Re: Fairmont U/S Build AKA Craigslist Racer
When I bought the Fairmont it had an 8 point mild steel roll cage already installed. I decided since I'm running in a slow class I would remove the halo and the 'A' pillar bars. I needed to save some weight but I still wanted protection from a faster car side collision and roll over. If anyone could see how tinny these cars are it would scare you! No need for a certified roll bar at this point.
Getting in and out of the driver’s seat was a real pain in the butt, literally, so I added a swing out door bar. I'm 65 years old and the joints don't bend like they used to.
Once I installed the swing out bar I mocked up the JAZ plastic seats. For some reason only know to me I thought that using a high back seat would limit the visibility out the right side of the car so I opted to the low back seats. Because of the low back seat I had to add a head rest to the roll bar, and since I was already in the welding mood I attached a seat brace and a shoulder harness tab.
I used good old 1X4 wood planks for the seat mock up to set the height and angle. I built the seat to floor brackets out of 1/4 aluminum sheet which I sheared to my liking and TIGed it all together. I made the passenger floor bracket a little lighter as it should be unoccupied most of the time. After reading lot's of comments about these seats on Class Racer I bolted them all the way through the seat but I left the internal nut and used it for a little extra strength.
Front fenders, hood and trunk lid are off to the body man for straightening and paint.
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