Lowe's hardware bins to complete the job

Used a step drill bit for the first time ever, and found this to be the second most favorite tool discovered on this car project, second only to the angle grinder with cutoff wheel (which will be used to sheer off the extra lengths of the screws mounting the seats to the side brackets, once body is mounted and am sure seat orientation is good).

Went with adjustable seat tracks as I have no plans to road race, only occasional auto-cross and track days. Assuming that these strong seat mountings, plus 5 point safety harnesses, plus dual roll bars will be considered sufficiently safe.
 

Attachments

#6 ·
Looks good, but how much did it raise your seat by? I'm concerned about headroom, so was planning to mount mine directly on the floor.
 
#8 ·
My seat is on the floor and all the way back (but tilted a little).
There isn't tons of extra room overhead.

(actually, it is 3 washers high, so the crotch strap doesn't get squished.

Another thing to think about is the height of the kirkey seat sides you have to climb over to get in.

My seat bottom is bolted to frame rails with one bolt going into a hole tapped into one of the 6" tubes. When you put on the back brace, the whole thing isn't going anywhere.

Of course, it's going to be hard for anyone who isn't me to drive the thing...
 
#16 ·
Chaz nice idea, Thanks!
 
#17 · (Edited)
Just a heads up.

If you use a seat track/seat adjuster with dual locks (the one I used) you will need two release handles/bars per seat or you are going to have to make a custom bar that releases both locks at the same time if you mount them on the sides of the seat.

Also if you plan on using a single lock seat track/seat adjuster, the seat will have alittle play (seat twist) back and forth when braking and accelerating.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Kirkey Adjustable Seat Mounts - what about seat belt mounts?

UPDATE - CORRECTION -
For those coming to this step in their build, I need to add this correction - After taking a look at the way the Kirkey high back seats are sticking out above the chassis tubes, I will likely change my seat mounting to the way Chaz did it - mount the sliders to the sides. Updates to follow on this... Good thing drilling has not been done yet.... measure twice, drill once.... applies....



Rich A and rick8928 -
Big thanks to you guys for documenting this. I did some "dry-fitting" of my seats this weekend.

Here are some pictures of my version, driver seat shown - the seat seems very high - this is because the mounting bolts and plastic "hats" are still in place and the seats are NOT bolted in:



How about the seat belt mounting points? Did you use those, or did you have to do something different? Any pictures?

I think the left side belt mounting point is OK, but I am concerned about the right side of the driver seat mounting point - it is not in-line with the belt, and that's not good.

Left side of the driver seat looks like this, and I think this is OK, the belt is in-line with the mounting tab:


But this is the right side of the driver seat - it looks like the belt has to go around the back of the seat and then go through the hole on the side:


How did you solve this?

Thanks,
Wayne
 
#19 ·
Any updates on this? I have all of the parts and would like to install the normal way if it all fits. Being 5'8" I am ok with losing some height but they still have to fit in the car.


UPDATE - CORRECTION -
For those coming to this step in their build, I need to add this correction - After taking a look at the way the Kirkey high back seats are sticking out above the chassis tubes, I will likely change my seat mounting to the way Chaz did it - mount the sliders to the sides. Updates to follow on this... Good thing drilling has not been done yet.... measure twice, drill once.... applies....



Rich A and rick8928 -
Big thanks to you guys for documenting this. I did some "dry-fitting" of my seats this weekend.

Here are some pictures of my version, driver seat shown - the seat seems very high - this is because the mounting bolts and plastic "hats" are still in place and the seats are NOT bolted in:



How about the seat belt mounting points? Did you use those, or did you have to do something different? Any pictures?

I think the left side belt mounting point is OK, but I am concerned about the right side of the driver seat mounting point - it is not in-line with the belt, and that's not good.

Left side of the driver seat looks like this, and I think this is OK, the belt is in-line with the mounting tab:


But this is the right side of the driver seat - it looks like the belt has to go around the back of the seat and then go through the hole on the side:


How did you solve this?

Thanks,
Wayne
 
#20 ·
seats

being at this step in my build I am confused about the seats, I am using the same high back seats you guys are using. does the slides come with the kit? I looked thru boxes today but didn't see any slides to mount and adjust the seats with? do I need to purchase that separate?
thanks
matt
 
#21 ·
Kit does not include adjusters. FFR just wants you to bolt it into the floor.

jeff
 
#22 ·
I'm very inclined to just bolt it to the floor due to my height (6'3") and cost. My only issue is other people driving it. While I don't plan on having too many other people drive it, what height person do you think could comfortable still drive with the seat all the way back and on the floor?
 
#26 ·
I used the quirky seat mounts. I have it tilted all the way back and it's not tilted very much. I think it would be uncomfortable straight up. If you are mounting to the floor you will have to shim it to get any angle. To do mine I put the seat in the car with the steering wheel in place and shifter mounted. I got into the seat and had a friend with a sharpie stand next to me. I got the seat as comfortable as I could and had him mark the seat along the edge of the mounts and where the holes were. I then took them out of the car and mounted them together, then put them back in the car. If you are mounting to the floor I imagine you will have to play with some spacers to get it where you want it and then use washers to get the desired height. I highly suggest having the steering wheel and shifter in there as that will affect where you want the seat. Of course you can adjust the wheel and shifter a bit but I think it is good to have it all in there.
 
#27 ·
How to add tilt

All, I can't take credit for this, but when I bought my FFR Mk3 the prior owner had come up with what I thought was a simple and creative way to play with the tilt until he found what worked for him. Granted your not likely to change it once you set it, but... So note in the image below how the bolt to the left is stationary. The holes to the right are on the same radius and allow the seat to pivot backward or forward.

@Cobrakai - personally I love my Kirkey seats for autocross. However I found them to be too uncomfortable for if after a couple hours of driving (there's only a 1/2" of padding in the butt / lumbar area), so I just purchased a set of Cobra RS Roadster seats for general cruising. Once I get them, my goal is to design a bracket that can bolt to either the Kirkey or the Cobra seats. Not entirely sure this is even possible, but that's the plan for the moment. This would allow me to swap out as needed.

 
#28 · (Edited)
In order to get adequate leg room I mounted my seats on the floor with the seats as far back as possible. The angle is perfectly comfortable. It is important to mount the seats with the body ON since the body creates a narrower space in the rear left driver side. My seats are right against the body, essentially wedged in as far back as possible. The pass side is not as much of an issue. I had to bend the wings in some to get the seats to mount as far back as possible due to this narrowness of the body issue. Also, mounting on the floor is the only option for me since I'm 6'0" and if I were any higher my head could contact the roll bars in a crash. I now have about 2" from the top of my head to the bottom of the roll bars, which is minimum from a safety standpoint. This is the most important factor to consider when mounting the seats. The reality is that once you get in the car and actually drive it you're going to need all the room you can get unless you're really small… I never let anybody but me drive my car. Also, I bought a piece of special high density foam from Kirkey and added it under the bottom just to give a little padding without adding give which would be unsafe.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top