Seats!

[ron parola]

 Starting to mull over my 72 TC's seating accomodations, minimal at best but not really too uncomfortable. Checking out the Banks leather ones... looks good BUT POA in pounds sounds pretty scary!  Has anyone had good luck finding an aftermarket or other car type seating for these? Most of the aftermarket ones are larger or very minimal for racing. Thoughts?? Ron p

[LotusJoe]

I've always wondered if Lotus Elise seats would fit.  I see them for sale on Lotus Talk.

[blasterdad]

A Member has a pair for sale in the classified section,
it says they are for a S2 though...
They look really nice...?
http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=747.0

[EuropaTC]

I think the Elise seats would probably fit although I wouldn't recommend the S1 variety, they just don't have enough padding ! 

On the plus side they are both lighter and thinner than the Europa seats so I'd guess there will be more fore & aft adjustment.   The sub frames are minimal so you'd need to make something to space them off the floor but again you might grab another inch or two of headroom ?

If anyone is serious about this option I'll measure mine.  AFAIK S1 & S2 seats are interchangeable but the ones I'd go for would be the later S1 & S2 seats, again because of better padding where you sit. They really do feel like sitting in a race car fibreglass shell seat, but not one that's molded to fit your backside !

[exarkun1178]

I never knew banks sold seats.  I just looked at the site, it says call for price.  you all know how much they are?

I ended up re doing the seats my self.......   they look ok from 5 feet away. 

[BDA]

If you're interested in buying seats from Banks, I suggest you talk to Richard during HIS "lunch break". He doesn't do email and in my experience, the middle of his day is the best time to get him.

It sounds like you're not as good an upholsterer as you wish though you are surely a lot better than I am. If you want to fix up your seats, I suggest you take them to a local interior/top shop. You would have a lot of options for fabric or leather and you wouldn't have to ship across the pond (I assume you're in the states). I had mine redone in a sort of corduroy fabric. I thought about leather but fabric breaths better than leather and it also grips you better. They really did a great job! I think it's worth checking it out.