Custom drivers seat for F40 | FerrariChat

Custom drivers seat for F40

Discussion in '288GTO/F40/F50/Enzo/LaFerrari/F80' started by jweiland8, Oct 8, 2012.

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  1. jweiland8

    jweiland8 Rookie

    Oct 30, 2010
    26
    Anyone have any ideas as to where or how I could get a custom drivers seat for my recently acquired F40? Looking to gain more room if possible in virtually every direction.
     
  2. Napolis

    Napolis Three Time F1 World Champ
    Honorary Owner

    Oct 23, 2002
    32,118
    Full Name:
    Jim Glickenhaus
    I'd find a good race shop. A lot can be done and it can be done in a way that can be put back to original.

    If the car's in Europe we could do it.
     
  3. kverges

    kverges F1 Rookie

    Nov 18, 2003
    3,179
    Dallas
    Full Name:
    Keith Verges
    Tall order, IMO. You can try composite race seats, but the F40 seat has a seat bottom that goes down below the rail mounts ina sort of "dish", a feature I have not seen in any race seats. What this means is that you'll have to have custom mounting brakets fabricated and even then you are likely to lose headroom. You will also almost certainly not be able to put in the sliders, so no more fore/aft adjustability.

    Then you could try having Butler or another aluminum seat maker build you a seat. I am a big fan of aluminum race seats, again because I find them the best option for maximum headroom and the good makers can fit the seat to you in terms of hips, shoulders, thighs, etc. Problem is they tend to look crappy, although perhaps a custom upholsterer could fix it. You might even be able to salvage the sliders. I am going to guess youd likely spend $2K or so for a seat like this and the maker will need the car to really get it right.

    I ended up with the stock seats as they really do fit me OK, I just can't use 4-point harnesses with them.
     
  4. ross

    ross Three Time F1 World Champ
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Mar 25, 2002
    37,988
    houston/geneva
    Full Name:
    Ross
    it would help to know where you are located....

    if you are in the uk, i would suggest contacting russell smith at bob houghton's, he will know.

    if you are in italy, either take napolis' advice, or go to the dealer in modena - mario is the head of ops there.

    if you are somewhere else in europe, talk to simon kidston - let me know if you need a number.
     
  5. jweiland8

    jweiland8 Rookie

    Oct 30, 2010
    26
    Thanks to all for the replies. I am located in Cleveland, Ohio USA. Gaining headroom is my #1 goal and leg room is #1A. I figure if I can get the seat made I will then get it upholstered to match to the extent I can.
     
  6. sherpa23

    sherpa23 F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    May 28, 2003
    10,008
    Rocky Mountains
    Full Name:
    Bastuna
    Dear Lebron,

    I use a race shop here in Colorado that can help you out, although it's not too helpful if you're that far away.

    A couple of thoughts, though: You didn't put your size but you should check to see if you have the smaller or the larger of the US seats. For me, head room is the one thing that I have way too much of with the stock seats (I have the smaller of the two sizes, by the way). I am 5'10" and I feel like I sit very low, partially because the foam in my drivers seat bottom, although looking fine, has essentially flattened out and I sit straight on the seat base. If you have a lot of padding there, you might want to look into having it removed or thinned. Outside of that, I don't know how much lower you can get a seat in this car.

    The other thing if you're really desperate you can try removing the headliner altogether. If you you take it out, there is another two inches of headroom under there. I don't know how big you are or how tight it is but that's something you can look into if it's really tight.
     
  7. petrolfumes

    petrolfumes Karting

    Jan 25, 2006
    62
    Next to garage
    Full Name:
    mr petrolfumes
    I had headroom problems in my Countach so I removed the sliders and made some fixed seat mounts that let the seat sit as low as possible. Of course it is no longer adjustable but I am not about to let anyone else drive it. Any good race fabrication shop can do it.

    I am in the market for an F40 now and the first job I will have to do is fix the seat height. It looks like there is a some space under the Euro spec seat but I have not seen the US spec lounge chairs.

    Paul
     

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