Lotus Elise Seat Mount GB EOI

StillIC · Postby **StillIC** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 10:26 am

I am after expressions of interest in a group buy (GB) of Lotus Elise seat mounts that I have designed.

I have now built 3 prototype versions, the next run of parts being a slight update of the third prototype. Photos below are of V2.0, but the plan is to build a run of V2.1, of which a 2D model is shown.

The mount is laser cut and bent from 2.5mm rolled steel sheet, made from two pieces. It mounts to standard NA seat rails, both passenger's and driver's sides, using different holes depending on application. I don't know if the design suits NB seat rails or not; perhaps I can get a volunteer to trial fit V2.0 before going ahead with a run? On the subject of trial fitting, I am open to lending out V2.0 to NA or NB owners, to get feedback, in case some aspects of the design aren't popular.

The mount allows the seats to be reclined with a coarse adjustment at the sides and a fine adjustment under the seat were the front seat studs attach to the front support member. The sideways/lateral position of the driver's seat is adjustable over about a 15mm range to suit personal tastes (steering wheel aligned > pedal aligned). At the moment the passenger lateral position is fixed. This can easily be modified with slotted holes if necessary. Construction involves a few steps and I am interested in receiving feedback in regard to much work individuals are willing to do themselves. Steps include:

Laser cutting (I can outsource);
Bending (I could outsource, perhaps do myself if I get a folder);
Deburring/linishing cut edges (prefer not to outsource, but I don't have a linisher myself);
Attaching rivnuts (straight forward process, I could do for a small run, but would prefer not to for a large run);
Coating/painting/powdercoating (I am not an expert at this and if I was to source a supplier to do it, they would all be black).
I can supply fasteners, all going well.

Another question is, should I provide DXF drawings and simply let people do this all themselves, which would lose some of the advantages of a GB?

As you can probably tell, I am not trying to make a business out of this or make any money, just provide a better product than those competing mounts out there, most of which are designed for left hand drive cars and are not adjustable for rake/recline. Anyway, please have a look at the attached photos of V2.0 and the image of V2.1, let me know if you are interested, and what would suit you regarding 'DIY' versus 'finished product'.

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StillIC · Postby **StillIC** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 10:27 am

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ManiacLachy · Postby **ManiacLachy** » Sat Jun 30, 2018 4:38 pm

As discussed in PMs, I'm keen for a set, and a friend is also in. Both for driver and passenger brackets.

I'm NB and happy to test fit, but we'd have to arrange shipping to Brisbane.

StillIC · Postby **StillIC** » Fri Jul 06, 2018 4:58 pm

ManiacLachy,

Could I get you to measure the centre distance between the seat rails (bolt holes) on the NB seats please? I assume the rail centre distances are the same between NA and NB, but I'd like you (or anyone else) to confirm this please. If they match we are good to go, else some modifications may be required. I guess I should confirm the distance between the front and rear holes too.

Thanks.

ManiacLachy · Postby **ManiacLachy** » Fri Jul 06, 2018 8:10 pm

For sure, I'll do a measure over the weekend. The rails themselves don't matter, I'm currently using NA rails. I think the spacing is the same, I mean, people put NB seats into NA cars and vice versa right? But I'm all for checking everything out.

ManiacLachy · Postby **ManiacLachy** » Mon Jul 16, 2018 8:12 am

Sorry for the delay on this, the weekends kept getting away from me and weekday's don't leave me much time to myself. Anyway, this morning I threw the measuring tape in the car as I left, so I've got some measurements.

Drivers side front: 335mm
Drivers side rear: 345mm
Passenger side front: 315mm
Passenger side rear: 325mm

I did a search to see if I could find any numbers backing these up, but it doesn't seem to be a measurement taken very often, not even by the Americans. I'm curious now about how that stacks up to the NA.

hks_kansei · Postby **hks_kansei** » Mon Jul 16, 2018 11:40 am

99% sure they're the same.

I currently have an NA mazdaspeed seat bolted to my NB rails (with the seatbelt bit cut off), and bolted into my NB.
The same seat I have bolted to my car currently has previous been fitted to NA rails, again, without issue.

StillIC · Postby **StillIC** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 9:07 am

Thank you people. I will go ahead and get some quotes for cutting at least 4. I will probably get 6 done and pay for/keep two for Ron (that's Later Ron).

ManiacLachy · Postby **ManiacLachy** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 9:35 am

Awesome

So, they do match your NA measurements?

StillIC · Postby **StillIC** » Tue Sep 11, 2018 6:46 pm

Latest news....

So after designing and prototyping the first mount (photographed above) I made some design changes then requested and paid for a total of 6 seat mounts to be laser cut. Last week I received those parts. However...

...the laser cutter did not reload the newest revision of the file I sent (as per the model above) and merely laser cut 6 copies of the parts photographed above, although invoiced me for the parts with the newer revision file name on the invoice. I have asked the question as to when they can cut 6 of the newer revision parts, as requested, but they have yet to respond.

It is difficult to be a DIYer interacting with Australian industries it seems.

ManiacLachy · Postby **ManiacLachy** » Wed Sep 12, 2018 8:25 am

That sucks. You hear too many stories like yours, these shops just do not give a $%!# about guys like you and Lightyear. Let's hope you hear back and they make it right.

StillIC · Postby **StillIC** » Tue Sep 18, 2018 7:34 pm

It looks like the laser cutter came through. I have received a delivery of laser cut parts of the later revision. I will have to do some QA on the parts to ensure they are correct, but it looks like they have done the job correctly from the shape of the packaging.

ManiacLachy · Postby **ManiacLachy** » Wed Sep 19, 2018 8:14 am

That's awesome. Surprising, but awesome! Hope they check out.

Max · Postby **Max** » Wed Sep 26, 2018 11:52 pm

Hey!
Just want to say I’m interested in the seat mounts. I just grabbed a pair of lotus seats for my NB. Just wondering How high you sit compared to stock mx5 seats?

StillIC · Postby **StillIC** » Thu Sep 27, 2018 3:29 pm

Max wrote:Hey!
Just want to say I’m interested in the seat mounts. I just grabbed a pair of lotus seats for my NB. Just wondering How high you sit compared to stock mx5 seats?

Take your seat off the rails, place a piece of (not too thick) plywood on the standard rails, sit towards the back of the ply, and that is about the height you will be at. It is much lower than standard due to the thin shell of the Elise seat.