johnbasf Posted January 30, 2004 Share Posted January 30, 2004 I was told by a NASA official last year that the OMP FIA approved seat would need a seatback brace after 5 years. My FIA date is 1999. OMP said that they have never heard of this issue. OMP said that would defeat the purpose of a FIA approved seat. The NASA CCR does not address this issue. Any comments?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsim Posted January 31, 2004 Share Posted January 31, 2004 I believe that seats needed a metal frame to meet FIA 1999 standards. This is why the FIA seats do not need a seatback brace (it's built in). However, this rating should have nothing to do with the ratings that expire, like for belts and nets. I don't think the seat frame will be damaged by UV rays like the nylon belts would be. I'd get a second opinion... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trackboss Posted January 31, 2004 Share Posted January 31, 2004 Another thing that may be a problem is that kirkey now says their seats shave 4 bolts at the bottom instead of two. Mine had two as they used to suggest. I could simply add two more, all inline with eachother (basically in a straight row) and be mounting it accroding to their suggestion. I explained this to some NASA official on the mailing list and he said it would not fly without giving any further explanation. I asked for further details and he never replied. That is not fair because there is nothing in the rules stating so and kirkey is not very descriptive either. Unless they elaborate on this issue it would not be fair for a tech guy to fail a car because of this. Unless someone was on the NASA list at the time and read this particular post they would not know. Personally I ordered up a set of side mounts made by kirkey so I don't run into this, but it requires more unecessary fabrication in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnbasf Posted January 31, 2004 Author Share Posted January 31, 2004 I would hope some NASA safety officials visit this site. Thanks for your replies. I think the official at the event was confused about the FIA rating on the seat. He was probably thinking of belts like mentioned above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coupe331 Posted January 31, 2004 Share Posted January 31, 2004 A NASA tech inspector at Buttonwillow told me last year that if your seat has a FIA 1999 rating that you do not need a seat back brace. He did not say anything about adding a brace after 5 years. He said if you have a Kirley style seat you need a seat back brace. Some people told me that a seat with a seat back brace is not as safe because the force of a crash would be transmitted to your back through the roll cage. But NASCAR uses the Kirley style seat, so how bad can it be? I bought the Cobra Suzuka seat for my self because it fit me the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pederb Posted February 1, 2004 Share Posted February 1, 2004 Ryan W, Welcome aboard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Al F. Posted February 3, 2004 Members Share Posted February 3, 2004 Guys, read the rules. Specifically, FIA 8855-1999 sec. 7 (below). The GCR states that the seat and mounting must comply with all of FIA 8855-1999. This includes mounting positions, angles, belt placement AND...that the seat will be less than 5yrs old. So in order to comply with the FIA standard, it takes a lot more than just having a tag that says when that seat was made it complied to it. 7. Seat life: The usable life of an FIA homologated seat will be 5 years from the date of manufacture indicated on the seat label. An extension of up to 2 further years may be authorised where the seat has been returned to the manufacturer for re-validation. Extensions will be indicated by an additional label affixed to the seat identifying the date on which the seat eligibility ceases, and validated by the manufacturer's quality inspection stamp. Incidentally, that standard also states that not only the seat needs to be homologated, but the mounts as well. So if you made your own mounts, or bought mounts that aren't marked as such, the entire assembly still does not comply with the standard. I dont mean to break your stones guys, but this is a critical safety area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonG#36 Posted March 10, 2004 Share Posted March 10, 2004 hey guys, began installing my Fia approved mounts and seat this week to realize that the seat brackets dont sit flush against the floor(due to the frame channel that goes across the car from passenger to the drivers side). what im doinig is welding 3/4" x 15" square tubing (heavy gauge steel) one in the front of the channel and one behind to level the floor height so that the seat mounts will sit parralel to the floor. Ive looked in every rule book i can find including Fia and no where is there any mention on legality or rule for fabrication for installation of the seat and mounts. Does anyone have and information on this matter. Any info or comments are greatly appreciated. thanx Jon G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NASA Jim Posted March 10, 2004 Share Posted March 10, 2004 I was told by a NASA official last year that the OMP FIA approved seat would need a seatback brace after 5 years. My FIA date is 1999. Are you sure that you are not getting the construction date confused with the FIA 8855-1999 standard marked on the seat? One of my buddies thought his seat was expiring because he saw the 8855-1999, but the build date of his seat was 2002. Or maybe you did get your seat in 1999, but... The build date should be marked on the same FIA tag- on Sparco seats they sratch out the month and year. My buddy thought these were just random scratches. After 5 years you should discard the seat- shell seats are not meant to be used with a seat back brace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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