[DeTomaso] Dropped Pans

Mon Jul 5 19:57:32 EDT 2010

Check out the retractable shoulder belts in a Chrysler Sebring Convertible.

Michael Shortt

On Mon, Jul 5, 2010 at 7:43 PM, Will Kooiman <wkooiman at earthlink.net> wrote:
> I'm no expert, but I don't think I've ever seen a car with seat belts
> mounted to the seats.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com] On
> Behalf Of michael at michaelshortt.com
> Sent: Monday, July 05, 2010 6:17 PM
> To: JDeRyke at aol.com
> Cc: asajay at asajay.com; detomaso at realbig.com
> Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Dropped Pans
>
> If you choose to bolt your seats to the floor directly, a couple of
> grade 8 bolts and a collection of giant washers is not enough strength
> to save your ass in an accident if you are using belts attached to the
> seats.  You need a piece of steel to go across the front and rear sets
> like maybe 3" by 18" to help spread the force across the whole pan so
> that the seats don't pull through the floor's thin sheet metal and
> impale you on the steering wheel.
>
> Now having said that, I would also share that NONE of my race car
> seats were even attached in the sports racers other than with Zeus
> Fasteners ( to keep them in place ), the belts were what held me and
> the seats in place, because the belts were always fastened to hard
> points on the race car's tube frame or monocoque.
>
> Just imagine the force of a 200 lb guy ( some of us are bigger ) and
> hitting an immovable object at 70-100 mph, I'm no engineer, but the g
> forces are substantial, easily over 1,000 pounds pulling you up and
> forward.  Mount with the worst case scenario in mind and stay alive to
> cry about your bent up Pantera.
>
> Michael Shortt
>
> On Mon, Jul 5, 2010 at 1:48 PM,  <JDeRyke at aol.com> wrote:
>>  So if you don't install the rails on the seats, then how do you get the
>> seats bolted to the floor?
>>
>> You measure carefully and drill 4 new holes to exactly match the threade
>> holes in the seat base, and eliminate the rails. The welded nuts in the
> floor
>> won't fit anything except stock adjustment rails. With most kits, you'll
>> likely need spacers in front, as a seat that sits perfectly horizontal is
>> uncomfortable to drive- you constantly feel like you're sliding under the
> dash.
>>
>> 15 years ago at a Nor-Cal Tech Session, I suggested to Roger Sharp that a
>> seat-pan 'kit' was a waste of money- if you don't need adjustment, all
> thats
>> really needed is to slice the stock pan on the sides and back, bend it
> down
>> at the front crossmember and use a sheet filler-piece around the edges.
> That
>> tends to give a little fore-&-aft taper to the new seat base, avoiding the
>> need for extra spacers. He promptly did this and the job was finished in a
>> few hours (drivers side only). Do NOT cut right at the edge of the console
> as
>> that makes welding in the 3-sided filler piece harder. Allow for some
> metal
>> overlap in the filler piece(s); butt-welding long pieces of thin sheet
>> metal is almost impossible due to heat-expansion/shrinkage. Some
> aftermarket
>> seats will be much more difficult to fit than others. I once fitted a nice
>> looking pair of Ferrari Boxer seats to a Pantera, and the bolsters were so
> wide,
>> stock seatbelt plates and retractors in the rockers wouldn't fit, and the
>> stock rake adjusters on the seats needed shaving in 3 places!
>>
>> As for how much drop is possible, measure your car to be sure you don't
>> drop the floor so far that the seat pan becomes the lowest part of the
> car....
>> especially if you don't use seat rails. One encounter with 'normal' road
>> debris could have disasterous results to your sitter... I don't use (or
> need)
>> dropped pans since we have two quite different-sized drivers, but I've
> driven
>> a few with dropped pans several hundred miles, and if the seat base is
>> higher in front than in back and your legs happen to match up to the
> location,
>> they're at least as comfortable as stock. Good luck- J DeRyke
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>
>
> --
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>
>
>
>
>
>
> Michael L. Shortt
> Savannah, Georgia
> www.michaelshortt.com
> michael at michaelshortt.com
> 912-232-9390
>
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-- 

Michael L. Shortt
Savannah, Georgia
www.michaelshortt.com
michael at michaelshortt.com
912-232-9390

This email is protected by the Electronic Communications Privacy
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