A case for aftermarket seats in stock

[Chad Rhodes]

Originally Posted by Greg Hill

Yesterday my son Andrew and I were at my shop getting his car ready to go to Bowling Green today and he reminded me that his seat was loose. After we got every thing else done I felt of his seat and sure enough it was flopping around like you wouldn't believe. I had Andrew to remove the seat so we could take a look. The main reason for the looseness was that the seat tracks were worn out, although that wasn't the only thing. The catch that holds the seat back in place and keeps it from going forward had two or three inches play in it. We worked on the seat tracks and were able to engineer a half *** fix, but it's far from right and the seat back still has all the slop in it.

It's extremely hard to find 70-73 seat tracks and seats that are not worn out. You can cover them and make them look good, but how about the integrity of the seat and tracks themselves. I would propose aftermarket seats approved by NHRA and IHRA for stock that closely resemble the old musclecar seats. A company that I am familiar with is Procar which are sold by Jeg's and Summit. These seats may be a little lighter but they are much better as far as integrity goes. They are welded tubular steel frames and have seat tracks that are tight and have locks on both sides. I am not advocating Kirkey seats or light weight plastic racing seats but something that looks original but is much safer. I know this subject has been talked about on here before but I really feel this is a safety issue and not a performance one.

Greg, I agree 100%. I think if you are going to allow aftermarket seats you may as well allow Kirkey's and just make the upholstery match. the Procar's aren't a racing seat, and if we are going to go aftermarket let's go for as much safety as possible.

And before anyone jumps on the "stock appearing bandwagon" too much, stop and think. Roll bars don't look stock, neither do $500 a piece front wheels showing off the lightweight front brakes, and the wheelie bars certainly give things away as well. Most of the above mentioned was done for safety, and its time us as drag racers joined the rest of the racing community in having safe seats. Hell the SCCA allows race seats in the their stockest, slowest of autocross classes ( and we're talking 50mph here). The weight savings is, in most cases, pretty much a non issue as most cars have lead in them anyways.

This is just my opinion, and has been for quite some time now. I'm sure anyone who has crashed a stocker would probably agree

[CycloneFE]

I would like to add that I used to own a 1968 Mustang in the mid 70's and it had a recall back then for the pin that holds the back of the seat on. My father helped me fix it even though the factory had a plan, but this goes to show that factory seats cannot be dependable for safety.

NHRA does need to address SAFETY first in many things today it seems.

Just my thoughts only.

Steve

[james schaechter]

I think this is a good topic. We had to weld extra stuff into our old bench seat and I hate adding any weight! I was just concerned that it wouldn't hang together if there was a problem on track like a crash etc.

You don't see too many stockers pile up, but a loose seat can turn an easy crash into a tragedy.

I agree there should be some guidance here from NHRA that offers stock appearing seats with safety in mind. If they don't we will have uncovered Jaz and Kirkey seats in there.

I would think that there could be a workable alternative.

I was in Bowling Green a few years back when Fuller and Beeler crashed. I put a fuel cell in after that and was really wishing for a better seat too. 115 mph doesn't seem fast until you start bouncing updside down.

Of course we have 140+ mph stockers now!

[Steve Hagberg]

Even though Don Morris makes a well stated case for replacement seats as a safety concern, it's interesting that the Rules Committee came back with an unqualified NO without sharing any justification for their decision. As a career pilot in both the Navy and in commercial aviation, I can tell you that their rules and operational procedures are written in blood. I wonder if the organization that is the world's foremost automotive racing safety body ( the stated rationale for their 501c(6) non-profit status) is waiting for a tragic accident to decide to take action. That seems to be the recent trend.
Steve

[Dave Ficacci]

It seems that whenever someones says (insert gripe of the week here) is for safety and not performance, one really has to question the motive. No doubt, aftermarket seats are safer. You cannot dispute that. But let's dig a little deeper .

Is safety is your number one concern, I would ask you these questions...

Does your car have a full roll cage and window net?
Do you wear the hans device?
Do you wear SFI gloves and shoes?
Do you run a diaper?
Do you run a full transmission shield?

ALL of the items I listed above can be put into a stocker today... Aside from the AA and some A cars, I would bet 90% of the remaining cars and drivers do not use ANY of the items listed above .

So if safety is so important to you, why are you not using the allowed and legal safety devices that are available to you? After all isn't that what everyone is the post is preaching? How you want to be in a safer racecar...

I do like Gregs idea about an aftermarket seats that closely resemble the stock originals. The last thing I would want to see is a stocker with a Kirkey seat.

Stock has changed more in the last 5 years than it has in the 20 years before that. People like Ken call it progression, I call it bastardization.

In closing, if you don't feel safe in your racecar, maybe you shouldn't be in the seat.

Originally Posted by Ken Miele

I think NHRA needs to give us the option if we want a little more safety, not make mandatory, just an option.

If NHRA makes it an option, it should come with an addition of 5 HP. I bet you wouldn't put one in.