DeTomaso Mailing List: June 98, Message #431

Earth to Andy,
I quess you don't have head/helmet/roof problems on the "race" Miata
huh? <grin>
MD





---Andy Poling  wrote:
>
> On Thu, 11 Jun 1998, George P. Dausch IV wrote:
> > In the process of lowering my floor pans, I have also narrowed my
sills
> > to widen the pan area.  
> 
> George, why are you lowering your floor pans?  You're not that tall,
are you?
> 
> What do you gain by widening the pan?  It seems like the net effect
will be
> to allow you to get even _more_ left offset of the seat relative to
the
> wheel and pedals...
> 
> 
> > Works great, looks good; however, this
> > necessitated the removal of the seat belt retractor unit that used
to
> > nest in the rocker panels.  The seat belts with the separate
shoulder
> > unit was a big pain in the ass to get hooked up anyway.
> > 
> > In conclusion, I need new belts.  Self retracting would be neat,
maybe
> > mounted on the bulkhead.  Looking forward to track time, would these
> > qualify?  Any suggestions?
> 
> The important thing to consider first is that the belt must be
anchored
> verty solidly.  It obviously won't do you much good if it pulls out
when you
> need it most.  Is the bulkhead sufficiently sturdy to retain the belt
> anchor?  I dunno - the forces will be totally different (from a
different
> direction relative to the mounting bolt(s)) from the original mounting
> position.
> 
> A tech inspector at a track is likely to look askance at your
relocation of
> your safety belt anchor (I know I would): they won't know that
you're a
> pretty careful thorough kind of guy.  If they notice the relocation,
that is.
> 
> You could always add a good harness bar and 4-way harnesses for the
track...
> 
> -Andy
> #3822
> 
> 72 Pantera - Rocky         91 Miata - Steve (bionic)            96
A4Q - Rudolf
> 80 928 - Phantom               97 Miata - Nadia                84
RZ350 - Sting
> 
> 
> 
> 

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