911 Turbo Look Cab and My First Kid
01-01-2008, 06:23 PM
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911 Turbo Look Cab and My First Kid
My new year resolution is to use my relativly prestine 1986 Factory Turbo Look Cab more this year.
In an effort to try and do this, I need to be able to travel with my wife and 1 year old baby girl.
As this is my first kid, can anyone offer any guidence on child seats that work in our cars?
Some particulars about my car is that I have a 4 point rollbar (wrapped in leather) and when my wife was pregnent we had Rennwerke Porsche in Elmsford NY install shoulder harnesses in the rear. (Note, they did a fantastic job, and it looks like they came from the factory.. Not a surprise as they have never let us down).
Any guidence is apprecated.
JGordon
In an effort to try and do this, I need to be able to travel with my wife and 1 year old baby girl.
As this is my first kid, can anyone offer any guidence on child seats that work in our cars?
Some particulars about my car is that I have a 4 point rollbar (wrapped in leather) and when my wife was pregnent we had Rennwerke Porsche in Elmsford NY install shoulder harnesses in the rear. (Note, they did a fantastic job, and it looks like they came from the factory.. Not a surprise as they have never let us down).
Any guidence is apprecated.
JGordon
01-02-2008, 12:54 AM
#3
Space is very tight in the back of a 911 and even more tight in a Cabrio. When my wife and I had our first child, we bought about 4-5 different car seats and tried them out in the back of our sports cars (she had a then new Camaro and I had a 911). The key is to find a car seat with a very narrow base that will fit the rear seat in a 911. That rear seat is like a triangle, so you have to find a car seat that isn't any wider than the smallest width of the 911 rear seat.
It'll be a lot of trial an error. Keep your receipts for the car seats since you'll be taking a bunch of stuff back.
It can be done, but you'll also have to slide a front seat ahead as well to allow for all that plastic of the car seat and then the child's legs. The legs always stick out ahead of the car seat...and most kids have a tendancy to grow and get bigger and take up more room...
I would always remove my kids shoes when they rode along in the 911's since just socks or feet don't scuff the rear of the seat backs (I'm a concours guy, sorry).
I've got 3 kids now and they all love riding in the 911s. Good luck!
Jay
90 964, 84 3.2
It'll be a lot of trial an error. Keep your receipts for the car seats since you'll be taking a bunch of stuff back.
It can be done, but you'll also have to slide a front seat ahead as well to allow for all that plastic of the car seat and then the child's legs. The legs always stick out ahead of the car seat...and most kids have a tendancy to grow and get bigger and take up more room...
I would always remove my kids shoes when they rode along in the 911's since just socks or feet don't scuff the rear of the seat backs (I'm a concours guy, sorry).
I've got 3 kids now and they all love riding in the 911s. Good luck!
Jay
90 964, 84 3.2
01-02-2008, 09:30 PM
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JGordon - if you find something that works please post it! I have a 2 y.o. son and would love to be able to take him for rides in my 911. I tried about 5 seats with no luck and gave up.
01-03-2008, 09:56 PM
#5
1) With a Rollbar, leather covered or not, no child should sit in the back unless you remove it. Too much of a hazzard.
2) Why not just take yourself and your child out and put the car seat in the front? As long as there is no airbag, there really is no issue. Unless you want to give into all the hype and BS the wives read in their mommy mags
Enjoy the car and enjoy it with your kid(s)!
2) Why not just take yourself and your child out and put the car seat in the front? As long as there is no airbag, there really is no issue. Unless you want to give into all the hype and BS the wives read in their mommy mags
Enjoy the car and enjoy it with your kid(s)!
01-06-2008, 09:32 AM
#7
<Thank's for you impute guys (except for Spence88 who sounded a bit snotty).>
Actually, asking Cheech @ Rennwerke is not a bad idea - as his daughter is 4 and his wife has an '86 cab! Maybe he's already figured this out!
Actually, asking Cheech @ Rennwerke is not a bad idea - as his daughter is 4 and his wife has an '86 cab! Maybe he's already figured this out!
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01-06-2008, 08:59 PM
#9
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In Spence's defense, I believe he was trying to say that the dealership that installed your seatbelt would most likely be your best source for giving you direction on how to best fit a child seat in the rear of the car.
You may also want to stop by your local fire station. My wife contacted the fire department when she was having play group at the house. They came out to the house when all the moms were there and checked and properly installed all of the car seats. I'm sure they would take a look at your situation and give you some professional feedback on what you need to do.
You may also want to stop by your local fire station. My wife contacted the fire department when she was having play group at the house. They came out to the house when all the moms were there and checked and properly installed all of the car seats. I'm sure they would take a look at your situation and give you some professional feedback on what you need to do.
01-08-2008, 03:56 PM
#10
I have an 87 Cab and have been working on this problem for awhile. So far I have bought, borrowed and tried about ten different models of car seats for the back. There are a few problems to solve with your car.
1) You need a very narrow based child seat- the back seats are small and triangular shape. Approximately 16 inches wide and 13 Deep. One of the best ones I have found for fit so far is the Cosco Ventura high back which will work as a forward facing seat for kids from 20-80 pounds. I really wanted a Britax in there but it was HUGE and the base was way too wide and square. I removed the lower seat cushion which is just glued in to avoid damaging it with the car seat and to give me another 1.5 inches of vertical clearance for the cabrio top to go up and down. (When the top is being lowered it gets close to the top of the child seat and then moves past it. if you go much taller than the Cosco model it will interfere with the top hardware and possibly damage the fabric or motors.
2) You will need to get rid of the inertial reel lap belt unless you want the kid to end up in the back of the drivers seat with each stoplight. I think its a 19mm bolt to remove them. Then put in different non-inertial belts or harness restraint hardware that you can mount the latch hardware to. I ended up with the harness hardware method and it seems to be the best workaround for the Cabriolet until the kids get around 50 pounds and actual seatbelts are recommended). The harness restraints I used were the kind that are flat with a slot through them on one side and a bolt hole on the other, usually roughly triangular in shape and designed for top tether/restraints for the carseats. many times they are provided with the car seat or you can find them at many car dealerships parts departments- they are fairly universal in design.
3) the hardest part of this problem to solve is when your kids start getting in the 40-50 pound range and what to do with the seatbelts. The chassis has bolt mounts welded to it (under the top of the carpeted rear deck) on all of the 911s of this era, but you really can't use them, or it interferes with putting the top down. (You could use them if it were a coupe or a targa!) The top uses ALL of the room behind the seatbacks when it goes down and will start pushing down on the top shoulder harness if you were trying to use it.
My Cosco seats fit pretty tightly in the car, especially after I trimmed the base down a bit more in a few areas to get an even better fit.
I have another year or so before I need to worry about the permanent seat belt mounting - I think I have found a point way down at the outboard bottom corner of the "trench" where the top goes (when down) where I can through bolt a heavy duty bolt and then get an inertial reel shoulder harness (similar to the front seat type, and then have the shoulder belt go up the seat back and over the seat back.
My latest idea on this is to have a roll bar fabricated that goes just behind the top of the kids car seats and then bolt a shoulder harness belt to the bar. If you had the perfect shape it would work as roll protection and seat belt mount and still not interfere with the folding top. It would also stiffen the chassis a bit.
Hopefully you can benefit from the 30+ hours I have spent on this problem so far.
Good luck!
1) You need a very narrow based child seat- the back seats are small and triangular shape. Approximately 16 inches wide and 13 Deep. One of the best ones I have found for fit so far is the Cosco Ventura high back which will work as a forward facing seat for kids from 20-80 pounds. I really wanted a Britax in there but it was HUGE and the base was way too wide and square. I removed the lower seat cushion which is just glued in to avoid damaging it with the car seat and to give me another 1.5 inches of vertical clearance for the cabrio top to go up and down. (When the top is being lowered it gets close to the top of the child seat and then moves past it. if you go much taller than the Cosco model it will interfere with the top hardware and possibly damage the fabric or motors.
2) You will need to get rid of the inertial reel lap belt unless you want the kid to end up in the back of the drivers seat with each stoplight. I think its a 19mm bolt to remove them. Then put in different non-inertial belts or harness restraint hardware that you can mount the latch hardware to. I ended up with the harness hardware method and it seems to be the best workaround for the Cabriolet until the kids get around 50 pounds and actual seatbelts are recommended). The harness restraints I used were the kind that are flat with a slot through them on one side and a bolt hole on the other, usually roughly triangular in shape and designed for top tether/restraints for the carseats. many times they are provided with the car seat or you can find them at many car dealerships parts departments- they are fairly universal in design.
3) the hardest part of this problem to solve is when your kids start getting in the 40-50 pound range and what to do with the seatbelts. The chassis has bolt mounts welded to it (under the top of the carpeted rear deck) on all of the 911s of this era, but you really can't use them, or it interferes with putting the top down. (You could use them if it were a coupe or a targa!) The top uses ALL of the room behind the seatbacks when it goes down and will start pushing down on the top shoulder harness if you were trying to use it.
My Cosco seats fit pretty tightly in the car, especially after I trimmed the base down a bit more in a few areas to get an even better fit.
I have another year or so before I need to worry about the permanent seat belt mounting - I think I have found a point way down at the outboard bottom corner of the "trench" where the top goes (when down) where I can through bolt a heavy duty bolt and then get an inertial reel shoulder harness (similar to the front seat type, and then have the shoulder belt go up the seat back and over the seat back.
My latest idea on this is to have a roll bar fabricated that goes just behind the top of the kids car seats and then bolt a shoulder harness belt to the bar. If you had the perfect shape it would work as roll protection and seat belt mount and still not interfere with the folding top. It would also stiffen the chassis a bit.
Hopefully you can benefit from the 30+ hours I have spent on this problem so far.
Good luck!
01-08-2008, 04:01 PM
#11
Also- elitecarseats.com has a good selection of child seats - you can buy a $3 return voucher with purchase that lets you return the seat if it doesnt fit without paying $20 for return shipping, and I dont think they charge for shipping the first time either. I did this a few times in my search for a seat. I am not sure if they have the one I mentioned. I think I bought it at Target - its made by Dorel Juvenile Group and marketed under several different names Cosco, Eddie Bauer, Etc.
01-19-2008, 09:33 AM
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Sorry Spence
01-19-2008, 02:11 PM
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01-19-2008, 08:56 PM
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You want to search eBay for a Porsche Prince. It's a 3-piece seat. A base, a rear back rest, and a piece they call a shield or table that sits across the kid's thighs. The seatbelt fits through this piece and secures everything in place.
I bought one in the mid-1990's at the Factory, but Porsche doesn't sell them anymore. I still have mine somewhere, but the base (made of styrofoam covered in fabric) is falling apart. The table piece is still in good shape. Keep in mind that this seat was never approved for sale in the US.
The parts you need depend on weight ranges: for 9 kg to 18 kg you need all the pieces, for 15 kg to 25 kg you don't need the backrest, and for 15 kg to 36 kg you only need the bottom. The part numbers were: 000 802021002CZ for the seat bottom and 000 802041002CZ for the table. We didn't need the backrest.
The instructions say that you need a 3-point belt, but I didn't find it necessary when used with the table and the seat bottom. You are supposed to thread the lap belt through a couple of hooks on the seat bottom, then the table, and then fasten it to the seat belt buckle. This secures both pieces of the seat and fastens the table snuggly against the child's body to keep him/her from flying forward. In this respect, it looks much like a typical US booster seat. The shoulder portion of the belt comes up through the center of the table, but that puts it several inches away from the child depending on his/her size. I didn't think it would do much good there. A lap belt only seemed to work fine to fasten the table and hold the child snuggly in the seat. To me, it looked safer than many US booster seats.
I don't think I would want to use this seat with the inertia-type two-point lap belts that I think were put in the late-model 911s. They may not allow you to tighten things tightly enough.
If you check eBay now, you'll find some hits on eBay UK, but just the table and rear piece.
It's been a long time since I've been in the market for a child seat, and I have no idea what's out there now. I'm sure if you found a modern one that fits, your daughter would be safer, but the Porsche Prince is probably better than a new seat that doesn't fit as well.
Mark
I bought one in the mid-1990's at the Factory, but Porsche doesn't sell them anymore. I still have mine somewhere, but the base (made of styrofoam covered in fabric) is falling apart. The table piece is still in good shape. Keep in mind that this seat was never approved for sale in the US.
The parts you need depend on weight ranges: for 9 kg to 18 kg you need all the pieces, for 15 kg to 25 kg you don't need the backrest, and for 15 kg to 36 kg you only need the bottom. The part numbers were: 000 802021002CZ for the seat bottom and 000 802041002CZ for the table. We didn't need the backrest.
The instructions say that you need a 3-point belt, but I didn't find it necessary when used with the table and the seat bottom. You are supposed to thread the lap belt through a couple of hooks on the seat bottom, then the table, and then fasten it to the seat belt buckle. This secures both pieces of the seat and fastens the table snuggly against the child's body to keep him/her from flying forward. In this respect, it looks much like a typical US booster seat. The shoulder portion of the belt comes up through the center of the table, but that puts it several inches away from the child depending on his/her size. I didn't think it would do much good there. A lap belt only seemed to work fine to fasten the table and hold the child snuggly in the seat. To me, it looked safer than many US booster seats.
I don't think I would want to use this seat with the inertia-type two-point lap belts that I think were put in the late-model 911s. They may not allow you to tighten things tightly enough.
If you check eBay now, you'll find some hits on eBay UK, but just the table and rear piece.
It's been a long time since I've been in the market for a child seat, and I have no idea what's out there now. I'm sure if you found a modern one that fits, your daughter would be safer, but the Porsche Prince is probably better than a new seat that doesn't fit as well.
Mark
