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Ok, odds are I'll get flamed for this, but since I'm a) cheap and b) kinda broke after tax season and all new copper plumbing in the house (warning - if you have Anaconda pipe in your house it's only a matter of time - yikes!) - here goes.

My seat is terrible - I found that out after 6 plus hours of seat time at school this weekend. I'd love to build a bead seat, but have other places I need to spend $ first - like new tires. So I started thinking.

If I line the inside of my cockpit with plastic (hefty bags, whatever) spray in a bottle "GreatStuff" cover with more plastic. climb in and wait for it to set. Then climb out, pull out the mold, trim, shape, smooth etc etc and wala - new seat!

Quesions - a) anyone know if Great Stuff, once cured, is still fameable? I know it's VERY fameable when wet, but since it goes into walls I'd expect that once cured it's not.
b) Anyone have any reason to beleive this would not be legal in SCCA?
c) Is this a really stupid idea or is there actual metir here? I mean it seems to me that this is basically what a commercial seat kit actually does anyway

Thanks - flame away

Believe it or not, you are on the right path....sort of.

Don't use great stuff. a: you will need 20 cans of it to make it work, by the time you get the last one sprayed it will be cured where you started., b: there is another product that works much better.

Go down to your local plastics/fiberglass or boat supply shop, and get some two part expanding foam.

Put a big thick heavy duty trash sack in your car and mix the stuff together. Fill the bag with the mixture and get in the car.

It will expand all around you. Don't get trapped. I never have, but don't ask me how I know it is possible.

Then take it out of the car, trim is as you mentioned and wrap it in tape. Cloth tape is fine, racing tape is fine, nomex or suede fabric is best.

Good luck!

Something like this:
http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=79&

Bob,

You can get this two-part expanding foam at Pegasus:

http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/produc ... RecID=1038

Very cool! Thanks guys!

So now the next question - GCR says the seat has to be "securely fastened" - how do these things attach? I thinking you drill a small hole all the way through for the bolt, then drill a a larger hole (counter-sink basically) to fit a large washer to keep the bolts from ripping through, and deep enough that the bolts arren't poking at you. Right track again?

Bob.

You need to think of your newly foamed (or bead) part as a cushion. It is not your seat. The seat in your car is your fuel cell cover and any aluminum or fiberglass pieces that are around your hips to shoulders. We don't fasten the foam (bead) part in. When you pour the foam seat or make the bead seat it will fill in all of the voids and will be a 'wedge' fit.

Mike Beaumia

Make sure you have your driving suit on when you do this.

brp wrote:Bob.

You need to think of your newly foamed (or bead) part as a cushion. It is not your seat. The seat in your car is your fuel cell cover and any aluminum or fiberglass pieces that are around your hips to shoulders. We don't fasten the foam (bead) part in. When you pour the foam seat or make the bead seat it will fill in all of the voids and will be a 'wedge' fit.

Mike Beaumia

Ah ok, that makes sense.

As for waering the driver's suit - good point! Thanks for that tip Speedsport

Prefit the bag and be ready to tape the open end securely closed. You do not want to get any of that foam on the car or yourself. Use the belts and strap yourself in really tight and have a cold beer waiting cause this stuff will get hot while it's going off. You'll be in there for about twenty minutes.

I wouldn't do the expandable foam. Can be a nightmare. You can build your own bead seat like pennon sells for the cost of a garbage bag, expoy resin, and bean bag beads. Its cheaper than the foam too. http://www.apexspeed.com/forums/showthr ... =bead+seat

Bob,
I'm not sure what your current seat is like, but Wally World sells some 1/2" thick CAMPING FOAM for cheap. It's intended for campers to sleep on and works really well as a light, easy to manage cushion (< $15 IIRC). It's ALMOST as good as that trick stuff that Pegasus sells for $45/sq ft! You can cut it with scissors and 'racer tape' it into place ... or just lay it in the seat area - when you strap yourself in, it won't go anywhere much - but it might walk around beneath you and need tape to keep that from happening. In my case, I'm also using some roll bar foam underneath it to provide some side support.

Not ideal, but it's getting the job done till I can find the time to build a good bead seat.
Steve

Thanks everyone - all good thoughts

Bead seat kits sell for over $200 and contain twice what we need. The foam kits are under $50 the last time I used one. mucho years ago. Give me a call, the number is on my ad above and I'll share the whole process with you.

brian wrote:Bead seat kits sell for over $200 and contain twice what we need. The foam kits are under $50 the last time I used one. mucho years ago. Give me a call, the number is on my ad above and I'll share the whole process with you.

Thanks Brian - I'll give you a shout in the next week or so!

Great thread!!! I am also going to be building a seat for my Lynx soon and was wondering about this process.

There's some good info on the Pegasus website:

http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/docume ... =TECH00005

Speedsport wrote:Make sure you have your driving suit on when you do this.

I am not sure about the wisdom of wearing your racesuit. It is all too easy (especially when doing this for the first time) to spill the two-part foam or hole the garbage bag or whatever you are using to hold the foam, while it forms into the seat. Before you know it you’ve f*#ked up a perfectly good racesuit . Wear an old race suit or a pair of coveralls.

If you don't wear your driving suit when you make the seat, the seat won't fit when you put it on.

Speedsport wrote:If you don't wear your driving suit when you make the seat, the seat won't fit when you put it on.

Agreed.

If you are that concerned, then double bag it in case of a hole and i guess worst case where a really thin coverall over you suit. Although, that will effect fit, but it should be close.

If you don't believe it will make a difference. measure your hips and waist circumference with coveralls, then measure them with your driving suit. big difference.

A few thoughts from my attempts. Great Foam does not cure if confined in a bag with no air. Spent one hour seating in a soggy bag. Two part foam works well if applied as instructions call for. Used Pennon last time and found that you must have vacuum off to move beads around. My kit may have been old as the resin (throughly mixed) was still uncured in the mixing container after three weeks in 80 degree garage. If I were to do it again I would try Pegasius product with differant size beads and always having good luck with there products.