Thinking about buying a custom halo seat

#21

My seat came in a couple days ago. I did some test fitting, worked out designs for mounts and ordered some aluminum. Shortly I’ll have a local machine shop fab the mounts. Thoughts on the seat:

  1. A helova lot of work went into building the seat and it looks very strong. There’s tons of reinforcement all over the thing. The shoulders were a particular concern when I was researching seats. One of the reasons I did not end up getting rib-protector-less “drag seat” with “add on” shoulder braces is that I wondered about the strength of the shoulder brace attachment points on the seat back. Simply bolting them to 1/8" Al didn’t sound to strong. In contrast, my seat back is 1/4" Al where the shoulder braces bolt in and there’s lots of reinforcing in the area.

  2. The shoulder braces kick butt. They are strong, very adjustable, and their shape will allow me to set them up such that they hang on to me much more securely than what a fiberglass seat can do.

  3. The halo requires a lot of room. There’s some interference with my cage on the outboard side near my window. I can work around it, but depending on your cage, it could be a problem for someone who wants to put the seat way back.

  4. I think that I’m going to end up liking the rib protectors. They’re not big exaggerated things that wrap around me, but they sure do help secure me into the seat. And getting in/out of the seat isn’t too hard, it just a bit more of a “deliberate” process. You can’t exactly just “jump in”.

  5. I need to learn how to weld. It’s very annoying that in order to weld I have to borrow my neighbor’s welder, and I’m not much good at it. And I can’t weld aluminum at all. I need to get off my butt and fix that.

#22

Maybe if you are not very good at it, you shouldn’t. All jokes aside, welding is an art that requires practice and patience. Can anyone learn to weld? Some take to it immediately, some require more work, and some should not. First, you must be able to see the metal, how it melts, the way it flows, and the amount of heat needed. If you can understand what I am saying after alittle practice, you will be fine, If you can’t after an afternoon of trying, it is going to be extremely difficult. Borrow that welder, spend an afternoon welding junk around the shop at the settings on the side, and see if it is something you want to do. Excellent welding can be an artform that is very rewarding.

#23

I can figure out welding. I’m an engineer and I’m tenacious. Everything can be figured out. Well, women are tough, but they’re not the priority that they once were.

I’ll never get decent at welding unless I have my own gear. I’m not comfortable borrowing all the time. My perception is that cheap welders are to be avoided so that excludes my usual source for all things…Harbor Freight.

Over at NASA Forums/SE I’m trying to get some guys to look thru Craigslist and find me an entry level high quality welder for cheap.

#24

I agree with your thoughts on welding… Understanding metal and the chemistry behind the welding seems to make me a potential welder. But after seeing my buddy weld and the ENORMOUS amount of prep and care and precautions has me uneasy about buying the equipment to get started. But it’s very high on my list - like more than the next certification for work.

#25

oxymoron?

don’t you need a TIG for aluminum of that guage? the entry level miller is around $2500, maybe you can find it used on ebay or cl.

#26

oxymoron?

don’t you need a TIG for aluminum of that guage? the entry level miller is around $2500, maybe you can find it used on ebay or cl.[/quote]

Re. don’t I need TIG. I have no idea.

Re. entry level Miller. A Miller 135 sold on ebay last week for <$400. Home Depot has a Miller 140 for >$500.

#27

those are migs. look for a 165 or 180. pretty sure you need TIG for thinner gauge alu. i’m just reading up on this stuff myself. not an expert.

#28

Aluminum can be welded with a larger MIG and a spool gun. But this ia a job for TIG.

#29

Lathe, milling machine, transmission jack, and now welder. Are you sure your garage expansion will support all of this added equipment?

#30

Lathe, milling machine, transmission jack, and now welder. Are you sure your garage expansion will support all of this added equipment?[/quote]
The garage will be ok. My finances however…

#31

The whiteboard in Ranger’s garage:

SKILLS TO EXPLORE

Oil pressure - check
Engine rebuilds - check
Engine rebuilds with overbore - check
Aluminum seat design - check
Rear subframe R & R - pending
Welding - pending
Transmission rebuilds - TBD
Vulcanization of rubber - TBD
Aerodynamics of old German sedans - TBD
Using the middle pedal less - TBD

:woohoo:

#32

The whiteboard in Ranger’s garage:

SKILLS TO EXPLORE

Oil pressure - check
Engine rebuilds - check
Engine rebuilds with overbore - check
Aluminum seat design - check
Rear subframe R & R - pending
Welding - pending
Transmission rebuilds - TBD
Vulcanization of rubber - TBD
Aerodynamics of old German sedans - TBD
Using the middle pedal less - TBD

:woohoo:[/quote]

EPIC!!! LMAO!!!

#33

For finding cheap used high quality welders: check pawn shops. At least the ones I’ve been to, it seems most of the stuff is from crackheads raiding construction sites. Morality aside, it’s a good deal.

I also need to get good at welding. I have a 100 amp arc welder that’s okay for thicker stuff, and I have about 1 hr experience on a wire feed. I suck at both. Doesn’t stop me from trying and declaring victory on non-critical items.

#34

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

#35

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:[/quote]
Few things are more moral than the free exchange of goods and services.

-Ranger Greenspan

#36

Try a welder repair shop. We have one here in GV that buys used items from auctions and resales them. You also know they are in good repair and the prices are very fair. He has many stories of someone buying something off ebay and then it needs a $500 part. I know one friend myself, that it happened to. Just go buy a Miller251 you will love it.

#37

Bought a new Lincoln Weld Pak 180 for $580 shipped. Home Depot and Lowes had it for $669 + tax, so I figure I got a decent deal.

In other news, the machine shop work is done on the seat mounts. The next step is lots of careful fitting and measuring so I can drill holes cleverly placed to allow changes in up/down, fore/aft, and tilt.

#38

The seat project is finished. It really worked out well. Tne seat has 4 fasteners in it’s bottom and 2 in the back. It’s far stiffer and stronger than the Sparco that it replaced. The shoulder braces adjust up/down, inboard/outboard and angle. That flexibility allowed me to adjust the shoulder braces such that held me as securely as possible, without interfering with necessary arm movement to the wheel and shifter. The arm braces really seem like they are going to do a lot to hold me tightly in place, as opposed to the shoulder braces on the Sparco that didn’t do much of anything.

The halo is perfectly position to do it’s job yet I can see thru it just fine. There isn’t any interference between halo and cage, but that was an issue during the 100 test fits I did while I worked on the mounts.

I spent several hours today cutting and glueing additional foam to go under the padded cover. Even tho the seat’s butt is a fairly narrow 15", I put in another inch of hard foam at the hips. Now it fits nice and tight. I also put in foam beside and under the thighs , and also behind the shoulders.

I really didn’t know what it could be like to be in a seat that really holds me in tightly. You guys don’t know what you’re missing.

#39

The front seat base is made of a 4" width of 3/16th inch aluminum. Although it may look from the pic that the front of the seat is “side mount”, the seat’s bottom is what is fastened to the 3/16th aluminum that runs underneath.

The rear seat mount is made of two 1/8th inch thick 1X2" box channels that have been welded together to make a 1X4. The resulting structure is very strong.

Both front and rear seat mounts use the car’s OEM fastening points.

The rear of the seat is fastened to my old seat brace. The structure of the seat’s rear is kinda complicated, especially at the shoulders. The aluminum there is 1/4" thick, but the seat brace doesn’t actually press against the 1/4" aluminum sheet, instead it presses against some of the structural support pieces that are welded on to the back of the seat. So instead of being a spear pointed at your back, in stead it provides a very broad area of support.

#40

An addendum. Early on in this effort I was concerned that the rib protectors, that seem to be popular for aluminum seats, were going to be a pita for shifting and ingress/egress. It turns out that they are actually a nice feature. The rib protectors contribute noticeably to the seat holding me tightly in place, shifting isn’t affected, and ingress/egress isn’t that that tricky even w/o removing the steering wheel.