Glad you are safe and on the mend !
At least you'll still be pretty.
Lane,
you got my condolences over on FB side. Have nothing more to add other than I hope you have a good conversation w/insurance adjuster, and get that fine machine over to Carey for his detailed assessment and cure. I assume that will be your approach on this while you wait patiently for the coupe. Or maybe the trade-in on your Speedie happens sooner than you thought??
Tough chance here compadre, sorry as hell about it. Injuries sound superficial, although somewhat painful. Got a new wrinkle in the schnoz? Oh my . . .
Keep us posted.
Rest up, take a few days. Really glad to hear you had Pam taking care of you. Hope to meet her one of these years.
I have Hagerty and they totalled mine, but it had much more damage. Adjuster came right to my house. In the end, I made out OK, but spent 3 months in PT and basically no car for a year.
No car for a year? That sounds like pain and suffering, or maybe cruel and unusual. I think you should have made a claim for that too.
Well Kelly, It happened in March, new car came in October. Back on the road in May, doing a lot of the work ourselves( engine and motor in, all wiring, lighting, seats, plumbing, adjustment etc.)
Greg provided a gorgeous chassis/body that was painted with windshield and carpet installed, front end installed, and harness in the car.
Well that's one way to get rid of the speedster before the coupe is done...Just kidding.
Glad your ok, and you need your head examined, for real!
Lane mentioned about a better way on seat belts. Some mentioned defensive driving due to nature of kit and some installing roll bar with four point.
I saw a picture of an old installation was this not good enough or cause more injury to have 3 point due to mounting location.
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The problem with 3 points (or even 4/5 points) in these cars is that there is no mounting location high enough to provide the proper angle of the upper belts. While 3 points are our standard, and in this case may have stopped Lane from hitting the windshield had he still had them installed, a heavier crash has the potential to compress the spine since the upper mount location is lower than the top of your shoulder. It would take a full roll cage with a high cross-bar in order to have the right angle for any type of shoulder belt.
As for Lane's car, I have not seen it in person, but based on the pics and description it is easily fixable, but not a chance its hell it will be done before Carlisle...
If one installed racing seats where the belts pass through the holes in the seats would that work? @chines1
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Tom Blankinship posted:If one installed racing seats where the belts pass through the holes in the seats would that work? @chines1
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Belts need to be at shoulder level or a little higher.
The seat holes ARE above shoulder level
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You need something to keep your shoulders back so a low lap belt won't help there.
I thought you meant these holes -
The way I’m looking at it is if the straps on a child safety seat rely on the seat for shoulder placement on a child where the seat is strapped in at the bottom, why can’t the over the shoulder requirement be met for adults by the holes in the top of a racing seat? @chines1
> On Feb 19, 2018, at 1:58 PM, Tom Blankinship <tablankinship@gmail.com> wrote:
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> If one installed racing seats where the belts pass through the holes in the seats would that work? @chines1
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> On Feb 19, 2018, at 1:58 PM, Tom Blankinship <tablankinship@gmail.com> wrote:
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> If one installed racing seats where the belts pass through the holes in the seats would that work? @chines1
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Here's my analysis of seat belt options: The picture posted by Calmotion shows a pivot point on the B pillar with the attachment portion of the belt/harness strap vertical, attached to the floor beneath the pivot point.
The danger of that attachment point is that it guarantees spinal compression in event of a serious accident. The portion of the belt that actually attaches to the car behind the driver should be no more than 25-45 degrees, depending on the source quoted.
This means that the seat belt needs to be attached behind the driver and nearly parallel to the ground. That's why a harness bar or roll cage is ideal as a mounting point, since the portion of the belt running astern is actually slightly higher than the shoulders of the user.
When the belt is attached at a lower position, as in the photo posted, a sudden stop forces the compression of the spine of the passenger, greatly increasing the risk of a c-spine injury.
As always, do you own research from the many available sources online. Seat belt/harness makers, such as Takata and others, all have diagrams, pics, etc. of what to do and NOT to do. Seat belts are a serious subject matter.
I had a 1/2 cage with harness bar installed, and am using Schroth 3" lap belts with 2" shoulder harnesses.
@Jim Kelly can you attach a picture of your setup. Thanks
Tom B, yes you can do exactly that, and overcome it with a racing seat as pictured. Drop the attachment points through the rear shelf and attach tot he torsion tube or in the case off our cars the added stiffening rail at the torsion tube. Based on fitting many types of racing seats into our 904, i can tell you he challenge is going to be finding a racing seat that is skinny enough to easily fit. Most likely it will have to be sectioned and put back together, new upholstery, etc... Not a problem to do, but not a cheap or quick solution.
chines1 posted:Tom B, yes you can do exactly that, and overcome it with a racing seat as pictured. Drop the attachment points through the rear shelf and attach tot he torsion tube or in the case off our cars the added stiffening rail at the torsion tube. Based on fitting many types of racing seats into our 904, i can tell you he challenge is going to be finding a racing seat that is skinny enough to easily fit. Most likely it will have to be sectioned and put back together, new upholstery, etc... Not a problem to do, but not a cheap or quick solution.
Thanks! When you get a chance shoot me some of the critical dimensions & I’ll start digging @chines1
Calmotion, Sorry, but I'm 5000 miles from my car, and won't return to it for another 2 months.
Tom B, Carey is 100% correct as usual. I scoured the net looking for racing seats that would fit my SAS coupe. Two elements are critical: 1) will it fit in the car, and 2) Will I fit in it? Nothing fit in the car that would fit me. I'm not huge, but not small either: 6', 220 lbs. The cockpits in our cars are too small for a regulation racing seat from any of the manufacturers. Each maker gives about 4 critical measurements on their websites, with the seat measurement at the widest part at shoulder height usually being the killer. I did find a couple of seats that would fit the car, but they looked like they were made for kids in a go-cart.
It's a difficult option to buy, since most of us want to sit in a sample prior to spending $600 - $1200 or more on a racing seat. The problem is that no one store that I could find within driving distance had many samples in stock. If you had someone you could trust, like Carey, you're good to go, since he could be your body double for fitting.
I am pretty happy with the set up in my car. I ordered a roll bar and four point locking seat belts. With the Porsche brakes, I hope I can avoid what happened to Lane, but nothing guarantees complete safety. No ABS, but the car does stop nicely.
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Lane so sorry for your troubles.
Sorry to hear about your ride. But, more importantly hope you're feeling better? My thoughts and prayers are with you, for a quick and full recovery.
I appreciate the concern guys. I’ll be fine, but the car is questionable. I am not sure what course I will take, but it will not involve leaving this group.
By the way, Bob, your belt set up is kind of the setup that I want. Not sure I’ll feel comfortable with anything less.
Better get a helmet too, cause that roll bar will crush your scull if ever hit hard from behind!
Along with the harness I want headrests. I'm still in the "a little bit freaked" mode.
Lane Anderson posted:Along with the harness I want headrests. I'm still in the "a little bit freaked" mode.
@Lane Anderson, I spoke with @chines1 yesterday afternoon. He’s going to get me the critical dimensions and I’m going to start researching racing seats. Those would facilitate 4,5, or 6 point belts and also provide the headrest. The racing seats keep the angle correct over the shoulder and the straps can be anchored to the torsion rod supports. The challenge will be finding something that fits that my butt will fit into :-)
Without the benefit of dimensions, this one caught my eye.
https://www.sparcousa.com/r100
Also, after a little digging I think racing seats that fit a Lotus Elise or Exige might be the right track (no pun intended).
Check these out, Tom: http://www.classiccarseats.com/solitude6302.php
Bill Prout posted:Better get a helmet too, cause that roll bar will crush your scull if ever hit hard from behind!
Bill. If you are referring to my roll bar, it is integrated into, and securely welded to, a very strong steel frame that IM builds in house. With four mounting points, it becomes part of the frame itself.
If I am hit hard enough to have the roll bar crush my scull, then no bar, belts, or helmet of any design, material, or configuration, will do the job they are intended to do.
Lane Anderson posted:Check these out, Tom: http://www.classiccarseats.com/solitude6302.php
Oooo. I like, @chines1?
My face isn’t perfect, but I’ve kind of gotten used to it the way it is :-).
Also, in Michigan child booster seats are required until 8 years or 4’9” (whichever comes first).
My youngest is now 7.5 and 3/4” shy of 4’9”.
We’ve held him off saying no speedster until booster seat is gone and that will be this summer.
it will be easy to convince the boss to greenlight a safety upgrade :-)
I think IM has a good solid system but there a reason Tomm had headrest made for the roll bar itself
so a good rollbar ahould save a rollover holds seat belts correctly but can you not get your head bashed I would think a proper headrest is needed .... if not properly aligned ... well
short of a poper fitting seat with a head rest or a Recaro with headrest built in the fit may not be the safest
just saying
@Lane Anderson love the link. Was thinking about that guide behind the headrest is a great design.
Ray: I did not want headrests. I had Henry pad the horizontal bar instead. Head rests won't do anything in a roll over situation, but may help in a rear ender.
Let's face it, though, these cars are not safe at all. No air bags, and whether you have VW pans or custom frames, fibreglass does not provide much of a 'crumple zone'...
We can talk all we want about 'safety features'.
Glad you're ok Lane. I completely understand how you are feeling right now. This can be fixed!
I have had a few close calls myself and it certainly gave me reason to pause.
I did not want a roll bar 
Does anybody know if somebody makes an inertia wheel 4-point set-up? The idea of being locked in is pretty unappealing.
say claustophobic