Only ballast allowed??

[Z3_GoCar]

Here's something I was wondering about after I asked about replacing motor mounts. Why is it not legal to drill holes in the passenger side seat and foot area for anything other than ballast weight? For reference, 9.1.3.9.l.3

"Holes may be drilled in passenger side footwell/seating floorpan for the purpose of mounting ballast (only),"

This would seem to preclude drilling holes in the floorpan for any other purpose like a fire system bottle, data acquisition system, a video recorder, or even a fuel cell if it were within 12 inches of the stock tank. All these things need a secure place to mount and the unused passenger floor is the perfect place to mount these items. Is this something else that may need to be addressed?

James

[iambhooper]

And there James, I believe you have found out the meaning of "interpretation of the rules". I cant begin to tell you how many cars have MSD's, Fire systems, radio's, ect mounted to the floor. My interpretation has been to prevent people from drilling holes to lighten the chassis. Of course, let someone do it, and after a run off through the dirt, they will quickly cover them up!

Regards,
hoop

[Z3_GoCar]

We're required to solidly mount all those accessories, and many like the fire bottle must be reached when seated, or are heavy such as a cool suit cooler and you want mounted as low as possible, or in my case there's just not many other places to mount them. Yet, this precludes drilling a hole to mount any accessory in this location. Why shouldn't this be an area to be changed?

James

[Ron Earp]

James, mount your fire bottle on the floor, along with your cool suit container, and go racing.

Some of the basic rules you've got to follow verbatim - use of stock or stock style replacement parts, etc. Your motor mounts are a perfect example. Core IT values there, needs to be strict in interpretation.

But the rules were written long before cool suits became a standard accessory for race cars, in particular IT race cars. Still might not be standard for a lot of folks, but in the "hot as hell" SE you sure do see a lot of cars with them, bolted right in the passenger side of the car. Besides, you could call it ballast if you like. I don't think any self-respecting IT racer is going to give you grief over that.

[GKR_17]

Besides, you could call it ballast if you like. I don't think any self-respecting IT racer is going to give you grief over that.

Not quite true... ballast can serve no other purpose. GCR 9.3.14 allows cool suits, and requires they be secure. It's safe to assume that would require the addition of bolts and such. Not that long ago, cool suits and drink bottles were allowed in the GCR, but were supposed to be removed when the car was weighed.

edit- bold added

[Ron Earp]

Not quite true... ballast can serve no other purpose. GCR 9.3.14 allows cool suits, and requires they be secure. It's safe to assume that would require the addition of bolts and such. .

Sure, but if your car is underweight certainly add a cool suit. I don't see them being removed in impound here in the SE. I made my own system and did bolt mine down through the floor and insulated the bolts so they wouldn't be heat sinks, or cold sinks in this case. Regardless, people put them in the passenger area almost exclusively and while the cool suit box itself might be strapped to a mounting plate, the mounting plate is bolted to the floor.