Seat Attachment

[Domino]

What does everyone do about attaching the seat since the adjustable/sliding seat bracket that can be purchased with it is not permitted? Specifically, the seat is a Cobra Monaco.

[jc836]

I have a Sparco REV and the steel brackets for it are bolted/welded to the floor pan. The bolts should be Grade 8 or higher and also you should use suitable "fender" washers as well to spread the load.

------------------
'89 CRX Si-SCCA ITA
'96 Civic HB Just cruising daily
'99 Prelude=a sweet song in motion

[bobpink]

Ideally you want to attach the seat to the rollcage by building a frame to bolt it to. If the car gets hit in the side, the cage will move independently of the seat and you stand a better chance of injury.

If you mount the seat to the floor I would recommend much more than "fender" washers. Get some proper backing plates and round off the corners so the sharp corners don't open the floor like a can opener.

Bob Pinkowski
Atlanta Region SCCA
2002 ARRC Committee
OPM Motorsports
ITS Honda Prelude

[This message has been edited by bobpink (edited September 27, 2002).]

[jc836]

Bob:
I cannot argue the safety point. My cage is a KIRK 8-point and the way it was built there are no provisions for a way to mount the seat to it directly. I have been in a "CUP" car and it is a fully fabricated chassis with the seat mounting points integrated into the cage. I am not sure we can add the additional support tubes for IT unless they go from one side to the other only-otherwise, one might face the question of contact points with the chassis. This is also difficult in the case of a CRX and its tunnel and then the 2" headroom issue.
The solution we are using is also applicable to NHRA chassis construction. Is it the best choice? I'm not a structural engineer. Another thought here is that the attach points for a stock seat must meet certain standards. I assume that if we mount a race seat to those points it would be as safe as can be reasonably expected.
Just a point of view on my part


------------------
'89 CRX Si-SCCA ITA
'96 Civic HB Just cruising daily
'99 Prelude=a sweet song in motion

[Domino]

Originally posted by bobpink:
Ideally you want to attach the seat to the rollcage by building a frame to bolt it to. If the car gets hit in the side, the cage will move independently of the seat and you stand a better chance of injury.

If you mount the seat to the floor I would recommend much more than "fender" washers. Get some proper backing plates and round off the corners so the sharp corners don't open the floor like a can opener.

Bob Pinkowski
Atlanta Region SCCA
2002 ARRC Committee
OPM Motorsports
ITS Honda Prelude

[This message has been edited by bobpink (edited September 27, 2002).]

So basically you would build a four sided frame out of, say, square steel tubing, bolt that to the bottom of the seat. Then weld/bolt some frame rails to the floor or cage. Then attach the seat frame to the rails. Do I have the concept? This is a tube frame seat btw so it doesn't have side mounts.

[bobpink]

jc836,

You have the general idea. I don't think it is legal to weld any of the tubing for the seat to the floor though-limited to 8 points you know. If anyone would like a diagram I created for work showing the seat mounting to a cage, please e-mail me and I will send it to you. The usual disclaimer applies; your results may vary and it is up to you for a safe installation.

I mentioned using something bigger than "fender" washers because of personal experience. Before I became aware of a number of safety-related things I had the seat in my car bolted directly to the floor. I was doing the nut and bolting thing on the car before a race and saw one of the bolt/washers pulled through the floor. I didn't hit anything prior to this and maybe had an "off". I had a seat frame built before I took the car back out.


Bob Pinkowski
Atlanta Region SCCA
2002 ARRC Committee
OPM Motorsports
ITS Honda Prelude
[email protected]