Our Mustang vintage racer had a cage, an engine and a plan. Now it needed a seat–something safe, comfortable and supportive.
We ordered an Ultrashield Road Race Halo seat, a new-for-2020 model constructed from 0.100-inch 5052 aluminum with a C-channel stiffener around the torso and reinforcements around the shoulders, thighs and head. The seat retails for $899.
These seats come in 14-to-18-inch width and can be ordered in half-inch increments. After filling out Ultrashield’s rather comprehensive size measurement form, they sent us a 16-inch seat that perfectly fits most of our drivers.
The seat ships disassembled, but we had it together in just a few minutes. Then we just had to add the high-density passing to the halo area and snap the upholstery into place.
Before we could mount the seat, the important part: properly fitting it so our drivers could sit comfortably and safely. Will all of our drivers have a good view? Was our roll cage’s crossbar was properly positioned for our shoulder harnesses?
Harness mounting advice from HMS Motorsport: “Shoulder belts run down from HANS or shoulder to the harness bar at an angle from zero degrees to a max of negative 30 degrees. In no case should the shoulder belt run at an upward angle from the shoulder or HANS to the attachment points."
[How to properly install a racing harness.]
Our seat requires a back brace that ties to the roll bar. I/O Port makes an adjustable seat back brace that retails for $134.95. This brace fits crossbar tubing from 1.5 to 1.75 inches in diameter and adjusts from 2 to 14 inches in length. A pin system make driver swaps a snap.
We also needed mounts for the base of the seat. I/O Port makes these as well, but we think that some custom ones will better work in this situation. More on that soon.
Another important part of the car/driver interface: the location of the steering column. Once we get the correct Ididit steering column in the car, we can finalize that as well. We plan on using idit’s optional quick-release hub as well as a 13-inch steering wheel sourced from Max Papis Innovations.
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