Seat Material

[Chris Martino]

Hello all,

Not sure if the answer lies within this forum somewhere (if it does just point me in the direction). I want to stay away from leather seats and use the nylon/nickel grommet version seen in some of the originals.

I suspect that I could just substitude the leather option if ordered but was wondering if anyone has made a set using nylon?

Just curious?

[Phil]

Chris
I am using a material for my seats that I think is what you desire...The upholstery guy called it "ballistic nylon", I saw it used in some of those pouches and small bags used for tool kits etc. It is rather slippery, but breathes really well, and almost looks like the material used for fire hoses, a tight weave but with large strands. It needs , I'm told, to be sewn with Kevlar thread which should not be a problem for a good upholsterer...I will ask him monday and get his source for the material.
Phil

[Chris Martino]

Thanks Phil, I'll check back with you this week.

Cheers-

[Tim Kay]

Is it possible the material you are refering to is the same that is on the Safir for sale on E-Bay right now?

[Chris Martino]

That's what I'm looking for. Rip-stop nylon may be a plausable material, I know it's commonly used for high-stress conditions - wouldn't break the bank either and comes in black! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Mark Charlton]

So Chris, are you that far along already? Or, are you just putting your wait-time to good use? I hope it's the former. Love to hear an update on your progress!

[40 Bud]

With fuel tanks all around you, I would consider how fire resistant any material is before making a decision.

[Chris Martino]

Absoluetly - and if anyone should care - the Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standard about Fire Resistance is 4 inches of burn per hour for any material used in the interior.

Wouldn't want to be laminated in nylon so I'll need to check the manfc specs.

[Bob Putnam]

For a race car, we did a nice set using Kevlar material. It felt like a coarse nylon. Comfy.

[Keith Hardy]

Wouldn't nylon constitute a serious possible ignition hazard in an impact situation vis a vis the ease of generation of static electricity?

[Chris Martino]

The MDA fuel cells are filled with Explosafe foam www.explosafe.com to prevent containers of volatile liquids and gases from exploding from various causes of ignition, including sparking, maintenance error, electrostatic discharge. I would still want a fire retardent matierial no matter the fuel cell safety.

[Fred/Belgium]

Chris,
stupid question but can you insert this material in the fuel cells being on the car trough the opening 6' by 6' or do you need to open the cells?

Tx
Frzed

[Tye GT40]

Hi,

I am also looking into this matter and visited a upholstery yesterday to bring some samples. Neither of them seems to meet my expectations yet. I am not sure how tight the weave should and also not in choice of colour. It seems that in some pictures from books that the colour of the fabric is NOT black. It seems rather very dark blue/grey. Since we do not have an original car to check with maybe someone can confirm or decline this. The same goes for the colour of the dashboard. Maybe there were several combinations over the years but until now I have no such information.

Cheers
Henrik

[Chris Martino]

Hi Henrik,

Don't know for sure but I was just reading through the Ronnie Spain GT40 book in the specifications section and it appears they were mostly delivered with 'Black' or 'Black Road Trim' interior, however some of the earlier chassis P/1001 - 1008 had 'Blue' trim.

I guess whatever works/looks best to you is the bottom line.

[Tye GT40]

OK - thanks Mario!