Page 20 - KCRPCA Jan Feb 2019

TECH ARTICLE
20
JAN /FEB 2019
Karl Wilen
ing about your “track” upgrades for the coming season. One of the more com- mon upgrades for advanced students are the addition of racing seats. Whether it is to finish out a complete safety system, or to have a seat that holds you firmly in place when accelerating through a cor- ner, having a good quality seat not only provides more safety, but also helps you lower those lap times. I think we have all been on track at some point in an OEM seat and DOT belt bracing ourselves be- tween the center console and the door panel to keep from sliding side to side while on track. Forget how exhausting driving is in itself, as bracing yourself in a seat will wear you out over the course of day. Having installed dozens upon dozens of race seats in cars, I always go into an install thinking this should be quick and easy......well, it never is.
Anytime you are installing non-OEM designed parts, it can be a bit of a chore, plus more than just installing the seat, you have to think about positioning, head room, sliders for different sized drivers,etc. If it is your first time, if you are thinking an hour install, just go ahead and set aside 6 hrs. Hopefully, some tips here will make things go smoother for your installation. Every car is going to be different, and every seat width is go- ing to be different, so there are a ton of
can be a chore in itself. So I’ve gone ahead and cut a floor out of a Boxster, which allows me to do my initial setup on the bench, so to speak. This allow me to check for bottom seat clearance, eas- ier side mount adjustments, etc. Also, the floor of the 986 is the same as cars up through 991 and, I believe, even the 718’s, so any floor adapters you would use would be similar.
Here is a selection of common floor mounting hardware you might need, none of which I am going to use for this install, but you very well might depend- ing on your seat/car/etc. - - From left to right, you have an aftermarket DOU- BLE locking seat slider (Recaro/Spar- co), Floor mounting adapter plate (if needed), aftermarket side mount brack- ets to mount the seat to the aftermarket sliders or floor adapter, and a set of cus- tom floor mounts for a 986+ floor. Since the front 2 mounting bolts on the floor pan are at about a 45 degree angle, you can’t just bolt the seat sliders or adapt- er plate to the floor as you could in the earlier Porsches which had a completely flat mounting surface. Also, if you want to, you can always bolt the seat to the car without using sliders if you want a fixed position seat. This creates all sorts of extra headroom. This would require the floor mount adapters (far right in the picture), and the set of side mounts.
Photo by Jim Rand
Strap-In & Buckle-Up
IRNSTALLING RACE SEATS
ace season is approaching! For combinations to try and make fit in your some of us faster than others, car.
with the RennsportKC/PF Rac-
ing season starting already at the end of Because I install so many seats in race January, so it is a great time to start think- cars, tossing a seat through a rollcage