Modify a race seat for a fat guy

Im overweight and built wide naturally. I know this. Im working on the weight, but i can't do jack about my shoulders and hips. 

That being said, i have to get seats that fit me. For what im building (time trials and hillclimbs car on a legit challenge budget) i have a cobra fixed back and a momo corse seat. Both fit well in the shoulders,  but they are both uncomfortably tight in the hips and thighs. In slacks. I don't think i will even come close in a fire suit. I barely fit the momo, and the cobra feels about an inch wider at the hips. Momo is wider in the thighs. 

Anyway, im trying to figure out how to make these fit better. Before i do anything stupid, i figured I'd ask. I have to do some foam repair in both seats, so i will have them stripped to the frame. Both are expired, but nasa doesn't require in date sears and neither does hillclimb in my area per the scrutineer. 

My thoughts were to use a scissors jack from the truck to spread the frame at the hips and thighs by bending the tubing. Id maybe heat the tubing with a propane torch first if that would help. 

I doubt this is the right direction. 

Thoughts and ideas? 

Sell them both and buy a Kirkey aluminum seat?  I find the tube framed seats very uncomfortable, because I'm concentrating all my girth on a tube instead of on a flat panel. You would need to be pretty wide to not fit in a 17" Kirkey. 

A seat I like, but many people dismiss.

The Abomination has a 17" Kirkey seat. I have spread the wings and sides on it by a couple of inches to accommodate my width. It helps significantly. 

I don't think I would heat anything for fear of changing the temper or hardness. A scissor jack works perfectly for tweaking things. 

I recently widened the seat in the Elva I am working on. It is an old fiberglass seat and I cut it down the middle and added a couple of inches of fiberglass. I would not do this on a modern seat for safety reasons.

If you make friends with a guy who has a portapower body jack, and remove the upholstery from the seat, a bit of localized and carefully applied pressure may well be able to spread the tubes apart enough to make the difference you are after.  It may take a few tries and it may not ben enough in which case a bit of metal cut and welded in might be in order.

Sorry to say it but spend the money on a proper fitting seat. 

OMP TRS-E XL is about the biggest seat around and should easily fit you. Our friend sat in our OMP HTE-R and fit snug but fine and he is 6' 3" and 300lbs. The TRS-E XL is even bigger than that.

I'm also in the camp of spending the money on a seat that fits.  Safety gear is nothing to trifle with.  You hope you never need it, but when you need it, it can change your life permanently.

That said, I was faced with a similar decision last year.  When I looked at the price tag of doing everything right, I got very motivated to lose weight.  I'm down 40 pounds since June.  Not only do I fit the car better, but it has a hundred other benefits.  I'm better conditioned for racing, deal with the heat in the cockpit better, don't get as dehydrated on race day, etc.  I can race at the exact class weight because I'm no longer overweight without ballast.  Once in a while an attractive woman will steal a 2nd glance at me.  Noom and Peleton were the tools that worked for me, but I can guarantee everything up to and including personal trainers and diet counselors will be cheaper and more effective than oversized safety gear.  Good luck!

In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :

Im working on that, honestly. I was down to 240 before the holidays. 

However, no amount of weight loss will narrow my hips or ribs, i do believe. 

Dusterbd13-michael said:

In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :

 

However, no amount of weight loss will narrow my hips or ribs, i do believe. 

 

 

Truth.  If there is any extra padding in those areas, it folds into a seat quite nicely...

I'm 6'2", or at least I used to be.  At 260, a 17" Kirkey was slightly loose, a 16" was pretty much perfect.  I carry my weight in a manner that I will politely call "Barrel-chested", or less politely, I'm a white dude with no ass. The side bolsters on a containment seat sometimes need a bit of "management" to let me in.  I'm reasonably long legged, and like to be close to the steering wheel, so I tend to sit with my knees apart, which makes the tubes on a Sparco or whatever really dig into the side of my legs, which is the #1 reason for an aluminum seat for me.  I share a car sometimes with a guy who says exactly the opposite, though.

That wasn't particularly helpful, was it?

Streetwiseguy said:

Sell them both and buy a Kirkey aluminum seat?  I find the tube framed seats very uncomfortable, because I'm concentrating all my girth on a tube instead of on a flat panel. You would need to be pretty wide to not fit in a 17" Kirkey. 

A seat I like, but many people dismiss.

I like the aluminum seats as well; in my case it's the opposite problem. I'm 5' 7" 1/2 and 145lbs. The aluminum seat allows me to use some inserts to get a proper fit.

I have a wide ass aluminum seat you can have.  

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

Mine is all carried in a "beer belly" (ain't drank in 18 years) and a barrel chest with broad shoulders. Im 5'9ish, 240ish. Long legged, and like you, like to be close to the wheel with splayed knees. 

So i feel your pain EXACTLY. 

 Kirkey may well be the answer in the end, but I want to try to work with what I have first....

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

I just tried to measure my hips. Not sure how im supposed to do that, but i wear 38 jeans. My tape measure says im 17 across the hips. 

Ill take it!! Thanks!! Need an expired momo or cobra?

No, no I don't.  Take this E36 M3 and get it out of here.  

Maybe you should come down and grab a bunch of E36 M3....  lolz.

I know the express just drove through here.  Sorry I was in a fog...

Dusterbd13-michael said:

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

I just tried to measure my hips. Not sure how im supposed to do that, but i wear 38 jeans. My tape measure says im 17 across the hips. 

 

Ill take it!! Thanks!! Need an expired momo or cobra?

I had a thread on that measuring for seats things a while ago

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

I need to. Try to talk the wife into a Charleston trip while its off season!

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :

If you come down, give me a shout and maybe we can meet up for a burger and a beer. 

Yall can stay here!  No problem!

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Is there any chance you still have this seat I could definitely use it 

In reply to 2011cjpayne :

Sorry, I do not.  It went to somebody here on GRM I believe.  

You want a prp big guy seat. Bigger in the waist and flatter at the top for wide shoulders. Not sure it will fit in you current car. I had the wide version as a passenger seat in the Baja bug. 280lbs and 6 foot 4 with big shoulders was the biggest in that seat and he was happy all day long on the cruise.