Full Carbon/Kevlar "ST" Seat (very nifty)

Hello folks,

Just wanted to show you all what Santa's elves are doing in their off-season hours. This seat's construction is my latest endevour. It is a carbon/kevlar/carbon/carbon epoxy layup. It was vacume bagged and high-temperature cured. While the shell still needs base-mount, upholstry clips and headrest hardware, even with all that stuff, it will still come out under 3 lbs! (bolt in to the car ready but no upholstery on it). More details to come...

http://www.vintageseats.com/images/carbon_seat.jpg

Very slick!

How about making some CF shells to replace the steel ones on Recaro SEs? Us street people want to lose wt. too.

Reclining seats are just not set up to be very stiff and light simply because of thier geometry. Plus, this IS a street seat. It just a very supportive one that doesn't happen to recline... :)

Peter,
I know that carbon/kevlar are very good materials because I had several fishing rods of which some were carbon/kevlar and some were fibreglass. A carbon/kevlar fishing rod is much lighter and stronger than fibreglass one.

Question 1: I once sat in a modern 911 ('89) with luxury “sport” seats, and the problem was when I changed gears my elbow hit the side bolster because it was so deep. Would I encounter the same problem with your seats?
Question 2: Can the shell be painted in satin black to hide the fact that they're carbon fibre?

Congratulations. Keep up the good work.



HOT TIP: Resize images to maximum 640x480 so we could see it in full without using the scroll.

Yes Carbon fiber can make for a much stronger structure than fiberglass OR it can make for a much lighter structure for the same strength. Using carbon fiber (which is very strong in compression) coupled with Kevlar (which is very strong in tension (stretching)) in an Epoxy layup that is vacume bagged (layers compressed together durring the cure process, excess epoxy resin evacuated) can yeild a laminate that is EXTREMELY strong for its weight.

Yes the seat can me painted black to look as the originals. It's funny you say "satin" black. All the original seats originated from the factory with a shiny finish. It is just that the gel-coats (the type of finish) of the day did not have the UV stabalizers like they do today. As such, the finish over time degrades to what you are used to seeing (satin or flat black). Either way, a finish may be applied to hide the fact that the seat is of an exotic construction.

As for hitting your elbow on the side boulster when shifting. My elbow does come in contact slightly with the seat when going into second gear, but only slightly and it brushes the inside of my arm. I have this model as the drivers side seat in my 72S. I love it there and will not change it. I have no interference problems at all with it (I am 5'-11" 210lbs.). The only downside there is to the seat is that it isn't as easy to get in and out of as my other seats due to the high sides. My feeling is this is a small price to pay for the secure feeling you have when driving the car. You just don't have to hang off the steering wheel to hold yourself upright. The seat does all that work for you.

Hope this has answered your questions.

Regards, Peter

Hmmm. Carbon fiber + Kevlar.
Will it stop a bullet coming from behind? :>

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Originally posted by VintageSeats
Yes Carbon fiber can make for a much stronger structure than fiberglass OR it can make for a much lighter structure for the same strength.

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I'd go for the former option.

Quote:

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As for hitting your elbow on the side boulster when shifting. My elbow does come in contact slightly with the seat when going into second gear, but only slightly and it brushes the inside of my arm.

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What about on R and RS seat? Does it still happen?




What's the price for a pair of carbon/kevlar seats upholstered? http://www.ddk-online.com/phpBB2/ima...s/icon_eek.gif

There is no light-touching of the inside of MY elbow with the "R" and "RS" seats. The side boulsters on the "ST" really are quite deep in comparison to the other seats. Keep in mind, the Factory thought the "ST" seat design was appropriate for their race cars of the day. If the slight touching of the inside of the shifting arm was deemed a problem, I doubt the seat would have ever been used.

Of course I have a vested interest in wanting to like this seat, but it REALLY is a wonderfull seat. As a semi-side-note: I have worked with Auto's International to make the seat a bit more 'roomy' than the originals without sacrificing the original look by recontouring the side and bottom foam cusioning and altering the upholstery pick-up points (the shell is still of the original dimensions though). This allows folks of a 'wider-persuation' such as myself to be very comfortable in the seat. If any of you got to sit in my demo seats at Dunkels, you will know what I mean.

Cost for the full Carbon/Kevlar/Epoxy seats will be $1500 each (fully upholstered with headrest). They are expensive, but remember, good is rarely cheap... AND if you are replacing your Recaro Sport seats with these, you will save aproximately 75lbs! for the pair. That's cheap horsepower.

Regards, Peter Z
http://www.vintageseats.com

Brilliant work Peter.

I can speak from experience that Peter's quality is second to none!! ;)