JonH

Your car is looking nice Ryan, but that's some crazy panties hanging from the mirror!!

Tom R.

looks nice. i like the wheel. Z is right about the belts. crazy, they are ok to do 150 on the track, but illegal to get a quart of milk in! like the e code headlights

Riff

Does anyone know why this illegal with regard to DOT? Is it due to some sort of bad specifcation?

ilikemy944

They probably just aren't 'tested'
Also - factory belts have some 'give' to them - do track belts?

I wonder the reasons myself.

Wipeout

Has anyone ever been pulled over for E-Codes, though?

/Sorry for the threadjack, Lorax. I like the insides...save all those wires hanging out on the left under the dash.

Lorax

Wipeout: Tell me about it! that wiring has been screwy since the day I bought it... PO did a very very bad alarm installation and then a worse deinstallation. Im in the process of trying to sort it all out but honestly I have no idea what im doing. Atleast it doesnt hotwire itself anymore! (true story)

Camaro_Muncher

The reason a lot of harness' are not DOT approved is that you can come out the bottom of them.

DDP

I like that interior because it's different. I haven't seen anything likeit.

Z-man

There are a couple of reasons:

1. They are not specifically submitted to the DOT for approval, because 99% of the harnesses sold are used off road applications. (ie: on the track).

2. There is no UV protection built into them, since most track sanctioning bodies require harnesses to be replaced every 5 to 10 years. Thus, UV protection doesn't need to be part of the system.

3. Harnesses also have a different stretch characteristics than regular seat belts do. Seat belts are designed to prevent any movement of an occupant in the car - that's the function of the pretensioners. Harnesses stretch - much of the impact is absorbed by this stretch rather than the person's body. And harnesses are hard-mounted to the car and not integrated into the car's pretentioner system.

Want to know something else? Techincally, swapping out stock seat with racing seats can possibly fail a car during inspection as well, even if the seat is more crashworthy. Why? The car wasn't tested with those seats. This is especialy of concern with cars equipped with seats that have integrated side airbags - removing the seats remove a piece of protection that was designed into the car. Probably not too much of a concern for our cars, but still something to be prepared for. (I have passed inspection with my racing seats no problem, and I have both the stock seatbelts and 6-point harnesses..

Another note: While I have both the stock seatbelt AND an aftermarket harness setup in my car, I do not use both of them at the same time. They are both designed to be used individually, not together.

I have never heard of this before, and it is absolutely untrue that youc an come out of the bottom of racing harnesses if properly setup. It would be ludicrous to drive a car at speed on a racetrack with a harness setup that would allow the occupant to submarine under it.

Perhaps you are referring to older 4-point belts, which have been disallowed in most (if not all) track oriented venues. To that point, there was a set of DOT approved 4-point harnesses that were used in the BMW E30 M3. I believe Scroth made these harnesses. These units used the integrated pretensioners, thus minimizing the chance of submarining under the belts.

Sorry for the thread hijack Lorax - but get those stock seat belts back in there!
-Z-man.

Tom R.

sorry for the threadjack, especially since you are a member.

I had e codes in my 83, 85, 86, 90 RX7s total of six. I was never pulled over for them but the one time i was pulled over I quickly shut off my headlights so as not to draw attention to them.

The US had/has different rules, thats all. the ecodes were not up to the specifications of the DOT approved bulbs. whether they were "better" is not the issue, same with the harnesses. an inspection station certifies that the car meets the minimum requirements out department of transportation sets out.

Lorax

Here in hall county we have no vehicle inspection that I have ever had to go through. Also no smog regulations.

Wipeout

I might hold off on e-codes until I go through inspection to get my car registered here in Oregon. Knowing the folks here...I wouldn't pass. Any OR folks with e-codes care to weigh in? Or, better, just PM me so I don't continue threadjacking Lorax's thread!

Lorax, you're lucky there's no inspections. Maybe the environment isn't, but hey!

J Silverman

I just installed e codes on my car. We have an annual inspection, but my buddy takes care of that for me. The only way to tell they are not DOT lights is to look at the lense for the DOT markings. I have a hard time thinking that any inspector will do that unless hes the biggest a hole ever.

judd944

Ryan, do you know what the OD of that steering wheel is?
(or the stock steering wheel for that matter)

SCCA says for stock class:
Alternate steering wheels are allowed, provided the outside diameter
is not changed by more than one inch from the standard size.
(non- airbag cars)

Lorax

judd944: its only slightly smaller than stock, I would not think more than 1/2 inch smaller... actualy im gonna go measure to get a rough number.