Legal seats for stock eliminator

[Mike Schwartz]

Originally Posted by Bobby Fazio

I was just wondering this also, so are racing seats legal in stock? I originally wanted to keep my oem seats for the look but when I launch the seat kinda leans back and I have trouble seeing over the steering wheel as it is.

Could you brace the back of the OEM seats to the roll bar/cage?

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by Mike Schwartz

Could you brace the back of the OEM seats to the roll bar/cage?

Mike, I don't know about Bobby's car, but a roll bar is not required in N/S(A)

[HandOverFist]

Can't say I really understand the safety aspect of the aftermarket seats over OEM. My stock seat back rests against the roll bar and I have a head support/cushion welded to the upper hoop. In the event of an impact I can see the back of the seat being able to fold if my body is not resting against it, but the harness is attached to the roll bar and floor pan which precludes me from forming any measurable distance from the seat surfaces. I can see some improvement with modern seating in the form of lateral support in certain situations, but that's about it. Now if I had an impact from the rear with the stock seating I could envision greater problems.

[Tony Goodman]

The lateral support is the biggest advantage. The side support in a racing seat is much greater. I'm sure there are a few racers in stock seats that have rib injures from hitting their ribs on the side bar of ther race car in a side impact. I believe thats what made Kyle Ratcliff very uncomfortable for a couple of months after his stocker crash. I bet he has racing seats now. You will never be as safe in a stock seat as you will in a racing seat. The Kirkey seats are also very comfortable. Tony

[Tom Goldman]

Here's a side by side comparison on a 69 Camaro I did .
Yes , they do not have the classic look , but your chances of not being injured in a crash are significantly lower with all the support the seat offers .

[Tom Goldman]

Sorry , I'll have to try the photos later , terrible bandwidth here at E town for me.

[Tom Goldman]

Here you go

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by Tom Goldman

I just used a set of Kirkey's in a 69 Camaro Stocker that saved nearly 60# over the stock seats.

There ya go...

[Rory McNeil]

Have to wonder how many racers would invest in the "safer" race seats if they were required to be at least as heavy as the OE seats they removed.

[Sean Marconette]

Originally Posted by Rory McNeil

Have to wonder how many racers would invest in the "safer" race seats if they were required to be at least as heavy as the OE seats they removed.

FWIW,
The weight savings was only 15lbs each on mine. That includes the aluminum square tubing used to fabricate the mounts too. Welded tabs to the rear bar and brackets to secure the seat back to the bar were necessary for my Kirkey seats. By the time I was done purchasing the seats, brackets and material it would have been a wash to have my originals recovered. My original seats were like Bobby described, they were bent. I looked for replacements for years, but could not find the same seats. As for how much room between the rear bar and where the seat back is, depends on the car, and drivers seating position. A stick car vs an auto car also makes a difference. Range of movement for a clutch pedal and leverage for the shifter for fast shifts needs to be considered.
From a safety standpoint the Kirkeys vs my GT Sport seats are like night and day. Do they look OEM no, but we are also racing against 150+ MPH cars.

To the OP, there has been a lot of posts on this topic when this rule change came about. I would suggest doing a search.

Sean