Mounting a Kirkey Racing Seat in a Festiva

[Doug Brown]

Before I could begin installing the BP modified wiring bundle and the instruments in RED, my BP equipped drag racer, I needed to install the racing seat so I could figure out where to put things.

I bought a Kirkey 17" wide Pro Street Drag seat (PY# 417000) made from aluminum. The bottom of the seat was made up of 3 sections that formed 3 different angles so you could position the seat for the best reach to the pedals and the most comfort.

Unfortunately the seat wouldn't mount flat on the floor so "legs" were going to have to made. This involved several tries to get things even vaguely close before I could reach a final design that gave me leg room and had my body centered with the steering wheel shaft (the steering wheel on a Festiva is offset).

The other problem is a Festiva floor is not flat - it slopes and has ridges stamped into it. I over came this problem by installing a flat piece of 1/4-inch aluminum to serve as the new floor and to give me a flat surface for welding the seat legs too.

To get the seat at the correct height and location I took some measurements from a stock Festiva seat as a starting point for the legs. The door side leg was pretty straight forward but the handbrake side leg ended up being short and fastened to a "bridge" coming off the handbrake tunnel.

The project at this point was a "moon rocket" with a lot of weirdo shaped pieces that fit onto various locations. It also required a helper (wife Betts) to hold things in place while I made marks and used tape to indicated where everything went so they could eventually welded in place.

When the legs were finally cut out they were attached to the seat sides by 1/4 x 20 nuts and bolts. The entire seat could then be fitted into the car and moved around for the final fitting before welding. Once happy were things belonged, I fastened the "new floor" to the original one with #14 self taping screws. I was then able to crawl into the new seat and position it for pedal reach and the steering wheel offset. Once happy with the locations, Betts marked everything.

I found a mobile welder who would come to me at a reasonable price ($65-hr) and he got everything heavily tacked into place so we could then take the seat back to his shop for final welding.

I added a "wing" to stabilize the door side leg to the door sill and as a mounting location for the interior master electrical shut off switch. Works great and I don't have to undo safety belts to kill all of the electric power.

Everything came out well and the fit is really good - so tomorrow it all gets bolted in place with grade 8 fasteners.

[loudrango]

very nice work.

[Eviljimchicken]

I had no idea that the steering wheel was offset! What did you do to center the seat without just eyeballing it?

I'm planning on installing some plastic bucket seats soon and will probably have to do that new floor pan thing.

[Doug Brown]

When I had the seat loosely in place, I move it around so that the steering wheel nut was centered in the shoulder strap holes when I looked at it from the back of the car.

The front of the seat then has to angle slightly to the right to get it parallel to the steering wheel.

The entire seat is also shifted to the right (towards the center of the car) which is why I made the "bridge" from the handbrake tunnel go across and down to the new floor. This is also why the right side seat "leg" is so much shorter than the left side on.

Should also be mentioned since this is a drag racer there is NO emergency brake -- the bridge fits where the emergency brake use to be. With some cleverness you could keep the handbrake assembly.....

I used 1/4" aluminum plate for the "new" floor, seat legs and braces, while the Kirkey seat is only .100" thick. Also one of the reasons I both welded and bolted the legs to the side of the seat - to make sure it won't move in a crash.

[william]

Lookes great when I mounted my 14.5 kirkey I used a peace of flat stock across the floor and mounted the front of the seat to that then bolted the back to my cage.
But that looks 1000 times nicer and probably way more comfortable.

[shorestiva]

Might want to check the rule book about aluminum seats. I dunno about drag racing but most road course stuff requires a back brace on aluminum seats.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[Doug Brown]

I'm debating whether to go with a simple roll bar or just install a tube brace between the door pillars to attach the should straps to - but in either case the roll bar or the tube the seat back will be fastened to it to prevent the seat back from moving around.

Good point though.

I do have a design and specs for a simple rollbar that complies with FIA rules that is made from 1-1/2" x .083 wall mild steel and will only weight about 15-lbs. Simple and light enough - I'd probably be pretty foolish not to put it in.....