[DeTomaso] Dropped Pans

[Asa Jay Laughton]

I've seen some... but I -don't- think it's a good idea, and have thought 
that way for many years.  For the exactly reasons Michael mentioned.

Asa Jay

Asa Jay Laughton, MSgt, USAFR, Retired
&  Shelley Marie
Spokane, WA
******************************
http://www.racingagainstautism.com
http://www.teampanteraracing.com


On 7/5/2010 16:43, Will Kooiman 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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