Tillett W1 fibreglass seat

[jouhar]

Hi to all,

I have recently bought an SEi  to use for hillclimbs. Its not road-legal. It had no seat, so I have bought a Tillett W1 seat.

Can anyone give me any tips for fitting it into the car please ?  Should I get brackets for the sides ? ....Or maybe 4 bolts through the seat ?.....  Any advice or experience of doing it would be much appreciated.

Thanks !

Regards

Kelvin

[XTR2Turbo]

There are two versions of the W1, with and without a back support.

With a backsupport it includes four thread insert fixing points in the bottom.

Without the back support you need to mout at the back sides to the bulkhead and front sides.  

There is a mounting kit that includes 4 cup washers and bolts.

David

[Mark (smokey mow)]

I'm in a similar situation to you with my Tillett W1 at the moment and have been thinking about this.  

My plan is to buy their seat fixing kit, it's only £5.99 and this gives you the load spreading washers etc for fixing through the fibreglass shell.

I was then going to fabricate two small aluminium brackets from the front sides of the seat to fix this to the floor and then make two similar brackets to space and fix the back of the seat to the backpanel.

Edit: Doh, must type faster.

[jouhar]

David/Smokey - Thanks for the replies.  My seat does not have the back support.  The fixing kit sounds like a good idea.

Regards

[Welly Jen]

Has anyone fitted Tillet W1 seats in a narrow body Westfield? The dimensions Tillet give are 400mm width. Narrows are 395mm from the tunnel to the chassis tubes. Can they be trimmed, or distorted to fit?

 

Just contemplating another Winter upgrade.

 

Jen

[GoSloGem]

I fitted a Tillet W1 (GRP) in my narrow SE last year. Bought one from Stoneleigh with back frame and the lower edges ready trimmed. This gives much-needed extra clearance. The car has no carpets on side panels, but the seat still required some shoving and cursing to fit. Threading the harness through the side holes was fiddly, and the rubber edging on the cut outs needed regluing afterwards. Although the back frame stiffens the seat well and provides the threaded inserts, the bottom of the seat pan is still a little lower than the frame base, so some kind of spacers will be needed to clear this. I fabricated mine from offcuts of hardwood windowsill - just the right thickness, light, easy to work, and spreads the weight nicely... A set of adjstable runners would not work in my car as the seat is jammed in too tight.

 

The result is very comfortable, and I feel 'better connected' to what is happening on the road when driving.

[Welly Jen]

I fitted a Tillet W1 (GRP) in my narrow SE last year. Bought one from Stoneleigh with back frame and the lower edges ready trimmed. This gives much-needed extra clearance. The car has no carpets on side panels, but the seat still required some shoving and cursing to fit. Threading the harness through the side holes was fiddly, and the rubber edging on the cut outs needed regluing afterwards. Although the back frame stiffens the seat well and provides the threaded inserts, the bottom of the seat pan is still a little lower than the frame base, so some kind of spacers will be needed to clear this. I fabricated mine from offcuts of hardwood windowsill - just the right thickness, light, easy to work, and spreads the weight nicely... A set of adjstable runners would not work in my car as the seat is jammed in too tight.

 

The result is very comfortable, and I feel 'better connected' to what is happening on the road when driving.

Thank you for your describing your experience with this seat. My car sounds similar, no carpets, no interior panels. Was hoping to have a seat runner for the drivers side so it could accommodate taller drivers, but if that isn't possible then it would need to be fixed for short ar$es only. I don't have a feel for what the back frame is, or does yet. Would the seat need to have brackets fixed to the rear bulkhead panel if there is no backframe? That is the impression I get, but I've not been able to find any with/without pictures yet.

 

Jenny

[Welly Jen]

Answering my own question, I've now found pictures of the moulded back frame and understand what it does. Oh dear, I think I'm going to be spending more money...

 

Jen

[Tillett Car Seats]

Kevin

 

I have the w1 with backframe in stock and you get the wscc discount from me 

 

David

[Welly Jen]

Kevin

 

I have the w1 with backframe in stock and you get the wscc discount from me 

 

David

Hi David,

 

Jenny actually. You have PM.

[Mark (smokey mow)]

Jen, I took these at stoneleigh a couple of years back which you may find of help.

 

When I bought my narrow it came with what I believe to be a W3 fitted which also goes in fine but being the single seater version it is a little bit too reclined for a Westfield

 

 

[Welly Jen]

Jen, I took these at stoneleigh a couple of years back which you may find of help.

 

When I bought my narrow it came with what I believe to be a W3 fitted which also goes in fine but being the single seater version it is a little bit too reclined for a Westfield

Thanks Mark,

Those are very good clear pictures. I'm talking myself in to this I think. Over the years Mr Toad has been altered to be more stripped out. The old Westfield padded seats are starting to look tatty and get soaked when driven in the rain. A pair of fibreglass seats with holes would make more sense.

 

Jen

[Norman Verona]

Or carbon/kevlar:

 

[Welly Jen]

Or carbon/kevlar:

Hi Norm,

Very pretty, but too expensive for me I'm afraid.

 

Jen

[Norman Verona]

Sorry, didn't realise that the carbon/kevlar seat was that much more than the fibreglass one.