Bricks and Bucket Seats

Been meaning to post some pics up of the garage since it's near completion for some time now, so thought I might as well add a blog post to put down what has been going on.

I was actually hoping to get the garage finished off over Christmas. I took a week off and half decided that i would finish the electrical work, patch up the brickwork, and finish off the workbench. What actually happened was that I got sidetracked with tidying up the garden and building some garden furniture instead, so the garage ended up having zero work done on it.

I did manage to take a few small breaks from doing the garden to ponder how to fit the bucket seat into the oval. The seat is a bit of a tight fit, mostly due to the way that the cage has been made. The cage has been made so that the body can be lifted off. This means that it is slightly narrower than a normal cage that is normally attached to the heater channels. The benefit of this is that the cage and the floor are welded directly together, wheras normally the cage is welded to the body, which in turn is bolted to the floor. This means that if the body became detatched from the floor pan, the driver is still protected, as the cage would remain in place. It also means that the cage is slightly smaller dimensionally than normal, which poses a small issue when mounting the seat.

I had been asked by the scrutineers to add an extra RHS brace between the front and rear mounting points of the cage. This was to provide additional protection from the cage puncturing the floor pan and providing additional rigidity. This additional brace also took up room on the floor pan, which meant even less room for mounting a seat.

The best solution that I have come up with so far is to place another RHS section to the inside of the pan and mount the seat on top of the rails, this provides a level mounting platform for the seat. The solution is a bit of a compromise, and I think ideally, a custom narrower seat might be a better bet as it can be mounted lower. The standard seat is wide enough to take gentlemen of a larger persuasion, so I figure, a custom narrower seat might do the job too.

I'm going to wait until the body is back on the pan, and I have also installed some crash bar foam before making a decision, as these will both also have an effect on the driver position, plus I am also looking into fitting a head restraint hoop on either side of the drivers helmet position to limit movement of the drivers head in case of a roll over, and need to check how easy it is to get in and out of the car with a hoop in place.

The DLRA are adopting the SCTA's rules that state head and neck restraints are mandatory. Purchasing a HANS system at some $1600 odd plus compatible helmet is just too expensive, especially considering that the first generation units are already considered out of date after just one year. So I will probably end up with a restraint hoop instead.

So a few minutes pondering has come up with some partial solutions, and a bunch of additional questions that now need to be worked through. The seat is a minor issue, if it sits on top of the rails then it's practically at the stock seat squab height, so no real issue there, but if it sits lower, then the driving position is a little better.

After I have had a chance to finish off the remaining work on the garage, I will tuck into getting the Ghia on the road. and possibly chip away at the oval too. The next major thing to do on the oval is to get the brakes and hubs back on properly so that it is rolling, then the body can go back on.

In the mean time, here's those pictures I've been promoosing to take...

The garage exterior - the original brick built part to the garage is under the tree - along with the seat I made :)

The Ghia with it's doner - a '71 EFI fasty - awaiting heart surgery. You can just make out the rear wall where I knocked through to the new extension.

A close up of the rear wall, showing the briks and electrics that I need to tidy up.

My new workspace - new shelving on left, and new workbench along back wall (to be completed)