Legalities of solid mounting bucket seat in road car

[IH8TEC]

right, i have brought a bucket seat for my levin (drivers seat). it is a RAC_RP2 racepro with the racepro mounting brackets.

now i've been trying to figure out how to mount this thing. modifying the rails to fit the seat is going to be a big mission. so i thought about solid mounting it for two reasons;

A) easier to fit
B) get it lower in the car (i'm tallish, 6"2)

so, i've been doing a bit of research on the lvvta site. and can't find anything that says i can't have it solid mounted. remembering this is a 2 door, with back seats, and my racepro seat is fixed back. what i did is http://www.lvvta.org.nz/SeatAnchorageStd01032006.pdf section 4.2, that i'm assuming racepro could be classified as a reputable brand.

i was thinkign about bending up some 3 or 4mm stainless going from front to back factory seat anchorage points, and then bolting the seat to them, this should allow my to adjust the seat right for me also.

nothing in there states that it must be on rails (section 2.. i will have a factory reclineable on factory rails in the passenger seat which to me seems like thats enough according to section 2.3(8) and 2.3(9)


can anyone confirm who has been through this? or have any helpful opinions.

thanks
brendon

[Silent Knight]

I THINK the rules are that if you do not have rear seats/seatbelts it can be fixed. So the car must be registered as a 2 seater.

I hope I've remembered the rule correctly...

[the fallen303]

went for a wof with my bucket mounted on solid frame, only thing the wof guy mentioned was the fact that i couldn't slide it. it was his opinion, but after reading up, IF it's ment to slide, it must be able to, so if the rails are there, they must work, if they're not there, i don't see a problem as long as the frame is mounted to unmodified anchorage points.

[pjay]

i have two mounts that require no cert as they match up to the existing seat bolt holes. pm me fore more

[IH8TEC]

i don't see a problem as long as the frame is mounted to unmodified anchorage points.

thats what i was thinking and my understanding from what i read.

SK, that was the impression i was under until i read that bit under 2.3, 9c

[edwagon]

Im not 100% sure on this but remeber reading it somewhere - for a 2 door, at least one of the front seats must recline to allow access to the rear seats - ie: could be the passenger's seat. I don't think the lack of adjustment foward and back is a problem on the driver's, but ffs don;t take my word for it - this is just what I seem to remember finding out when I was looking at doing the same......

[Silent Knight]

Woops just re-read, thought you were asking about mounting a fixed back bucket seat.

[IH8TEC]

Woops just re-read, thought you were asking about mounting a fixed back bucket seat.

i am, for the driver, and a reclineable for the passenger

[Mr Revhead]

unless its a factory part (doesnt need to be from that car) you need to certify it. any modification of how the seat mounts has to be certed now.

so mounting the seat with some folded steel will need certification

[IH8TEC]

according to the site though that doesn't appear to be the case

[Mr Revhead]

tha LTSA sight is a nightmare to use.

but yes i am 100% sure of that as i looked into it recently.

[Mr Revhead]

http://www.lvvta.org.nz/CertThresholdScheduleApril04V3.pdf

page 4

[strx7]

the wof guys i have spoken to, say it doesn't matter what the seats are, if they bolt into the factory points there is nothing to say they didn't come out as a factory option on that particular car. I have Baleno GTX seats, which are a recaro type thing in my hilux surf, bolts into factory mounts, flies thru wof's and the cert guy (its certed for engine swap etc) never mentioned anything about it.

[IH8TEC]

the only thing there that might suggest it, is that note 1.

note this car will be certified, for big brakes, adjustable suspension, turbo, chromolly front bar, seat, and umm, think thats it.

so say it needs to be certed. thats fine. am i still allowed it FIXED and still retain the back seats knowing there will be a reclineable passenger seat

[Mr Revhead]

http://www.lvvta.org.nz/CertThresholdScheduleApril04V3.pdf

page 4

[neo]

You'll find if you have the likes of a subaru where the seats unbolt from the runners, and racing seats bolt straight in.. your fine.

In the toyotas, the seat mounts are part of the seat so you have to make new ones - that then have the seat attachments attached to them. These are what you need the cert.

And just to make things worse, in the corollas the seat mounts are not even or the same, so the bracket you make is pretty funky.

[d1 mule]

na your not man. safety first, say you hit a pole on the passengers side, making that door un useable, the car catches on fire, back seat passengers cant get out due to fixed bucket on drivers side. easier to just rip rear seats out and reg as a 2 seater

[no_8wire]

But in my understanding the anchorage is not changing. Eg bolting to same points etc.
The anchorage (welded in bolt/bolthole) has not changed and is OE, it is just the seat rail/bracket which changes, and the threshold doesnt any thing about that.

[IH8TEC]

D1 Mule

safety first yes, hence why i've been looking into this. the manual says i can have the ONE fixed back as long as the OTHER is reclineable.

and yeah toyota seats suck. might go see the cert guy, and get the final word as he'll be signing off on it. need to see him anyway. and yeah, if i can do what i want, i will make it so i can use the std OE anchorage points (4 bolts)

[Mr.Phreak]

Where are the seatbelt stalks on a Levin??