Original Seat Ventilation

[Dalton Veitch]

All right, I'll show my ignorance here and ask a dumb question! Were the original GT40's seats supplied with air, or did the eyelets merely allow some natural circulation?
I assume that the air intakes on the sides of the front clip went to the two dashboard eyeball outlets, and the centre intake to the heater and thence to the demister dash vent.
Some write-ups indicate ventilation directly to the seats, but I see no evidence of this in the monocoque pictures.

Regards,

Dalton

 

[Chuck]

Yes indeed, the seats were supposed to be ventilated. The two front clip vents fed the eyeball vents and the center vent clip opening fed the center dash. There was no heater.

The early cars had oval vents from the front, through the doors, to the engine compartment to provide engine cooling. In photos of early cars one can see the oval vents on the outer portion of the fire wall about where the fuel pumps were typically located.

Regarding the seat ventilation, according to The Ford that Beat Ferrari, "The concept was that air drawn in at the front of the car would circulate througout the whole of the seat, to ensure that any perspiration generated by the driver during a race was quickly evaporated."

The side vents through the doors to the engine compartment did not work very well and were soon covered over. The seat venting did not work very well either.

 

[Chris Martino]

'Fresh air' was whatever was brought in from the outside air conditions into the cockpit. Nickel plated grommets and rip stop nylon were materials used to build the seats although I don't know what kind of a cooling roll they played although that may validate what you already know...

I feel for the drivers under race conditions - quite a feat!


Chris

 

It is my belief that the real reasoning behind the eyelets was to accommodate Flatulence. While doing 200+ mile on the muslin at Lepoop, one could not have twisted side ways and hold on to the steering in a safe manor. Hence the ventilated seats.

 

[Paul Thompson 'Hooligan']

It is my belief that the real reasoning behind the eyelets was to accommodate Flatulence. While doing 200+ mile on the muslin at Lepoop, one could not have twisted side ways and hold on to the steering in a safe manor. Hence the ventilated seats.

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :thumbsup:

 

[Bill Hara]

Faili

You are a know it all - show off!

 

[Ian Anderson]

Yes but isn't it great to have him back and posting after his self imposed exile due to a four letter word "WORK"!

Faili for president!:thumbsup:

Ian

 

[Dalton Veitch]

Chuck, thanks for your information. On the heater issue, I thought I recalled pictures on this forum of someone repairing a heater, above the footwells, in an original 40? Although it seems odd, as they would have been very hot during racing.

Faili, thanks for clarifying the issue. With some of the aerodynamic surprises they were having at speed, self draining seats may have been a good idea.

Dalton

 

[Ron McCall]

I think the reason for the eyelets is to burn small round blisters in your
ass & back when you sit in the car after it has been baking in the sun at a car show!
Atleast that's what MINE do!
That just proves that a GT40 is a Race Car, NOT a Show Car!!!

 

[John W]

On the heater issue, I thought I recalled pictures on this forum of someone repairing a heater, above the footwells.

That would almost certainly be a mkIII road car, or a later addition to a mkI car for road use.

I do recall the car your talking about, just can't recall the person who posted the pictures...

Ron, get a black towel and drape it over the seats when you park up, or sit on it when you leave.

 

[Rick Muck- Mark IV]

The original vent system with the ducting through the doors proved to take much horsepower via drag and was removed. The seats were intended to get some air via ducts but that system was never used as it was connected to the duct system that was eliminated.

 

[Dalton Veitch]

Rick, that sounds on the money. I have never seen any connection or even a duct pointing under the seats as far as I can recall. And there isn't much room at the rear bulkhead to get across from door ducting, at the fixed bodywork before the rear cover, to the back of the seats. So they generally were not positively ventilated once the initial effort was eliminated.

Dalton

 

[Mike Drew]

Yes indeed, the seats were supposed to be ventilated. The two front clip vents fed the eyeball vents and the center vent clip opening fed the center dash. There was no heater.

:huh:

GT40s came with heaters, made by Smith's (same as the instruments). They were mounted in the very center of the car, in the front compartment just ahead of the windshield. You normally don't see it because it is hidden under a cover. You can see many detailed photos of the GT40 heater system elsewhere on this forum, in Bill Musarra's thread which shows dozens and dozens of photos of P/1063, a bone-stock original GT40 Mkl 1 road car.

Many GT40s were sold as road cars, or privateer race cars. Many European competition events such as hillclimbs, Tour de France etc. were run in weather that demanded a heater for windshield demisting if nothing else. It's possible that racers eliminated the heater, or that some cars were built without it, but I would guess the overwhelming majority were built with it.