Stock Seats and Cage/harnesses question

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mshred

mshred

The Green Manalishi
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hey guys,

I want to get the seats for my scamp reupholstered, but before i lay down the cash im looking into the long run...I do plan to put a cage in the car one day (albeit when i run the required time, which could be sooner then later maybe) and i came across this peice form the nhra rulebook:

6.2 UPHOLSTERY, SEATS
The driver's seat of any car in competition must be constructed, braced, mounted, and upholstered so that it will give full back and shoulder support. The driver's seat must be supported on the bottom and back by the frame or crossmember. Except as noted in SFI specifications, seats must be bolted with four bolts (and nuts and washers) on the bottom and one bolt in the rear into crossbar; all bolts must go into frame or crossbraces, ball-pins for seat attachment prohibited. All seats must be upholstered, or as noted under Class or SFI Requirements. Properly braced, framed, supported and constructed seats of aluminium, fiberglass or double layer poly (accessory seats) or carbonfibre are permitted. Single layer fiberglass seats must have steel tube framework, 1/2-inch (12.7 mm) min outside diameter, for support. Aftermarket aluminium seats must have reinforced head rest. Magnesium seats prohibited.


Im wondering how you guys are following these rules and how you have routed your harnesses...did you cut holes through the headrests for shoulder belts? are your seatbacks bolted to the cage, and if they are can they still slide? i think pics would help out alot with this so if you guys have pictures of your cars with harnesses, cages and stock seats please share!

Thanks!
Matthew
 
come on, theres gotta be some guys out there racing caged abodies with stock type seats
 
hi just curious, how fast is the car running?? that determines whether it needs a cage or a roll bar. just food for thought.
 
when i had the stock seats in my demon i did not have to have them bolted to the roll bar but i did have to have the shoulder straps go through the seat back. that required a slot 3 1/2" wide and 1/2" high in the plastic which was positioned just at the seam in the front so i could just cut the stitching and slip lthe belts through.
 
perfacar said:
hi just curious, how fast is the car running?? that determines whether it needs a cage or a roll bar. just food for thought.
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My car does not have a cage, nor will it have one until i run fast enough...however, im getting my seats done and would like to keep them even when i have a cage so im trying to be mindful of the future...I know my car doesnt need the cage or bar now, but its not bad to plan ahead

bOb shingler said:
when i had the stock seats in my demon i did not have to have them bolted to the roll bar but i did have to have the shoulder straps go through the seat back. that required a slot 3 1/2" wide and 1/2" high in the plastic which was positioned just at the seam in the front so i could just cut the stitching and slip lthe belts through.
Click to expand...

Thats what i was wondering, if i should have the seat guys cut holes in the seat backs for the shoulder straps when i get them upholstered so it looks like it was meant to be there...in regards to the seatback being bolted to the bar, ive heard many like you say its never been required but others say they have, so i guess it depends on the track? either way though, id rather be safe than sorry if i get some cranky tech guy...but im not even sure how these bolted seatbacks look

what kind of seats are you running now bob? kirkey's?
 
green1 said:
NHRA told me that factory style don't need the cross bar bolt.
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i think this might be a track by track thing, i was told that the tech folks here in Spokane want the seat back tied to the cage, oem or not.....from the 09 rule book, page 271, section 6:2, upholstery, seats "the drivers seat of any car in competition must be constructed, braced, mounted and upholstered to provide full back and shoulder support. The drivers seat must be supported on the bottom and back by the frame and crossmemeber. Except as noted in SFI Specifications, seats must be bolted with four bolts (and nuts and washers) on the bottom and one bolt in the rear into crossbar; all bolts must go into frame or crossbraces."
 
inkjunkie said:
i think this might be a track by track thing, i was told that the tech folks here in Spokane want the seat back tied to the cage, oem or not.....
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thats what im thinking as well...however, what does this look like when done? are you still able to use the sliders on the seat?
 
I will be installing a 8 point cage in my 70 Dart in the next few months along with replacing ALL the interior including the headliner.

If you are going to do it at a later date you will be cutting into your rear seat also for the bars that go into the trunk area. The notches that will need to go thru your front and back seats along with your carpet can easily be done at the time you put the cage in. I would proceed and do it when needed. JMO
 
Mad Dart said:
I will be installing a 8 point cage in my 70 Dart in the next few months along with replacing ALL the interior including the headliner.

If you are going to do it at a later date you will be cutting into your rear seat also for the bars that go into the trunk area. The notches that will need to go thru your front and back seats along with your carpet can easily be done at the time you put the cage in. I would proceed and do it when needed. JMO
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hey Mad,

about the backseats im not too worried...my dad did the cage in his 69 dart in a pretty nifty way with the bars going through the package tray in the middle and no damage to the seats....are you going to be bolting your seast backs to the bar?
 
mshred said:
thats what im thinking as well...however, what does this look like when done? are you still able to use the sliders on the seat?
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seats will not be able to move if they are bolted to the cage. my seats were mounted to the floor with Hemi Dart style brackets.
 
mshred said:
hey Mad,

about the backseats im not too worried...my dad did the cage in his 69 dart in a pretty nifty way with the bars going through the package tray in the middle and no damage to the seats....are you going to be bolting your seast backs to the bar?
Click to expand...

That is a good idea for sure. I was looking at one of the Jegster kits since I dont have a bender or know how to use one. I know how to fabricate things to fit, weld, chop cut not problem. In California it would probably cost me 2500.00 to have one custom fit to the car and that is not in the equation. Unless someone has a referral they can throw my way I will be installing it myself. Then doing the interior myself also.

I was thinking of bolting the seats to the bar and building a Slide adjustment with a big cotter pin kind of like a trailer hitch pin so it will still slide when needed.. What do you think?
 
Mad Dart said:
That is a good idea for sure. I was looking at one of the Jegster kits since I dont have a bender or know how to use one. I know how to fabricate things to fit, weld, chop cut not problem. In California it would probably cost me 2500.00 to have one custom fit to the car and that is not in the equation. Unless someone has a referral they can throw my way I will be installing it myself. Then doing the interior myself also.

I was thinking of bolting the seats to the bar and building a Slide adjustment with a big cotter pin kind of like a trailer hitch pin so it will still slide when needed.. What do you think?
Click to expand...

here is a pic of the interior of my dad's car (sorry its the best i can do)...im not sure how legal the way he did it is, but i doubt there is a problem with it as i have seen cages cross over like his before...they come together at the package tray and are fully crossed over to opposite corners in the trunk...cant see here but he cut a slit in the package tray for the bars then just covered it all with fabric and it looks like the bars were meant to go through there...about the seat being bolted with a slide adjustment and cotter pin, thats what i was thinking as well...it would just be nice to see some pics from guys who have done it...ive posted this on a couple different sites but sofar no pics from anyone and i know there gotta be guys out there who have done it (keeping stock seats without being able to slide them still kinda sucks)

IMG_0680.jpg
 
inkjunkie said:
i would not want to be sitting back there...lol
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LOL...actually getting back there is quite an acrobatic act, but the middle seat is the best actually there! you get a great view, and when he those 4.88's and the 440 roast the tires, the bars are in the perfect spot for me to hold on with both arms and brace myself LOL

Im with Louis though, would rather not have anybody sitting in the backseat, and with a cage there its almost impossible (had a buddy who wanted to put these hot chicks into the back of his caged nova and i was like after the **** they have to go through to get back there they are gonna hate you anyways lol)
 
ah well, guess my car will one day be a death trap on wheels when it has the cage, as are many other street cars =)
 
1968FormulaS340 said:
You may want to read or google about it. I wouldn't let me wife or kids ride in a caged street car.
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i guess your of the school that they are not safe without helmets? its kinda funny that the US approved padded roll cages/ bars for street cars finding that even without a helmet they are fine...as much as your head may move around in a crash and having a cage without a helmet may seem a hazard, these old cars are hazard enough the way i see it....theres no airbags, so why dont we just wear helmets all the time? for a dual purpose car id rather have the cage and not worry so much and just drive carefully (as i always would regardless) but to each his own...many do it/have done it with no problems, cant see myself being the first
 
High back seats are a great affition to a caged car.

I am definitely swapping out my factory, no headrest seats in the 67 barracuda for high back racing seats with tilt/sliders, and 5 pt harnesses.

If I get rear ended again, my neck is toast.
 
cudaspaz said:
High back seats are a great affition to a caged car.

I am definitely swapping out my factory, no headrest seats in the 67 barracuda for high back racing seats with tilt/sliders, and 5 pt harnesses.

If I get rear ended again, my neck is toast.
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agreed! actually the stock seats i have are not mopar seats but full high back seats out of pontiac firefly...not really into the whole "sport seat" looking seats that summit and others sell..look kinda tuner to me, so im going to have these pontiac ones recovered

spaz you have a cage in yours right? were your seats bolted to the bar? do you plan on bolting them with the next set?
 
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