Track build - roll cage, seat, dash
03-02-2013, 04:44 AM
#11
Turn-r-us, I wanted an easily and widely adjustable seat, so Phil suggested this setup. At almost 6'1" the seat frame can move even further back then I need. It can also move way forward to accomodate someone much shorter. I'm not worried about head clearance, it's lower then my old Sparco Evo2+ on Buddy Club rails, in which I already passed the broomstick test with a Hard Dog bar and windshield frame. This 5-minute adjustability allows folks of widely differing heights to fit the car such as a track day for another driver (like my kids), an enduro (like the NASA 25) or as a selling point in the future. It is also very easy to fit another seat in if I want to change.
Good stuff, understood. The reason why I ask is that I have an Evo seat mounted to taitec rails and I have the skin of the hardtop removed with the cage real tight up against the top, but my head is very close to the roll bar. I have 1 inch padding on the bar and dropped it down to 1/2 inch and going to get rid of the rails and mounting to the floor to get better clearance. Just don't feel all that comfortable being so close to the bar.
03-02-2013, 08:16 AM
#13
Administrator
btw regionally unlikely anyone will care and I certainly dont, but there is an ST* rule about cutting the chassis for seat clearance. I think the purpose of the rule was to stop sedans from putting the driver seat in the back. Speaking of, why didn't you remove the whole top of the center console like we did?
Interior:
5:
The chassis shall not be modified to make additional clearance for the driver’s seat. The driver’s seat shall be located in the same lateral location as the OEM seat, unless otherwise allowed on a car’s spec line. The driver’s seat shall be located longitudinally so that the seat back, at the driver’s shoulders, does not break an imaginary vertical plane located at the front of the rear seat platform. On 2-seat vehicles the seat back may go back to the OEM rear bulkhead, package tray, etc. It is recommended that the floor be reinforced in the areas where the seat is mounted to the chassis. Vehicles with a non-metallic floor shall add tubing elements, with a minimum wall thickness of .090 inch, connecting metallic parts of the chassis, or within the cage structure, to which the seat must be mounted
5:
The chassis shall not be modified to make additional clearance for the driver’s seat. The driver’s seat shall be located in the same lateral location as the OEM seat, unless otherwise allowed on a car’s spec line. The driver’s seat shall be located longitudinally so that the seat back, at the driver’s shoulders, does not break an imaginary vertical plane located at the front of the rear seat platform. On 2-seat vehicles the seat back may go back to the OEM rear bulkhead, package tray, etc. It is recommended that the floor be reinforced in the areas where the seat is mounted to the chassis. Vehicles with a non-metallic floor shall add tubing elements, with a minimum wall thickness of .090 inch, connecting metallic parts of the chassis, or within the cage structure, to which the seat must be mounted
03-02-2013, 10:46 AM
#14
Former Moderator
going to get rid of the rails and mounting to the floor to get better clearance
03-02-2013, 09:20 PM
#15
Thread Starter
Rylan, what I refered to as the tranmission tunnel is really the "lip" of the center console top. Phil didn't notch into the verticle portion of the main tranmission tunnel, he notched the top's lip. What the Driving Ambition car removed in its entirety, we only removed a part of. Should I be concerned the "lip" would be considered part of the chasis? Would this cause issues if the car went from Regional to National racing?
Here's a pic of your Driving Ambition car showing the center console top removed (from DrivingAmbition's post #233):
Here's my car showing the center console top lip notched out:
As for why we didn't "pop the top" off the console, I'm trying to contain costs. This whole build thing is a slippery slope, and I'm already sliding down it with the Halltech and Racepak. It is soooo easy to think "as long as I'm doing this, why don't you do that too?". Once I get it going, I know the siren's song of an intake/exhaust/full tune will be irresistable!
Here's a pic of your Driving Ambition car showing the center console top removed (from DrivingAmbition's post #233):
Here's my car showing the center console top lip notched out:
As for why we didn't "pop the top" off the console, I'm trying to contain costs. This whole build thing is a slippery slope, and I'm already sliding down it with the Halltech and Racepak. It is soooo easy to think "as long as I'm doing this, why don't you do that too?". Once I get it going, I know the siren's song of an intake/exhaust/full tune will be irresistable!
03-02-2013, 09:24 PM
#16
Thread Starter
Turn-R-Us, I should mention I remove the seat bottom cushion in my Evo2+, and will likely do the same in my OMP HTE. There were no comfort issues during either 30m track sessions nor 2 hour drives to/from the track (back when it was street legal).
03-03-2013, 05:51 AM
#17
I never run the butt cushion either and don't really notice any difference other than I feel more like I'm actually in the seat than on top. I do like to keep some kind of leg cushion at the front though. It does help me sit just barely lower too.
Greg, is that metal on the trans tunnel "lip" pretty thick? I'm wondering if I can't beat it in with a big hammer a tad if need be? I'll probably keep the leather cover on in my car so it'll cover up any ugly underneath.
Greg, is that metal on the trans tunnel "lip" pretty thick? I'm wondering if I can't beat it in with a big hammer a tad if need be? I'll probably keep the leather cover on in my car so it'll cover up any ugly underneath.
03-03-2013, 07:10 AM
#18
Administrator
As I see it, the key difference between what we did and you did is that we did our for weight, not seat clearance. Our seat fit fine before hand (and we took photos to show it). Vs yours was done specifically for seat clearance which the rule says you can't do.
As I said it's not gonna matter regionally. Just wanted to give ya a heads up.
-Ry
As I said it's not gonna matter regionally. Just wanted to give ya a heads up.
-Ry
03-03-2013, 08:14 AM
#19
Thread Starter
Makes sense...kind of "it's not an orgy, it's a TOGA party" thing. As long is can remedy by removing the whole console top, then I haven't cut myself into a corner.