I've been to a few scrapyards (breaker yards) and have asked around for getting a car seat for my planned cockpit build --- and they're asking for £20-30 for your basic car seat that comes in "I've been exposed to the elements for the last two years" condition. I was thinking "you gotta be kidding me," after all, aren't these cars bound for the junkshop/furnaces anyway? And £20 for a basic seat?

Damn.

I was wondering if anyone else had any ideas? I do know some build flight seats out of wood or old recliners or lawn chairs, but I'm looking for one with tons of foam support - my "premium" office chair lasted me 6 months and now I can feel the bottom after a few hours of seat time.

Anyone?

Ebay?
My local Halfords had acouple of shop-demonstrator replacement car seats on clearance for £50 last year, been kicking myself for not getting one.
Or one of the Xbox rocker chairs sometimes on clearence.
Wired for sound and you wont need to rock...
Cheers
Keith

eBay seems to give me mostly child-car seats... and £50 for a seat? Whoa!

Didn't expect it to be this expensive!

Looks like one can now exclude words, like when using google-fu :
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=-h...6.c0.m270.l1313

My search skills suck. Thanks for the help!

Now to find one that I can afford...

I built an aces II. I had the car seat for a while but using a center stick isn't comfortable or immersive that way. It still needs paint and detailing but is far better than the car seat i was using.

I've seen people use racing-style bucket seats in their pits. I'm not one to go the pre-fab route, so for my pit, which at this point is just an Akers-Barnes Cockpit, I'm doing the padding myself. When you build your own seat, you get the privilege of choosing exactly how thick and padded you want the seat to be. For example, I believe that I read that Lobo_63 used that expensive yet comfortable memory foam for his "TM Warthog Glider Rocker Sim Seat Mod".

Myself, I'm just going to go with two or three inch thick dense foam padding for the seat, and maybe one or two inch for the seat back. The beauty of making it yourself is that you get to make it exactly how you want it.

I'm more after comfort than "accuracy," though I will admit that mounting the center stick will be a challenge. How'd you pad your Aces seat?

You could get decent foam from a local upholstery shop. You could have them make a cover at the same time. I'm kicking this idea around ATM since I'm now not sure I want a car seat in my A10 pit lol! I was in the same frame of mind as you too, adjustable and comfort!

It will be easy enough to get a "custom" Aces seat to slide forward/backward, the main reason I was going for a car seat is the more-durable foam --- what is the "local upholstery shop" equivalent of such foam?

I am willing to work around an "unrealistic" car seat in a 'pit build if it meant being able to sit in comfort for hours, but if I can get the same comfort by buying custom-cut foam, I would!

I just couldn't get the feel right using a center stick in a car seat. This made it real uncomfortable mostly for me. I used the sliders from it for the aces II. Try JO-Anne fabrics (wife does quilting) for the different foam you might want to use.

With all wrecking yards, you've got to see what they've got frequently, to get the good stuff you need before it's rained upon or snatched up by someone else. IMO 20 (AUD 40-60?) is good for a seat (in good condition) - and way, way cheaper than buying one from the dealer. Passenger seats will usually be in better condition than driver's seats, also. Go to a yard that has hundreds of cars to look in - there's got to be a few good seats in there, especially since you don't need a specific model.

I can't afford to go to wrecking yards "just to see what they have new." That and the guys I've met who manage the yards are pretty much un-fun to deal with.

I was thinking of maybe making my own ACES II seat... If I'm building the 'pit anyway, why not a proper chair to fit? I was wondering if anyone had any info/links regarding the measurements of an ACES II seat? I tried googling for it and get a few, but I can't tell if they're authentic. One of the sites even mentioned just measuring a model-scale ACES II and worked his way from there. I want as-accurate measurements as I can find... though I'm only interested in building the actual front-part of the seat, no grand ideas of building a replica here.

Thanks!

Ice, did you look here? <--CLICK

Yep, but like he said himself:



Are there any more references out there? Surely we're all not going by that guy's measurements.

I went to Jo-Anne fabrics and use 2" green foam but the wife covered it with a camoflage fabric for me that we picked out also. Going to use the same camo on all I can in the pit to kind of give it a theme in a way.

Chappy, can you give me a link to that Jo-Anne fabrics store? I think I found one but just want to be sure we're on the same page. Thanks!

I went with the DIY rocker glider sim conversion. Tossed the old thin worn out cushions. Replaced with brand new memory foam with thickness and shape to my liking.

Here is how it looks. It is very comfortable for me. You could adjust the foam cushion to whatever is comfortable for you.



Original thread for this build here:
http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3168109/1.html

Lobo_63, what are you using for the stick extension?

g.

I am using an idea from recoilfx. Gardena 39035 metal garden hose connector. http://www.amazon.com/Gardena-39035-8-Inch-Garden-Connector/dp/B002VED3KW

Just had to cut down the plastic threaded bit. Used copper pipe reducers soldered together. I've dressed it with a bit of copper pipe insulation, cardboard tube and aluminum tape. The extension adds approx 8 cm to the stick height. I would not want it longer. I am able to incorporate the stick offset and have gained much in the way of precision. Very solid. The biggest problem I had was the PS/2 extension cable. I could only find it in 6' length and had to cut out over 5' and then solder it back together... those are small wires.

More info on this mod here: http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3269689/Thrustmaster_Warthog_Extension.html

Cheers

Nice seat Lobo_63.

- Ice, I found a Toyota Celica driver's side car seat that I mounted on to a wooden box - with wheels on the back side like what Lobo_63 did on his seat above. The neighbor wrecked her car and sold me the seat for $10. Nice things about it are the adjustable forward and back position and the tilting back.

The Toyota car seat unfortunately stunk of cigarette smoke so I got a car seat cover for it - and because that cover is made from plastic, and so is the seat, I have had to take extra steps to ground myself so I don't send sparks over to my computer when I get in and out of it.

WC

WC, you will see on my other thread, my car seat is a bucket seat that is covered by some fuzzy cloth-like material. No worries about cotton-plastic rubbing here. It has rails as well so it slides forward/back, and the back can obviously tilt. Just needed a bit of vacuuming when I got it as it was stored in a garage for a year or so, but no stink or damage.

- Ice, everyone,

Ground all your hardware and hang a few grounded wrist strap connectors around your cockpit and connect up before entering and disconnect after exiting. I was going to write a long response but this is what it comes down to.


It is insurance. Like radial tires and a TGP.

WC

Seeee, it was this little Princess Nikita (aka "The Destroyer Of P/N Junctions) who rubbed my leg and then, my left pinky *SPArked* over to my throttle last year; three weeks later my MB USB ports failed. You just never know where the static is going to come from.