Kirkey Seat Question

[BB767]

Near to installing my seats. Have been sitting in them (in the car) for two months now trying to find that perfect position to bolt them down in. I have the Kirkey mid-height back that were an option with the kit. (They are NOT the high back competition ones.) I am taller (6'2") but the seat seems to low to me. I have been told to mount it on the floor but when I sit in it like that my eye height is about the level of the top of the dash. It seems better to me raised up 2 to 3 inches, Can a few of you please tell me how high you have mounted your Kirkey seats?

[wallace18]

I always mount them on the floor, but I am long above the waist. My suggestion is try different pieces of wood under it till you get a height you like. Then fab or buy the seat brackets to make it the correct height for you. This is how I custom fit customers to the cars. I have wood from 1/2" to 2" tall for trial. Best of luck!

[wareaglescott]

I am 6'3". I documented my seat install pretty thoroughly in my build thread. I have the high backs but the bottom half of the seat is exactly the same as yours so it still applies.
My biggest recommendation is to get these:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/kir-99204/overview/

Allows you to get a little height of the floor pan as well as some recline which I believe greatly increases comfort.

[Jeff Kleiner]

I recommend using the mounts that Scott shows (or fabricating similar whuich is what I've done for customers using Kirkeys). In addition to raising the seat also try tipping it back with the front raised and I think you'll find it more comfortable. Even with lowbacks I always recommend to hold off on making the seat location permanent until you can test fit with the body on.

Good luck,
Jeff

[BB767]

PERFECT! Looks like these are exactly what I need, they are in the mail. It looks like you can adjust the height and tilt of the seat after these are bolted to the floor. Jeff, would you hold off on that as well (floor bolts) until body mount?

[Jim1855]

I appreciate this post, following and have a question.

I have the Kirkey mounts and both a Vintage (41500v) and high-back Intermediate RR (47500).

It seems that the inside mount falls inside of the 4 inch main tube and will mount to the aluminum floor. I've looked at the manual but it isn't real clear.

What am I missing? Shouldn't the seat mount to steel?

Thanks,
Jim

[wareaglescott]

I appreciate this post, following and have a question.

I have the Kirkey mounts and both a Vintage (41500v) and high-back Intermediate RR (47500).

It seems that the inside mount falls inside of the 4 inch main tube and will mount to the aluminum floor. I've looked at the manual but it isn't real clear.

What am I missing? Shouldn't the seat mount to steel?

Thanks,
Jim

I wasn't happy with where the mounts were hitting the floor. I ended up bolting a steel plate that was the size of the bottom of the seat into good attachment points and then mounted the seat to that. Bolts went through the steel plate and also the aluminum floor with the nut on the bottom. Also I found it easier to use two of the same seat brackets on each seat and they fit better in the floor that way. So say for both seats you got 4 total mounts. 2 left hand and 2 right hand I will call them. Instead of using 1 left and 1 right on each seat I used 2 lefts on one seat and the 2 rights on the other seat. May not make much sense the way i wrote it but I have plenty of pics in my build thread linked in my signature. There is an index in post #1 that will direct you to the correct post on seat installation if you are interested.
My seats are rock solid and I am very pleased with how the mounting worked out.

[wareaglescott]

PERFECT! Looks like these are exactly what I need, they are in the mail. It looks like you can adjust the height and tilt of the seat after these are bolted to the floor. Jeff, would you hold off on that as well (floor bolts) until body mount?


Not Jeff and he has a ton more experience than my one off but I will tell you what I did. Against the prevailing wisdom I mounted mine before the body was on but because of the mounting system I used it would have been easy to move their location as need be. The concern with mounting before the body is on seems to be with the outside shoulder bolster interaction with the body(on the high backs anyways). Low backs It would suspect the questionable area is the upper outside corner. I just mounted mine as far inboard as I could physically get them and had a reference how close to the back wall they could be and still clear the body overhang at the rear. It all worked out fine. MY height was my primary concern so I knew I wanted them as far back as I possibly could get them and then I just bent the outside shoulder bolster as needed after the body was on. I will say the seats were out of the car when the body was installed. That would have been a problem with the high backs getting the body on if the seats were in the way.

[johnnybgoode]

Near to installing my seats. Have been sitting in them (in the car) for two months now trying to find that perfect position to bolt them down in. I have the Kirkey mid-height back that were an option with the kit. (They are NOT the high back competition ones.) I am taller (6'2") but the seat seems to low to me. I have been told to mount it on the floor but when I sit in it like that my eye height is about the level of the top of the dash. It seems better to me raised up 2 to 3 inches, Can a few of you please tell me how high you have mounted your Kirkey seats?

Here's a link to my install thread. Scott
http://www.ffcars.com/forums/17-factory-five-roadsters/576577-kirkey-racing-417v-install.html

[Jeff Kleiner]

...Jeff, would you hold off on that as well (floor bolts) until body mount?

It would be prudent.

Jeff