Discussion
Not sure, but I've seen Sparco racing seats fitted to a Chimaeara. What vertically challenged owners have done in the past is specified blocks under the seat mountings to raise the seat permanently. I'm sure a dealer could help you do this (needs to be done properly to ensure the seat is still well anchored to the car).
Trefor/.
Trefor/.
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Not sure, but I've seen Sparco racing seats fitted to a Chimaeara. What vertically challenged owners have done in the past is specified blocks under the seat mountings to raise the seat permanently. I'm sure a dealer could help you do this (needs to be done properly to ensure the seat is still well anchored to the car).
Trefor/.
The seats and runners are quite substantial but then they're just bolted into the shell (just fiberglass) which has no strength and very little stiffness. If you can make do with a fixed spacer i.e. not adjustable, spacing the seat up is as simple as replacing four M10 bolts with longer ones, with a spacer between the runners and the floor. This would be a very simple DIY job which would be just as strong as the original attachment i.e. not very! I have seen seats torn out in an accident which can be nasty.
If you want to improve on this, Tower View sell brace bars that fit under the floor and bolt to the chassis, and the seats then bolt to this. Much stronger and stiffer, and recommended if you're competing or tracking the car.
Cheers,
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)
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just a thought, but if you but the runners up on spacers I'd have thought you'd weaken the complete mouting even more as in a crash there'd be a greater torque on the fibre glass. this may be completely immaterial, but I'd be a bit worried...
You *have* to clamp the floor pretty firmly to get it to take any sheer loads, otherwise the bolts will just chissel their way through the thin fibreglass. So hopefully this clamping load would be enough to hold the spacer square against the bottom of the runners. But you're right, the whole affair is a bit Heath Robinson and it would be easy to screw it up. Have you ever grabbed hold of the top of your seat back and pulled it firmly sideways and seen how much the whole floor panel flexes? Quite amazing. Tower View seat brace cures that of course.
Cheers,
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)
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Tower View seat brace cures that of course.
You've got me worried now.. How much is this to get fitted ??
I forget the exact price, but I remember it was a lot cheaper than I was expecting. Give them a call no doubt they'll tell you the price, 0208 452 6922. If you talk to Mark please tell him the new diff is working a treat!
Cheers,
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)
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I forget the exact price, but I remember it was a lot cheaper than I was expecting. Give them a call no doubt they'll tell you the price, 0208 452 6922. If you talk to Mark please tell him the new diff is working a treat!
Cheers,
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)
Seems to be about £200 quid.. Told them you were happy. Seems like a good price to save your life really to me... Wonder why the TVR standard ones are not upto scratch
TVR will only put in what they need to by law.
Think of it this way, there is no specific legislation dealing with securing of seats for the following reason:
The seat belts have to be mounted securely (to a specified standard) to the car. If you are wearing your seat belt and you crash where is the seat going to go?
The answer is nowhere. You are not tied to the seat, you are tied to the car. I don't really think that the Tower View braces are needed.
Think of it this way, there is no specific legislation dealing with securing of seats for the following reason:
The seat belts have to be mounted securely (to a specified standard) to the car. If you are wearing your seat belt and you crash where is the seat going to go?
The answer is nowhere. You are not tied to the seat, you are tied to the car. I don't really think that the Tower View braces are needed.
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I don't really think that the Tower View braces are needed.
Fair enough, I respect your opinion although I don't agree with it. Way I see it, if the seat stays where it is supposed to, you stay basically trapped between the seat and the belt, and you can't go far. No more than a foot in any direction say, if you have a full harness on. But if the seat is free to move the seat belt will stop you moving forward and upward but not backward, down, twisting etc. That's how I see it and the MSA seem to agree with me as they are just as strict about seat mounts as they are with rollover bars and the like. The scrutineers at sprints do check these things and they do swear under their breath when they can move a seat two inches sideways just by pushing on it. As long as the fitting is standard and you're in the production class you don't *have* to improve it, but it's a smart move IMO. The second point is that with a couple of inches of wobble in the seat you get much less feedback about what the tyres are doing. Which is nice and comfy for motorway cruising I guess but not so good if you are trying to anticipate what the car is doing.
Cheers,
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)
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