Lifing of Seats and Belts

[rustybin]

I am looking to enter a few races with the CSCC later this year. I have bought a racecar that has not been raced for a while in anticipation of having to change seats and belts but pawing through the blue book, I cannot find the relevant section that specifies that they must be in date or how the date is determined on a race seat. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

[Dan Friel]

Have a look here:

http://www.fia.com/en-GB/sport/regulations/Pages/F...

[Graham]

Dan Friel said:

Have a look here:

http://www.fia.com/en-GB/sport/regulations/Pages/F...

Thats Fia regs not msa.

IIRC seats dont yet have to be fia or in date. to use in the uk.

I run a kirkey which isnt fia approved as its american. I did have to swap it to run at spa though to something that was fia, although that also didnt need to be in date.

[Al Weyman]

Graham is correct seats don't have to comply but belts do, I know silly rule as a visual inspection should suffice surely butthere you go, bite the bullet and replace. Ralley Design do a nice pair of 3" for around £100 that are good value and comply.

[rustybin]

I don't have a problem with doing it and with a car that is new to me would probably have replaced the belts as a matter of course anyway. (Thanks for the tip re rally designs, Ill have a shufty). I would just like to ascertain which regs I am actually trying to comply with. It's particularly confusing when the MSA allow adverts in the Blue book that imply the need to ensure seats are in date. Ho hum.

Thanks for the help

[Richard C]

rustybin said:

I don't have a problem with doing it and with a car that is new to me would probably have replaced the belts as a matter of course anyway. (Thanks for the tip re rally designs, Ill have a shufty). I would just like to ascertain which regs I am actually trying to comply with. It's particularly confusing when the MSA allow adverts in the Blue book that imply the need to ensure seats are in date. Ho hum.

Thanks for the help

Unfortunately in 2007 a well known co-driver on MSA rallies committee pushed through seat lifing for 5 years on the basis that the WRC teams accepted this in rallying. Because of the outcry raised last year by scrapping perfectly serviceable seats, the need to renew was delayed this year. The secretariat worded it so that unless it is extended again these seats will need renewing next year. Seat belts were lifed in rallying earlier again totally unecessarily as the harness webbing maker's design specifications and HSE reports indicate. But the risk-averse MSA hates to backtrack and admit its regulations are ill thought out and pointless.

[thunderbelmont]

I have a lovely set of Scrtoth HANS 5-point belts only used about half a dozen times which "timed out" 2008. And at the end of this year, a set of TRS 6-point belts that have been out five times.

My ASCAR has a Richardson seat (SFI not FIA), and I have an old Sparco (pre-FIA!!) in the Belmont. I did buy a new OMP seat for the Belmont, but when I got it home, it didn't fit - can't shut the door due to the head protection stuff!! It's still in it's cellophane!! Will probably put it in my "historic" Nova GSi.

If I ever decided to go playing overseas, then I have to get FIA seats, FIA boots, socks, codpiece, etc...
Oh joy. Unless I go to play the other side of the pond, then it needs to be SFI, which is a different game all together. They life their stuff differently. You have to get suits recertified, and quite often they recertify a suit the next spec down each time. If you start with a SFI/20 suit (certified for 40 seconds exposure before 2nd degree burn), the next time it'll be labelled 15, then 10, then 5. Thats every 2/3 years depending on spec/condition.

In some ways, FIA lifing is better for us, but it's absolute. After the set date, that's it.