Plastic Race Seat Modification with Hot Air Blower??? Update - New wider Carbon Fiber seats the way to go

[JimmyG]

2022 Update - I ordere and installed the newer eider Carbon Fiber Tilots (shown right) seats from Caterham ordered through by Caterham dealer, and they are the way to go. About 1/2-inch wider across and an easier fit for my 230 lb 40-inch wait. Snug, but comfortable and perfect for hard cornering. 

Hi Guys, Just got my new used Caterham with the Caterham Plastic Race Seats and the fit is really tight with pinching on my ribs and butt.
It is obvious the seats are molded plastic and were formed with a plastic sheet, heated on a mold. In looking at the clearance between the seat sides and the car interior there is almost 1-in of clearance on each side. So I'm looking to buy a heat gun and open up the sides of the seat back and botton around 0.5in. on each side which should be perferct for me. I'm asking if anyone has tried or heard of doing this? Thank you! Jim Gianatsis

 

Edited July 11, 2023 by JimmyG
new updates

[Vovchandr]

Unfortunately the seats are fiberglass resin and heat gun application will not work as desired.

 

Only way of executing your plan would be somebody skilled in fiberglass cutting the seat down the middle and adding middle filler to stretch it out. While plausible this will never be cost effective after all the labor hours involved in making it look good still after all the work.

 

Your best bet is a new seat.

 

Caterham offers a different style Tillett in the later years but I'm not sure if it's any wider in the sides. 

 

Alternatively I'm sure there are aftermarket solutions but it's going to be very hard to find a seat that's narrow enough to fit into S3 but wide enough to accommodate somebody who's too wide for the S3 seat. 

 

Moving the seat further back but adding some kind of liner/spacer into the back is going to be your best cost effective option to get yourself pushed out from the seat sides

 

Disregard the CF, reference picture of the new style seat

[CarlB]

You might want to sit in a car with the S-3 leather seats. They do not have sides and I think they are very comfortable. Cutting the Tillett seats apart would be very difficult. A lot of the strength is in the rolled edges and you would need to be very careful to maintain the strength.  

[Vovchandr]

Unrelated: your driver seat upper seatbelt cutout is a strange shape for some reason. It doesn't match the typical shape like you see on the passenger where the bow is facing upward, your bow looks to be facing down. 

[JimmyG]

Thanks Vovchander.A pad liner may be the easier solution. I've written to Tillett Seats to see what they have to offer. All the seat on their website are 40-44mm wide, and my Caterham seats are 37mm wide at the waist to the outside of the rolled edge. There is no room in my Cat to go with these wider seats at the rolled edge. The shoulder belt cut outs on my drivers seat have the plastic edge trim missing, that's why it looks different. 

 

[Vovchandr]

1 hour ago, JimmyG said:

Thanks Vovchander.A pad liner may be the easier solution. I've written to Tillett Seats to see what they have to offer. All the seat on their website are 40-44mm wide, and my Caterham seats are 37mm wide at the waist to the outside of the rolled edge. There is no room in my Cat to go with these wider seats at the rolled edge. The shoulder belt cut outs on my drivers seat have the plastic edge trim missing, that's why it looks different. 

 

 

The seller was incredibly detailed and I found the answer to my question 

 

"I'm very short (5'4") and my mechanic was uncomfortable with the fit of the shoulder straps on me. He cut away some of the seat so that the should straps would be more level with my shoulders. If you are over 5'8", you'll probably want to replace the driver's seat or find a way to repair the change."

[Croc]

 

What is the width of your S3 cockpit "bathtub"?  The SV chassis is 47cm from memory.  The S3 should be like 42cm?  

 

You have a couple of options.

 

CarlB suggested the S3 seats.  These are very comfortable and allow you to expand to the sides of the cockpit without having the bucket sides of the Tillet taking up room.  These seats work well for touring, backroads, etc.  They are ok on a track but they do not locate your upper body well in high G corners.  I used them for a long time.  Link to product (missing headrest)

Seat - S3 - Leather (caterhamparts.co.uk)

 

There are other Tillett seats that might work.  What about the B3.5 and B6.5?  I am expecting that you can get a 40cm width to seat edges to work.  You can also get the rolled edge trimmed to save a few cm - Tillett does offer that - I have bought their seats that way allowing me to go up a size for my ample proportions.    

TILLET_CAR_BROCHURE_2020_WEB.pdf (tillett.co.uk)

 

Reverie makes a series of seats suitable for Caterham but really need to confirm the width of your cockpit.  Their Mulsanne B and C should fit at 41cm.   

Reverie | Seats & Accessories | Seats > for Caterham/Narrow Bottom Mount Fitment

 

 

 

 

[kayentaskier]

Of course there is always this option:

I had custom seats in my two previous S3 Caterhams. At 6'4" and 220 lbs the custom seat was the only practical solution  for me in a S3 chassis. I have the leather seats in my new 420r SV.

[JimmyG]

Thank Croc,
The Tillotts catalog link you gave me shows different available widths and options, which the seat page on their website did not show.
So I probably can go up from my current 37cm wide seat to a 40cm, seat with the rolled edge removed to still fit the fit the cockpit.
If only we were all size XSmall and weighed 120lbs

My S3? cockpit measures 37-38cm on the floor and 41cm at the side rail. 
I'll wait a few days for Tillot to reply to my inquiry for their suggestion. Like most British companies, they are really backed up right now because of the pandemic and Brexit. Their seat deliveries are 3+ months. I hear Caterham is a year behind in car deliveries.

[Croc]

The 41cm at the side rail is what I was expecting.  You will get a 40cm width seat in.  You want some small clearance to avoid scratching the interior panel powder coat.  

 

Tillett are backed up for months.  It was 5 months delay in late 2019.  A short cut approach which I took on my UK Caterham was call them direct and ask if they have any quality seconds.   I got a carbon seat immediately, with a discount, and they cut the rolled edges for me to fit my SV - they delivered it to my UK mechanic in a week.  I have still not found the blemish that made it a seconds seat.  Best bit is that I bypassed the wait time.    

 

They may try to fob you off to the US dealer but try to push to deal direct - it is much quicker that way.  I think the exclusive dealer is in CA which may be of use if you want to try the seats on for comfort/size.    

[JimmyG]

My stock seats are 42 cm External at the shoulders.My floor is 37cm wide.
36cm internal /38cm external at the waist w/rolled edge. There is room on the car to go to 37 internal / 38 cut external at the waist.

I can't find anything in the Tillott Catalog that offers a slightly larger 37cm waist internal, but keeps the external at 42 with a cut edge, except maybe the B7XL w/43cm cut edge is close. But the XL base is too wide at 38mm. My floor is 37mm.
So nothing is resolved without talking to Tillett. Thanks.

[Lancefitzgiben]

Have you checked out the offerings from intatrim? They have some intriguing options that fit in sevens. Reverie has already been mentioned but they've got some good stuff as well. 

 

If you find replacements and unload your current tilletts, please let me know as I'd be very interested!

[JimmyG]

I have ordered the Caterham exclusive Carbon Fibre Race Seats with padding and less inside contour which my Caterham dealer assures me have about 1in / 2.5mm more inside room than then R model Composite Race Seats. Just what I wanted. Expensive $3500 for the pair with mounts and runners. Here is their photo:

Edited September 22, 2021 by JimmyG

[JimmyG]

The Catterham Tillets Carbon Fibre Seats I ordered and installed are wider than the Composite Seats by about 1-in overall. Makes the car more usable and comfortable for us big guys. Suprising the Carbon seats are about 2 pounds each heavier than the Composites, in part because of the additional padding. But I got the weight saving back by not using the heavy steel adjustable seat sliders, but just bolting the seats solidly to the floor with the stock aluminum seat mounts.

[panamericano]

Pretty sure you mean cm where you show mm.  A Millimeter is a tiny little devil, hard to catch.  A cm is more like 3/8 of an inch for the Gringos, and so 30 some would be about 1/3 of a meter (think yard + 3 inches) for your seat measurements.  USA, give it up, just go metric! 

 

Sorry, hot spot.

[JimmyG]

I stand corrected, it is cm - not mm.

[empti]

@JimmyG You mentioned that the carbon seats are fixed to the floor? Do you know if the seat can fit the slider? Thanks! 

[JimmyG]

This question is resolved Guys, Thanks!
Empti, I mounted my seats to the floor without the heavy steel sliders, to get them lower down and to save weight. Plus I'm safer in lightening storms. ;)