Jawnathin

I am looking to buy a race seat for my C6, but it has been difficult finding a package that comes with all the equipment necessary to mount to the car. I can find the seats and mounting hardware separately from different vendors, but I'd like a package from one vendor that knows it'll all work and I can work with in case it does not. Either that or the package is with fixed brackets and not sliders. I would like the seat to be on sliders for adjustment since I occasionally have a co-driver plus it makes it easier to get into the car and find a good position.

Is this seat... - http://www.corvettemods.com/C6-C7-Co...d_p_11537.html

...plus the 'track slider kit'... - http://www.corvettemods.com/C5-C6-C7...s_p_11540.html

..all I need to get it mounted to the car or is something missing? Thanks.

Jawnathin

Okay, what about this seat and this mounting solution? Is this all I need?

Seat - http://www.c5racer.com/catalog/c5-c6...race-seat.html

Mounting - http://www.c5racer.com/catalog/c5-c6...h-sliders.html

harrydirty

It appears that the combo you listed will work; certainly the slider/bracket combo has lots of mounting points for sub and lap belts.

A couple of considerations: hopefully you have already tried out the specific seat in question in the size you are ordering. I have found that sitting in the seat in a showroom is one thing, but getting thrown around a track is quite another. The biggest difference for me was the snug-ness (is that a word?); I found that even if a seat felt snug in a store, after a couple of laps on a road course some looseness was evident. Having a good harness setup helps. I also found that I needed to adjust my shoulder "wings" for more support and once I did, it made a lot of difference in my ability to focus on driving and feeling less beat up by the end of a track day. The point is to get a tight fit.

Of course, the Sparco seat you are considering cannot be adjusted. I originally had the Sparco Evo seat, but eventually switched to the Kirkey Road Race aluminum seat. I found the Kirkey provided better lateral support for my legs and the shoulder wings were adjustable. I bent the shoulder wings inward until snug with my shoulders. Now I can lean into turns with my shoulder and it provides solid support for my upper body and instead of using my hands for upper body support, I just concentrate on steering.

The other consideration for me was that I drive my c6z to my track events. I found the Kirkey to be ok for a couple of hours, but not much more. However, I started to use a six-inch thick block of high density foam as a seat pad which puts me just above the snug part of the seat. I recently drove 5 hours from the Mojave Mile and felt fine afterwards so this was a cheap/effective way to feel more comfortable on long drives.

Hope that helps.

Bill Dearborn

Yes, aluminum race seats are more configurable since you can bend or cut them where necessary to make them fit or to get more clearance. However, they also need a back brace where Sparco type of seats don't. The OP wants a sliding seat which makes a back brace difficult but not impossible.

OP: if you want a pair of aluminum seats I have them along with mounts and back braces. I had them set up with a fixed mount for the drivers seat and a slider for the passenger seat since you never know what size instructor or student will get in the car. The slider could easily be used on the driver side. However, you would have to adjust the back brace each time a driver changed.

Bill

harrydirty

Bill, good point on the back brace...........

I/O Port sells a back brace that is adjustable; the tube that attaches the seat to the bracket can be drilled for different positions and a quick release pin makes changes easy. I used this setup in my Mustang where I removed my harness bar and back brace bracket that was attached to it to store my race tires when I drove to track events.

Jawnathin

Thanks Harry and Bill, your comments were extremely helpful. I certainly see the benefits of an aluminum seat and it is better race seat than the Sparcos I am looking at but it does lack a bit of civility that I'd like from the car for when I drive around town or to events. Getting in and out of the race seat is enough torture

I am not concerned with a mega secure fit since I will have an occasional co-driver that also needs to fit in the car. The Sparco does have some adjustments too. Even if not fully snug I am sure it'll give me more support than any street seat. A good harness will also help keep me in place.

Now that I know the seat and bracket is ok, I guess I have two other things to figure out.

1.) Is there a good guide on maintaining the stock seat belts or will I have to use a race harness? If I remember correctly both the belt anchor and receptacle are mounted on the seat itself so I am wondering how am I going to move everything over. Ideally I'd like to use the OEM seat belt for regular street driving then use the harness for the autocross/track day.

2.) I assume I'll need some type of seat belt and airbag plugs to disable the warning lights/sounds with the race seat? Do I need any other types of plugs?

Thanks again.

harrydirty

If I recall correctly, VetteWorks had the airbag simulators that plugged into the wiring harness to take care of that system. They also sold the seatbelt sim (metal end of stock belt) that plugs into the receptacle so the system won't complain that the seatbelt is not being used while you are using your harness.

On my car the receptacle and anchor (for stock belt) are bolted to the mount frame of my seat (I also have a slider that is bolted to the mount frame). The anchor end of the belt is looped through the left lap belt slot so the belt is not riding on the side of the seat.

If you have the time, you are welcome to check out my car if you want to........I believe you are within 50 miles of San Bruno?

Jawnathin

Thanks Harry. Great memory! Yeah I don't live too far from you, I am down in San Jose, so not super close but certainly not far away either. I recall we talked via PM for a bit a few years ago.

It makes a lot of sense to mount it to the frame of the seat like the stock seat, but when I look at the mounts available I don't see the stud to mount it. Did you just get a bolt, find a hole, and anchor it that way? Or did your mount actually come with a stud in the correct location to anchor the belt?

Thanks again!

RichieRichZ06

You're more than welcome to sit in our Sparco anytime. I would offer for this weekend at AAS, but I have to install the stock seat back in the car so wifey can co-drive in CAM-S. However I will have a couple friends with me and they also have Sparco seats, one of which would be about the same position due to you and him being about the same height/build.

RICH

Jawnathin

Thanks Rich. That is awesome! I will certainly take you up on your offer and will check out some of the seats at AAS this weekend. I think I got what I want figured out, I just need to be sure what I buy does what I need it to do and figure out how it all comes together. Seeing how everyone else put it all together will be helpful.

So I think I understand how this will all work. Does this picture look about right? It looks like I'll need an additional eye bolt for the anti-sub belt under the seat. And I'll need some bolts/nuts to mount the stock belt receptacle and seat belt anchor, but is this how it'll all come together?

Jawnathin

I found these online so it looks like I am on the right track?

RichieRichZ06

You've got it figured out, but assume there is always going to be some modifications required. I had my seat in and out a number of times before getting it fixed in the ideal position and mounting all the hardware, belts and frame down. I was never a fan of the sliders because I've had them allow the seat to move while on track more than once. I don't think you'll have issues at the auto x, but I would think twice about using them on track.

harrydirty

Jawnathin, the second series of pix is the exact setup I have. Also, you identified correctly in the first pix the mount points for all the belts.

Rich brings up an interesting point about the sliders.....I originally thought it was a good idea, but now that I've been using this setup I find that I do not change the seat position any longer, even for driving on the streets. Keep in mind that I have that foam pad for street driving, which gives me a bit more legroom and is more comfy.

Jawnathin

Thanks Rich and Harry. Yeah I don't expect it to be 100% plug and play. I don't mind tinkering with it to get it going but hopefully the parts play mostly nice together without much modification.

Bummer to hear about the sliders not working for you two, I will test them out thoroughly before going on track. The car can be tough to get in and out of even with regular seats so I really want to be able to slide the seat back to make it easier. I also want to have the ability to easily adjust for a co-driver or friend who wants to try the car out.

I placed an order for some Sparco Evos. Appreciate the confirmation on all of the mounting locations. I haven't purchased the mounting stuff yet but I think I have that all nailed down once the vendor answers a question of mine.

I will also need to figure out the harness bar and harness too. Still looking up bars but I will go with a 6 way harness, probably from Schroth.

Jawnathin

Quick update - Looks like the vendor didn't have the Sparco Evo in stock so I am going with Cobra Suzukas instead. They seem like a really nice seat with great feedback from owners/drivers. I also went with the Schroth Profi II-6 as my harness.

Now I gotta figure out the seat mounting solution and harness bar. Thanks again for the help.

Jawnathin

I got some documentation from the vendor selling the simulators and it says I will need to transfer all of the memory module stuff over to the new seat.

In all of the installs I didn't see anyone plugging this stuff in. I was hoping the simulators would just 'plug' into the wiring on the floorboard and disable the lights/warnings.

Here is the example instructions -

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7b...ew?usp=sharing

Is there a different product I should be looking for?

harrydirty

Hmmm, I seem to recall that the connector was just a few resistors. The memory module stuff is just settings for the steering wheel and seats? If so, not needed, right?

Bill Dearborn

Vetteworks is providing a package similar to the old Pfadt package (it may be the same one). You can get by with just the air bag simulators if all you want to do is turn off the IP warning lamp. About 5 years ago I posted a thread that showed how to install a race seat using that Pfadt harness and moving the memory module (attached to this post). If you are doing it once it isn't as painful if you are doing it multiple times (switching seats) then the memory module will extract some blood each time you take it out of the stock seat or put it back in.

The stock seat tracks have seat position sensors and the driver's side seat has the memory module which controls the telescopic steering wheel. The seat position sensors tell the air bag system where you are sitting so it can vary the force of deployment. If the seat position sensors aren't working or aren't there the air bag defaults to full force deployment. I don't think that is a big deal.

If you have the telescopic steering wheel and want to maintain its use you can use the Vetteworks harness and transfer the memory module out of the stock seat or you can build a two relay circuit that plugs into the car's underseat harness that simulates the memory module and lets you use the tele wheel without screwing around with the memory module. If you want the mirror positioning stuff then you will need the memory module.

Another thing you need to consider if you want to hook up the stock belts is at least the outside lap belt is keyed. The stock seat frame has a small slot that a tab on the seat belt fits in which permits a limited rotational movement around the mounting bolt. This lets the belt adjust to various seat positions so it keeps the proper angle across your lap. The belt mounting bolt is shaped so the belt will pivot on it so you can't just use any bolt to install the stock belt to the aftermarket frame. You need one with a shoulder that fits inside the stock seat belt end and that will not tighten down on the end.

If you are installing both driver and passenger seats you will lose the passenger side front air bag unless you install and calibrate a passenger presence sensor in the new seat. That sensor goes under the seat bottom foam and you probably would have to keep it away from the sub belt pass throughs in the seat bottom.

The other thing you need to remember is when the air bag light is lit that doesn't mean all of the air bags in the car will not work. They only have one light and it lights if only one part of the air bag system is non functioning. If you are missing the passenger side seat the air bag light will be lit but all of the driver side air bags will work as intended. If you are missing a side air bag the front air bag will still work as intended.

Bill

harrydirty

Bill, great info on the write up and the article on your seat installation.

Interestingly, in my case I only had the airbag connector and did not reconnect the memory module but my telescopic function still works.

Did you mean that the memory function for the telescopic wheel (and mirror), not the basic function?

Jawnathin

Thanks Harry and Bill.

Bill the guide is extremely helpful, I'll review it a few times. The method to remove the seats and get the newer ones in seems straight forward. The issue I have been having now is ensuring I get the right sensors/simulators for my setup without triggering any warning lights/sounds and ensuring air bags would deploy for both driver and passenger should something happen. I'll check out the Vetteworks page to see if they have what I need.

Yes, I would love to leave the memory stuff in the seat but still keep the telescoping function. I don't need it to have the memory function but having the adjustment would be nice.