Race seats: date validity?

[Harris_I]

I'm intending to run in the CSCC New Millennium and realise the harnesses and probably seat on my car are out of date given that it last raced 5 years ago.

With harnesses it's easy enough: they have a label that says "not for use after 20xx". (Which is a shame: the colour-matched Schroth harnesses are fabulous and still look brand new).

With my old race seat, it's not so clear. I have a Cobra Suzuka S with the label FIA 8855-1999 and what appears to be a manufacturing date of October 2008. There's also a code "CS.163.06". So how many years is this seat valid for?

Thanks in advance,

Harris

[77racing]

Your seat I think ran out of date in 2013.As I understand it the seats are governed by FIA not MSA. seats are valid 5 years after manufacturers date plus the year you are in effectively 6 years. please correct me if I'm wrong. Does your seat sticker look like this which runs out in 2016..............

Edited by 77racing on Monday 27th April 21:12

[andy97]

I am fairly certain that the date validity for seats is not a requirement in UK club Motorsport. It will be if you race with the CSCC at Spa though.

[Harris_I]

77racing said:

Your seat I think ran out of date in 2013.As I understand it the seats are governed by FIA not MSA. seats are valid 5 years after manufacturers date plus the year you are in effectively 6 years. please correct me if I'm wrong. Does your seat sticker look like this which runs out in 2016..............

Edited by 77racing on Monday 27th April 21:12

Yes, it looks like that so you're right, so 2013 would be the last year.

[Harris_I]

andy97 said:

I am fairly certain that the date validity for seats is not a requirement in UK club Motorsport. It will be if you race with the CSCC at Spa though.

Interesting, I was not aware of that. I'm not intending to race at Spa, but am intending to be at Brands on the 31st. Where can I get confirmation of this?

Also, presumably the same does not apply to harnesses (my Schroth are rather gorgeous and silly expensive to replace)?

[andy97]

Belts are definitely lifed.

Check the blue book for details on seats but maybe give the CSCC office a ring for help, but I am sure I am right.

[stuartj]

Online blue book here:
https://www.msauk.org/assets/2015msayearbook.pdf
Page 162 is seats, appears seat does not have to be within 5 years of manufacture for UK racing, but mandatory for FIA rules under which Spa Summer Classic runs.
Belts must be in date.

[Kinkell]

Spa scrutineers are strict on seats belts underwear and all things safety. I hope to race there at the 6 hour meeting and have to buy a new seat, overalls, helmet, underwear, foam filled tank despite all this kit being valid for UK club events.
Seat swapping with a mate is allowed to pass scrutineering to test but the scrutiniser pops round before racing to check you have purchased a new seat. This happened to team mate last year as witnessed.

[frodo_monkey]

Just to confirm what others have said, there is no date/standard requirement for seats in UK club racing, unlike rallying. Which makes ex-rally seats a bargain! I know this to be true as my race car has a Kirkey seat (normally seen in oval racing) fitted. Obviously nothing that has been in a big shunt though...

As said before, rules are different on the continent.

[Harris_I]

Thanks everyone. This is surprising. Looks like my seat is good to go....

[Harris_I]

Been having a read through of the MSA Blue Book on seats and fire extinguishers. I must say it's surprisingly lax. Seats we've already mentioned above, but extinguishers are not even required to be periodically serviced (other than the possibility that they may be dismantled and examined by the scrutineer).

I have a 2012 sticker on my electrically discharged extinguisher which seems not to matter in the UK. Can this be right?

[77racing]

I thought they had to be inspected every two years.

[Harris_I]

That's what I thought, but the Blue Book doesn't stipulate this.

[BertBert]

Harris_I said:

I have a 2012 sticker on my electrically discharged extinguisher which seems not to matter in the UK. Can this be right?

A scrutineer told me that I needed to get the slightly expired date changed on my single seater otherwise it wouldn't go out next time.
Bert

[djroadboy]

BertBert said:

A scrutineer told me that I needed to get the slightly expired date changed on my single seater otherwise it wouldn't go out next time.
Bert

This is the problem. Some scruts don't have a clue what they're talking about. They quite often complain about extinguishers out of date but they don't have to be serviced for national motorsport.

Dan

[NJH]

Be careful on this one guys, date validity will depend on what a specific Championship/Series regs say. If they have words along the lines of 'current homologated seat' as they do for belts then the same rules apply and you may need an in date FIA approved seat, of course check with the organisers to be sure. I always checked this stuff when looking at potential race series/championships.

[andy97]

NJH said:

Be careful on this one guys, date validity will depend on what a specific Championship/Series regs say. If they have words along the lines of 'current homologated seat' as they do for belts then the same rules apply and you may need an in date FIA approved seat, of course check with the organisers to be sure. I always checked this stuff when looking at potential race series/championships.

Not an issue in CSCC races (which the OP was referring to) unless racing at Spa.