Is there a racing seat that I can still use the factory 3point belts ALONG with my harness? I have the BK bar, BK bracket, and Crow 6pt setup right now.
If that kind of seat doesn't exist, what is the people's choice for replacement seat? I "only" do autox and 1-2 DEs a year...
Thanks...
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2002 TR/BLK Z06 - My first vette
Is there a racing seat that I can still use the factory 3point belts ALONG with my harness? I have the BK bar, BK bracket, and Crow 6pt setup right now.
If that kind of seat doesn't exist, what is the people's choice for replacement seat? I "only" do autox and 1-2 DEs a year...
Thanks...
Yes, the Sparco Evo, Evo2, EVO3, Pro2000, as well as others work great in your C4, C5, C6 with the Hardbar rails. Basically any other brand works as long as they are no wider than the above and are side mounts. The NASCAR style seats (Kirkey, Butlerbuilt) work great too. The nice thing about the rails is they go in and out in 10 minutes so you can run the OEM seat for most of the year and put in the race seat for your Auto-X's and DE's.
How do you find the comfort and fit of the seat?
I am 6' 0" and 175 lbs; do you think I'll have fitment problems?
Do you have any issues with the helmet rubbing against the headliner with this seat?
What Harness bar and 6-point belt system are you using? Any problems with the install?
I'm trying to decide between a Sparco Evo with of course the mounting hardware or something much simpler to install like the seat you have.
Bish
... The nice thing about the rails is they go in and out in 10 minutes so you can run the OEM seat for most of the year and put in the race seat for your Auto-X's and DE's.
So now, in addition to changing wheels and other things, I have to change a seat too. Wifey will think I have gone beserk . Another reason for dedicated autox/de car...
Yes, the Sparco Evo, Evo2, EVO3, Pro2000, as well as others work great in your C4, C5, C6 with the Hardbar rails. Basically any other brand works as long as they are no wider than the above and are side mounts. The NASCAR style seats (Kirkey, Butlerbuilt) work great too. The nice thing about the rails is they go in and out in 10 minutes so you can run the OEM seat for most of the year and put in the race seat for your Auto-X's and DE's.
I couldn't get the Pro2000 to fit in a C5 with rails from another seat bracket manu. The seat area itself is too long. I sold the Pro2000 and bought an Evo which fits perfectly.
Also will fit: Corbureu A4 (sp?), Sparco Roadster, Carvaggio.
Another question: How comfortable are these types of seats for long trips, say, All the way to the fest or the HotRod Power tour? I have been thinking about it anyway, since I don't find the factory seats all that comfortable on a long trip.
OK ... because of the recent thread on more stringent rules implemented by some club racing and HPDE organizing bodies, I am reviving this thread for Racing Seat discussion.
Here I will post the question I posed elsewhere; below it I will post the reply I received from Josh at supporting vendor Phadt ...
Always read seat install posts with GREAT interest.
I know all this has been covered, ( I should have cataloged all the threads) but I've yet to get my mine exactly right ... and I REALLY want to do the install myself, tho I have a reputable shop that can do it at shop labor rates ...
I'm willing to pay for the right mounts and do it myself, PROVIDING they yield a straightforward bolt-in.
I was going to go Sparco Evo's, but I'm leaning toward Kirkey or Ultra Shield - IF they really go in and out reasonably easy.
Fixed mounts - they attach to the seat and bolt into the floor bolts that the stock seats bolts into, right? - that makes the easy in-and-out.
Are there seat belt warning and air bag warning issues that arise when unplugging the stock seats?
Under what conditions (if any) can the stock seat belts be used with the race seat? (street use)
I thank you if you can "hep a brutha out" here ...
DennyM
From Josh:
"Pfadt Race Engineering offers seat mounts that are the straight forward bolt-in solution that you are looking for.
When mounting a race seat you'll need 4 basic components: race seat, race harnesses, shoulder strap mounting bar, and seat mounting kit.
Seat Mount Kit: The Pfadt Race Engineering seat mounts bolt to the factory seat mounting studs which makes it easy to install and remove. We provide the base, side mounts and provisions for mounting all the lap pieces of clip in harnesses. Our kit works with any side-mount race seat. With our system you also have the option of using FIA approved sliders. Taller drivers tend to pass on the sliders because they take up about 3/4 inch of valuable head room.
Shoulder Strap mounting bar: We sell a 4-point chassis bar that includes a shoulder strap bar. If you're not ready for that, we carry a Hardbar Harness bar that is a two-point mount into the b-pillar.
Race Seats: We recommend the Sparco Evo and Evo 2 seats because of its superior fit in the Corvette. Other seats tend to be too wide and you run into problems such as the seat hitting the tunnel and door.
Race Harnesses: We also offer Sabelt harnesses and feel they are absolutely the best harnesses on the market. They feature spring loaded receptacles that eject the harness upon release!
Either 6 point harnesses or 5 point harnesses can be used when a racing seat is utilized. If you're going to retain the factory seat, use a 6 point harness and a lap-harness mount which we also sell (it's just a bolt on piece that accepts the lap belts of your harnesses).
As for using the racing seats with a stock seat belt... DON'T!! I can not stress enough the danger in using the factory seat belts in conjunction with a racing style shell seat!! First, when you remove the stock seat, you are also removing the receptacle for the stock harness. Even if you figure out a way re-install the receptacle, the shoulder harness will be routed outside of the race seat and not positioned correctly (safely) across your chest.
The other question that I receive quite often is "Can I use the 5/6 point harness with out the sub strap?" NO! There is also extreme danger in using the 5/6 point harnesses without the 5th/6th point! In a collision there is the danger of you slipping under the lap belt which would then be forced into your stomach and under your rib cage! At best you will look like this or worse case
As for seat belt/airbag lights. There are no problems in the C5 with removing the factory seats in this department! With the C6 however, you do run into problems. The factory seat can be equipped with an airbag and also seat belt pre-tensioner which the computer will be non-to-happy that you removed. Also, there is problems with the telescoping wheel when you remove the seat. Fortunately, Pfadt Race Engineering has developed a solution that will fix the telescoping wheel and also turn off the airbag light. We can not make any claims to the functionality of the airbag system.
I hope this long winded post was able to answer some of the common questions that everyone has when thinking about installing a racing seat and harnesses into their Corvette! Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any other questions!
My response:
Thanks, Josh! ... I'm printing this out for future reference, so I don't have to ask the questions again ...
I already have a 4-pt roll bar, custom fit and professionally welded in
I'll be in touch ...
That's good info Denny, thanks for sharing his response to you.
As someone who ran into a concrete wall at just north of 100 mph (and walked away without a bruise), I can't stress enough the importance of good safety gear.
That's good info Denny, thanks for sharing his response to you.
As someone who ran into a concrete wall at just north of 100 mph (and walked away without a bruise), I can't stress enough the importance of good safety gear.
I couldn't agree more! I'm glad that you walked away from that! Scary...
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