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 Post subject: Seats, Kirkey Vs. Tillet
PostPosted: March 23, 2013, 12:43 pm 
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Joined: December 19, 2006, 11:02 pm
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Location: Willingboro, NJ
Has anyone experienced Kirkey and/or Tillet seats in a 7? I'm comparing the Tillet B6F, which has a 30 degree layback and head-rest positioned for helmet clearance with Kirkey, ButlerBuilt or Ultra Shield aluminum seats which have less layback (18-25 degrees) and no apparent "helmet hunch" accommodation (it's tough to imagine they don't have that right, though) They do have what looks like much better rib and shoulder support and options for a helmet halo. I've ridden helmeted in the Caterham seats (Tillet B6, not B6F, equivalent) and found the head-rest pushed the helmet forward annoyingly. This is a trackday and race car. I'm 6'1, 170lbs, 33inch inseam (185 cm, 77Kg, 84 cm, dunno about Stone). Has anyone tried a halo seat? Annoying or innocuous?

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PostPosted: April 4, 2013, 7:03 pm 
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Location: Portland, OR
I run kirkey econo-drags in my car. every single other person thas ridden in my car bitches about the rib covers - I don't mind as they don't rub on me at all but I have a bit of a longer torso than most.

The issue with the more angular layback seats is your end up giving up a lot of space between the seat and the pedals to get there. As you're fairly tall I don't know how much of a problem that would present for you.

I've modified one of my kirkeys (with 20' layback) so that it fits more or less straight up with my ~17' (or is it 13'?) rear deck panel so that I get another inch or so of room between the back of the seat and the pedals.

I don't imagine a full encapsulation seat would be a problem in a 7 - the only issues would come from would be a full roll cage - you'd want to make sure the combo works well for easy ingress/egress

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PostPosted: April 22, 2014, 6:01 pm 
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I can't imagine a halo seat will look right in a 7 where almost your entire torso is exposed.

There are lot of options in the Aluminum seats, and most are quite a bit cheaper than the Tillets. You should be able to find one that suits you and they are a lot easier to source in the US.

I am not sure what you are talking about in terms of a "helmet bulge", but if you need more head, helmet, and/or H&N restraint clearance just rake the seat back a little more on the mount to move the headrest further from your head.


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PostPosted: April 23, 2014, 12:41 pm 
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Location: Bethlehem PA
The Kirkey Pro Drag is my favorite. I had these in my CSP Miata for years and never felt uncomfortable. I actually think they are more comfortable than my Elise seats which are not much more than fiberglass and leather. I was cheap when I built my 7 and used the economy drag and have regretted it as it is not nearly as comfortable and the cover moves around getting in and out. I will be picking up another Kirkey Pro Drag soon, at least the driver's side.

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PostPosted: April 23, 2014, 12:51 pm 
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I have economy drag in Tetanus and I'm not wild about them. Right now I'm thinking about a much simpler option and upholstering a full size rear cockpit panel and two seat squabs.

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PostPosted: April 23, 2014, 9:33 pm 
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cwhite wrote:
The Kirkey Pro Drag is my favorite. I had these in my CSP Miata for years and never felt uncomfortable. I actually think they are more comfortable than my Elise seats which are not much more than fiberglass and leather. I was cheap when I built my 7 and used the economy drag and have regretted it as it is not nearly as comfortable and the cover moves around getting in and out. I will be picking up another Kirkey Pro Drag soon, at least the driver's side.
Chris, interesting comment on the comfort of the Pro Drag seats. I looked up the Pro Drag shop drawings on the Kirkey site and found them dimensionally identical to Kirkey's Vintage seat with the exception of the high-back head rest. I had been considering the low back seats with removable head pad for street use and swapping in a high-back driver's seat for track days. Looks like that should be easy to do with the Pro Drags. Mounts would be the same, too.

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PostPosted: April 25, 2014, 9:25 am 
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If you go with a Kirkey, go straight to the Deluxe models and skip all the economy stuff.


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PostPosted: April 25, 2014, 8:07 pm 
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I am using kirkey bomber seats and have been completely happy with them.

Al

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PostPosted: April 26, 2014, 2:16 am 
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raceral wrote:
I am using kirkey bomber seats and have been completely happy with them.
Al, could you post a pic of your car's cockpit showing the Kirkey bomber seats. I checked both your Build Log and website but only saw a little bit of the driver's seat. Wanted to see how the seats looked installed. Thanks.

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PostPosted: April 26, 2014, 11:39 am 
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Tom, here are a few photos of the cockpit.
I have been a bit busy lately, so your comments on the website are a much appreciated reminder that I need to do a little updating.
The headrests are Pick A Part rear seat Infinity or Lexus, cant recall.
The drivers side is adjustable, the passenger side is fixed.

Al


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PostPosted: April 26, 2014, 1:52 pm 
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raceral wrote:
Tom, here are a few photos of the cockpit.
I have been a bit busy lately, so your comments on the website are a much appreciated reminder that I need to do a little updating.
The headrests are Pick A Part rear seat Infinity or Lexus, cant recall.
The drivers side is adjustable, the passenger side is fixed.
Al, thanks for posting the seat pics. They look great!

Interesting use of the Pick A Part headrests. As my seats will be closer to the roll hoop, I was thinking of clamping a removable bracket to the harness bar and attaching a round headrest pad via a short strut. But your approach is a good one.

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My Car9 build: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=14613
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PostPosted: April 26, 2014, 2:03 pm 
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seattletom wrote:
raceral wrote:
Tom, here are a few photos of the cockpit.
I have been a bit busy lately, so your comments on the website are a much appreciated reminder that I need to do a little updating.
The headrests are Pick A Part rear seat Infinity or Lexus, cant recall.
The drivers side is adjustable, the passenger side is fixed.
Al, thanks for posting the seat pics. They look great!

Interesting use of the Pick A Part headrests. As my seats will be closer to the roll hoop, I was thinking of clamping a removable bracket to the harness bar and attaching a round headrest pad via a short strut. But your approach is a good one.



Your headrest location is a good one, my wife and I are only about 5' 6" tall so I needed to install them on the seats themselves in order to benefit from them.
The only negative part about the Kirkey's is that they have gone up quite a bit since I first bought mine.

Al

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PostPosted: June 16, 2014, 10:25 am 
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Location: Clarence Creek, Ontario
Hi Al,

I'm also using Kirkey Classic seats and I like what you've done. How did you mount them to the seat?

Dan

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PostPosted: June 16, 2014, 5:48 pm 
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Dan, I must have taken a zillion photos of the build, but for some reason cant seem to find any or I didn't take any of the seat mount.
So I will try to explain what I did, if it doesn't make sense let me know, everyone else does, except my Mrs, she ignores me when I don't make sense.
My passenger seat is fixed in place and isn't adjustable.
For the pass side on the car floor I have two- 1/2 by 1 inch 16ga tubing running sideways under the seats from the tunnel to the outside.
These are welded to the floor.
Then 90 degrees to those tubes I have two- 1x1 square tube, same stuff as the frame, these tubes sit on top the welded 1/2x1 inch.
At the front of the 1x1 tubes I have a piece of 1/8 inch steel plate welded, the front tube is cut at an angle so the 1/8 inch steel plate matches the front angle of the kirkey seat.
The 1/8 inch steel plate has a hole drilled to match a hole I drilled in the front portion of the Kirkey seat.
The back portion is much the same using a spacer between the 1x1 tube and rear seat location.
The 1x1 square tube is drilled near the ends and bolted through the 1/2x1 inch tube and floor.

The driver side is adjustable, it has the same 1/2x1 inch 16ga tube welded to the floor as well.
To this I bolted some adjustable seat runners I got from Speedway, the cheap ones.
The front part of the runner has a bolt installed from inside the track with the threads sticking upward.
I then welded a nut inside a piece of 3/4 inch tubing, the tubing is around 3 inches long.
I then threaded the tube onto the bolt sticking up on the adj glide.
The other end of the tube has a flat piece of steel that is welded to the 3/4 inch tube, the tube is angled to match the seat , then I drilled two holes in the steel plate, plus two holes to match in the front portion of the kirkey seat.
The back portion was done using spacers and the hole drilled in the kirkey seat to match the stud in the rear portion of the glide.
The seat angles just depend on the length of front tube on the adjustable one and the length of 1/8 inch steel flat bar on the pass side.
I used button head bolts on the inside of the seat with 1.5 inch steel fender washers and with the bolts through the floor pan I just cut some 1-1/2 by 2 inch 1/8 steel plate to go between the floor and nut rounding off the corners.
The seat padding is plenty thick enough, so I have never felt any of the bolts underneath.
There are setups for side seat mounts, which are a nice way to go if you have the room, I didn't, so my mounts are under the seats.
I am sure there are lots of other ways, some worse some better.
Hopefully this heads you off in the right direction which ever way you do it.
It was pretty straight forward and simple, if my explanation isn't the same ask away... :lol:

Al

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PostPosted: June 20, 2014, 8:43 am 
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Joined: May 31, 2006, 12:55 pm
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Location: Clarence Creek, Ontario
Thanks for the explanation Al, I think I follow what you've done. I guess I wasn't clear in my question, something my wife is very used to :lol: , but I was interested in how you mounted the head rests to the seat. Sorry for the confusion

Dan

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