Prepping Miata for STL, few questions

[smbstyle]

I'm currently in the process of building an STL Miata, 1990 chasis with a 99 motor, and was planning on running my first race in STL at the end of the month, but I have a few questions about a few ST specific rules.

The previous owner cut a piece of the transmission tunnel out and welded in place an "L" shaped piece of steel to make room for the driver's seat, which I know a lot of SM guys are doing. Is this in violation of ST rule E.5 below? This will probably be my biggest concern, as this is pretty much irreversable.

9.1.4.E.5. The chassis shall not be modified to make additional clearance for the driver’s seat.

Also, I currently have the OEM cooling system routing on the Miata, which has the heater core on the interior side of the firewall, but all hoses running to the core are in the engine compartment, and they meet the heater core AT the firewall. Would this be in violation of ST rule I.3?

I.3. No line containing engine coolant may pass through the cockpit.