Looking for seat insert info

[Dave_G]

Our 24 Hours of LeMons team just finished our fourth race in our $500 Volvo this weekend. As the short-legged guy on the team (30 inch inseam), I've gotten tired of sitting too far back, and so I want to get a seat insert to give me a little better driving position in the car. I've seen them around, and I thought they would be easy to find, but so far all I've found online are high-tech whiz-bang plastic molded things that cost almost as much as our car. I'm just looking for something safer and more secure than stuffing a pillow behind my back. Does anyone have any ideas or sources for simple cloth/foam inserts?

We will also be likely be installing a steering wheel mount to bring the wheel closer to the seat, but the insert would be in addition to that.

BTW, at NJMP Lightning this weekend our wheezy old Volvo 240 finished first in class (Class Ugly), and 9th overall, so were pretty happy with that. Even in a slow car, the Lightning circuit is fast and huge fun to drive. I won't risk jinxing our Loudon race next month by saying too much, but I'll just say that in four races to date, this has been our poorest overall finish.

If you're around NHMS May 7-8, stop by the Volvo cow and say hi! If you've never seen a LeMons race, it's definitely a spectacle worth seeing.

[nateh]

I got mine at Advance Auto Parts.

Congrats on then great finishing record!

[boltonite]

Great result Dave, be prepared to have your cow milked by Cranky Omish Mamas next month.

Aside from the two-part foam kits try aluminum-faced bubble insulation (Lowes, Home Depot), its light and easy to cut/shape, cover with duct tape and it will exude LeMoness.

[Dave_G]

Great result Dave, be prepared to have your cow milked by Cranky Omish Mamas next month.

We'll give you point-bys all day long and give you all the moral support you need while you're working to get that RX-7 back on the track. (You are still in the RX-7, right?)

Aside from the two-part foam kits try aluminum-faced bubble insulation (Lowes, Home Depot), its light and easy to cut/shape, cover with duct tape and it will exude LeMoness.

Great idea! Thanks.

[cfossum]

We'll give you point-bys all day long and give you all the moral support you need while you're working to get that RX-7 back on the track. (You are still in the RX-7, right?)

We may need that support as I've done zero maintenance to the car since our last Lemons Stafford event. The car is still in a distant garage, and I can only hope that the resident family of mice have not eaten through any crucial wires. IF it starts, its going straight onto a trailer and then 100mph at NHMS. We're almost asking for a breakdown!

BTW, ask to see Fred's seat insert, which may not even be Lemons worthy, never mind several 12 hour SCCA events it has endured.
-Carl

[boltonite]

We may need that support as I've done zero maintenance to the car since our last Lemons Stafford event. IF it starts, its going straight onto a trailer and then 100mph at NHMS. We're almost asking for a breakdown!

Oh ye of little faith. If you really want a breakdown, let the mamas wrench on it for a while.

[RyanC]

The RX-7 was missed this weekend.... another Gen 2 car did very well overall.

Dave, congrats on the finish! Black flags again were the bane of our existence in the #187 BMW, but we did manage to run in first place for a couple laps, so we had that going for us. Need to fix some issues and figure out how to refuel the car in less than 12 minutes between now and NHMS.

BTW we have a slider on our seat, as we have a very tall guy (Tengus Pengus) and a not so tall guy (Panic at the Russo!) on our team.

[MMiskoe]

Being the short guy on most enduro teams I've tried a couple of things.

McMaster.com has 2 part foam that you can do your own insert. Spray it into a trashbag while you sit where you want to. It takes a few minutes to harden up. The trick is to stay as far away and up off the bottom as you want while the foam hardens, not so easy. One ting I noticed was that using the insert was much hotter than sitting against foam.

What I usually use is a closed cell foam often used for shipping padding. Trade name is "ethe-foam" or at least it used to be, white, usually about 2" thick. Its as hard as a very dry kitchen sponge which makes it soft enough to keep from being painful, but hard enough to give you the right support. I just cut it to fill out the seat & tape it together.

In a jamb I once made up an inch of corregated cardboard, worked well enough.

[Dave_G]

One thing I noticed was that using the insert was much hotter than sitting against foam.

That technique sounds interesting, but given that two of our races last year were in unbearable heat (98° at Summit Point!), that might be an issue.

What I usually use is a closed cell foam often used for shipping padding. Trade name is "ethe-foam" or at least it used to be, white, usually about 2" thick. Its as hard as a very dry kitchen sponge which makes it soft enough to keep from being painful, but hard enough to give you the right support. I just cut it to fill out the seat & tape it together.

Now this sounds like something I should try. I actually have a huge block of that foam sitting in my cellar that some big part or other was shipped to me in. I'll see if it's usable.

Thanks for all the great tips everyone!

[Dave_G]

Dave, congrats on the finish! Black flags again were the bane of our existence in the #187 BMW, but we did manage to run in first place for a couple laps, so we had that going for us. Need to fix some issues and figure out how to refuel the car in less than 12 minutes between now and NHMS.

Thanks. How could I have gone all weekend without seeing you there? We were in the back of the paddock and I walked through your paddock space about 30 times! Oh well. I will say that in the spectator areas your car was a big hit as it blared out the rap as it went by.

Yeah, we learned early on that black flags will kill you at LeMons. Our car is slow, but it still does well as long as we keep it out of the penalty box. We actually did get a black flag this race when our second driver passed under yellow, but probably because we have a pretty clean record all they made us do was switch drivers.

BTW we have a slider on our seat, as we have a very tall guy (Tengus Pengus) and a not so tall guy (Panic at the Russo!) on our team.

Yeah, we have sliders too, but they don't go close enough!

[brucesallen]

I don't think common shipping foam is Ethafoam. Ethafoam is the spec for behind helmet padding in Formula cars because it does not bounce back but absorbs energy of impact. I use it and It is very expensive even for my 6x6 inch piece.

[nateh]

Why make it hard?




Or browse in your local auto parts store. Cut to fit and apply duct tape as needed. Worked for me!

[CP]

I've tried two approaches and neither has been ideal. West Marine sells a boat foam kit for around $100. It's the two part foam that gets really hot when mixed and makes a mess of your clothes and seat while you're waiting for it to set. I've also used a lumbar support from Office Max or Staples. I pulled it apart to find several layers of different types of foam which I then cut to fit and placed it in strategic locations around my ass and lower back. I'm now using a combination of the 2-part foam (wrapped in duct tape) and the office chair foam (held in place with spray adhesive). It works ok, but sometimes needs a little adjustment. The next seat that I order with be an inch or two thinner than my current Ultrashield.

[6PAK72]

Great thread, the Gnomemobile team has some of the same challenges. Our other issue is that it's a Gnomemobile.

We actually did some maintenance on it last week.

We should not have - everything we touched broke.