dp35

I'm building a new car (Spec Miata) and need to start buying parts. The seat is a big one. I want a FIA rated fiberglass halo seat, as cheap as possible. Any suggestions on what to buy AND where are appreciated.

I also need to buy a steering wheel, belts, fire system....

Veloce Raptor

Dumb unrelated question: why are you building a new one? Seems to me the one that took to to within a hair's breadth of a national championship in your rookie seasons is pretty good as is, eh?








Professional Racing and Driving Coach

Circuit Motorsports

Make sure you can fit them in the SM. I know a few guys who don't have the best cage setups and couldn't fit the one they had in the car. Since you are building the car up this shouldn't be a problem but just something to be aware of. If you're fine with losing a year before it needs a seat back brace for most clubs the dealers that have stock on hand with this years date should start making good deals on them now that the new year is pretty much upon us. I don't have any but I'm sure that a number of places do.

Fire system best bang for the buck, SPA 4 L AFFF Steel. They are 325 at every place that carries them. Easy to install too. I carry those.


Belts. What are you looking at doing wiht the car? Are you going to run enduros? If so you can't beat the Scroth Enduro belts for speed.

Steering wheel. That's a personal thing and as you probably know the prices vary pretty big. I like suede over the finished leather past that I don't care much. If you are working on the spacing for the driver than the dish of the wheel can be used to help move it out a bit.

Circuit Motorsports

Maybe he's going to run SCCA and at Road America unless your last name was Coello you didn't have a chance without a 99. My bet is that he has a 99 chassis waiting to be built.

dp35

This is mostly correct, although I won't be at the 2011 runoffs. Also, I've won the national rookie of the year award from Race Engineering (top engine builder). The prize for this is a new pro motor. This makes now the time to upgrade to a '99. Furthermore the rules don't seem to be changing in favor of anything but the 1.8L SM's, so the writing's on the wall.

dp35

One other factor - my 1.6 car's value would never be higher than right now.

Despite all this logic, I have admit I had a lump in my throat seeing my little blue race car leaving on someone else's trailer last night. We were only together for 11 months, but it was great!

Circuit Motorsports

Please document the buildup here. Always fun to watch them come together.

pmason

I just ordered a Sparco Pro ADV a couple of weeks ago.

Carrera51

DP35:
I have seen the Sparco Circuit Pro in a few Spec Miatas. I think that in those installations, they had to hammer on the center tunnel a little and do custom mounting points in the car.

We have the Circuit Pro in stock at OG Racing and you can check it out here:
http://www.ogracing.com/catalog/2-Ca...O-CIRCUIT-SEAT

To the right of the photo you can click the sizing chart to make sure the dimensions of the Circuit Pro will fit you and any co-drivers who may be sharing the car. We also have plenty of harnesses steering wheels, hub adapters, and steering wheel quick releases in stock.

If you have an questions, please contact our sales office at 800-934-9112.

Thanks,

disasterman

Just my humble opinion, having just spent a couple days and several hours reviewing fire systems at PRI.

Fire system. Safecraft has a great product and is reasonably priced for a club system. Avoid a foam system, I had a pretty good fire last year so I speak from some experience (I had the foam). That is why I spent a considerable amount of time exploring options at the show.

Belts & nets - Safecraft also has some impressive belts and nets. Most of the Conti cars are using the Safecraft driver net designed by Charles Espenlaub. Shroth also makes a quality product. It's something you use every time you get in the car, don't skimp on quality and useablity.

Peter Carroll/Toronto

I am all into saving money, but for a seat I would try not to save too much. It's a vital bit of safety equipment - like your helmet. A good connection to the car may be the difference between the checkered flag and a nasty off.

I've been racing with a Recaro SPG Pro Hans and I absolutely love it. It was designed specifically with the Hans device in mind. The fit is fantastic. The top of the back is contoured so that the Hans device does not interfere with your sitting position. It wasn't cheap. But for a comfortable driving position, it's worth every penny.

Sterling Doc

Interesting belts with the sewn in bunge loops, and more convenient adjustors.

One issue I had with the Schroth camlock last year is that the front of the camlock mechanism looks a lot like the back. I got bucked in with it flipped 180 degrees in a pitstop (twisted the crotch belts). I didn't notice until I went to get out at the end of the race, and had a remarkably hard time actuating the release mechanism (now turned inside) - which gave me some pause. This would not happen with the Sabelt camlock with the big lever on the front of it. Of course, I've had the Sabelt lever break, leaving only a nub to actuate the camlock, so that's an issue, too, but more of a QC one, than a design issue.