Phil S1 Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I'm in the process of fitting some new seats and harnesses into my S1 so I thought I'd post a few photos up for anyone who's interested. I've always liked the look of the Exige/340r style seats and wanted to fit harnesses, and the 2 really go hand in hand it seems. I opted for the Willans harness kit as sold by Elise-shop, combined with a pair of crutch straps to make them into a 6 point harness. Here's what I received: and here's my car before I started taking it apart......again Seats out: You have to take the speaker pods out in order to fit the harness bar, being a Lotus they're only held in with velcro and a couple of self tappers so it's not a major job Self tappers shown below: and the velcro on the edges: I'm going to see if I can get on with just the harnesses and remove the inertia belts altogether so the seat belt warning sensor will be redundant. I've taped up the bullet connectors and tucked them under the tunnel: Harness bar installed and the speaker pods back in, getting the top 2 self tappers for those speaker pods back in was a bit of a challenge: And here's a couple of photos of the harnesses in place......there's still 2 vital components missing though: No prizes for anyone who spotted the lack of seats After putting out some feelers for secondhand Exige / 340r / 2-11 style seats with harness holes Chris at Lotus Racing suggested I contact a chap by the name of Emmanuel at LMSC That's Le Mans Sports Cars, not very local admittedly but he said he could trim me some new seats up for not too much more than I'd be paying for secondhand. On top of that he is also a fellow Type 49 fanatic Anyway, they've taken a little longer to be made than anticipated but, tomorrow is the day I go to meet him and collect the seats, I'm a little excited! To be continued..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeanB Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I would take a cushion with you on the way down. I love the black Willans harnrsses by the way. By far the coolest imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin R Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Phil, do the new seats have harness holes ? If they do i would have gone for a wrap around harness bar personally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil S1 Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 I would take a cushion with you on the way down. I love the black Willans harnrsses by the way. By far the coolest imo. Think I'll go in the daily driver, it'll be a bit more comfortable than just the cushion Phil, do the new seats have harness holes ? If they do i would have gone for a wrap around harness bar personally. They do have harness holes Martin but I think the spacing of the holes in the seats looks pretty similar to the harness bar mount points so I'm assuming it won't make much difference either way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin R Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Phil, i dont suppose it will make any difference. I expect the wrap around would just line up with the holes a bit better. I look forward to the new seat pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lummo Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Phil You seem to have some strange, furry stuff beneath your seats? I think I've heard of this stuff before - I believe it's called "carpet"? Car looks great BTW. I really must do something about my worn sill pads... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elise+Imp Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 ^^ exactly my thoughts, carpet, you must be getting soft - there's not one square inch in mine, and its the daily. looking good phil - and seats look really smart too (i've seen a preview pic) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin R Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Ive just found the pic I dont want to give it away but are you having the same ones as the pic ? Stunning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil S1 Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 Yes I know, I'm getting on a bit now and I'm afraid I succumbed to fitting the carpet under the seats and up the bulkhead to make things a bit quieter. What nobody ever notices though, is that I've even double glazed the rear window Anyway....the seats. I had a rendezvous with Emmanuel of LMSC today. He came over from Le Mans with his trailer to take another S1 back to France and I travelled down to meet him at Essex Autosport, which is only just off the M25 and dead easy to get to. He's a really nice chap and a proper Lotus enthusiast. The seats took 6 weeks in all rather than the original 3 week estimate but he kept me well updated along the way and I'm really pleased with the end result. Being piccy, there is the odd little crease in the alcantara but I guess they'll be a few more once I got my derriere on them Here's some photos for you to peruse, I just need to get them fitted now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 I have just dribbled on the desk!!!! Wow those look fantastic. Dare I ask if they were expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil S1 Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 They were about the going rate for new seats at £1650. The most expensive mod on my car to date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elise+Imp Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 good job the house extension is running later than planned phil, good idea to get the car expenses sorted before evaluating the kitchen funds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil S1 Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 good job the house extension is running later than planned phil, good idea to get the car expenses sorted before evaluating the kitchen funds Too right, it's all a matter of priorities, although I'm not sure the family would see it that way if an impending lack of funds meant we have to have an al-fresco kitchen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil S1 Posted July 18, 2011 Author Share Posted July 18, 2011 Finally got the seats fitted over the weekend. Took longer than I anticipated mainly because the threaded inserts within the seats were set deeper than the original Lotus ones which meant sourcing some longer bolts. As Martin made reference to earlier, there is a slight misalignment between the fixed harness positions and the holes in the seats but only to a slight extent on the outboard positions so in that respect maybe wrap round harnesses were the way to go. Here's a photo of them installed anyway.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeanB Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 My word your car is clean. It looks ace by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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