Advice prepping for the TT school?

[rodhx]

At some point I would like to get my TT license. Starting to think April might finally be my opportunity. I'd love some advice from you guys who have been down this road, especially with an eye toward being safe yet keeping costs down. I'm thinking I need the following:

Car: fire extinguisher & seat. I believe the rest of the miata to be good to go. Already have a new 6pt harness and arm restraints. Got a hand-me-down seat too, just not sure I can actually get out of it once it's bolted into the car

Driver: got an SA2005 helmet...nothing else. So that means suit, gloves, shoes, fireproof undies...what else? I'd be really hesitant to buy this stuff without trying it on. Any local sources?

Thanks!

[JohnW8]

There's a circle track race shop up in Gardendale that has single layer suits and nomex
and probably the rest of what you need. Gardendale Performance (?)
Fire bottle and metal bracket. Is the seat aluminum or composite? Aluminum would need
a back brace. Don't forget the nomex sox. Also since you have a furry face you'd need to
get a nomex balaclava.

Not to be confused with baklava which is a tasty greek treat.

Joe and Susan Clayburn sell NASCAR driver suits on Ebay, maybe you can try there to get a nice 2 layer suit for less money and look like a pro.

[rodhx]

I drove by Gardendale Performance last night...need to go check them out and track down the Clayburns.

Seat is aloominium (as the brits say)...yeah, need a brace.

[FVee90]

One big item to consider is once you have the seat and bar in go ahead and check to see if your helmeted head will sit below the top of the roll bar.
Another place to look at is that GForce has an outlet store on Ebay (may have slight defect or stuff that hasn't sold well...etc)

[e30Racer]

W8 covered most everything.

Here's the fire extinguisher I bought (Discovery Parts). I used hose clamps and clamped it to my roll bar diagonal brace.

http://www.discoveryparts.com/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?cart_id=1354644355.740&product=firesys_bottles&pid=954

If the seat isn't FIA rated, then you will need a seat back brace. Some seats come with a nut welded into the seat for putting a bolt through the brace into the seat, some do not so check that.

Kill switches are only required in purpose-built race cars, namely to GCR specs, so if you're still running a SOLO based class, then you don't need one.

Arm restraints or window net required. If you're just using a roll bar and not a cage, then I'd say go with arm restraints.

[rodhx]

maybe you can try there to get a nice 2 layer suit for less money and look like a pro.

other than looking like a pro...any other advantages to the multi-later suits? Do you still need nomex with them?

No luck on finding the Clayburns on ebay. There is a used multilayer suit listed just a couple miles from my house but, as usual, the wrong size.

[e30Racer]

Don't quote me for sure, but I think with a 3-layer suit, you aren't required to wear nomex underwear. But I'm not sure on that. Look up nascar fire suit on ebay and you'll get a ton of stuff. The trick is finding something that is the right size. Which is probably easier for you since most of those good 'ol Nascar boys are bigger like you than smaller like my size....

[rodhx]

Good thing getting a suit may be easier. You should try to find a seat that will fit in a Miata that I can fit in

[JohnW8]

You can go without nomex with a 2 layer suit. as long as it has the correct fire protection.

All suits shall bear an SFI 3.2A/1 or higher certification label or FIA 1986 Standard or FIA Standard or 8856-2000 homologation label.
Underwear of fire resistant material shall be used, but is optional with suits carrying an FIA Standard 1986 Standard or FIA Standard 8856-2000 label
or SFI 3-2A/5 or higher (e.g., /10, /15, /20) certification label.

[slowautoxr]

A large seat will self center between the transmission hump and the rocker panels. It will be off center towards the door. If the seat has rib supports, that means you will have limited mobility of your left arm. The first seat I used was in this configuration. I've since moved to a smaller aluminum seat with no padding which put it more in center of the steering wheel.

You have a hard top. Do you even need a new seat?

[Chuck Baader]

Your choice of race pads and probably air ducting.

FRESH BRAKE FLUID!!! CB

[slowautoxr]

Here's my routine to convert my Miata to TT configuration:
1. Remove stock seat and bolt aluminum seat to floor.
2. Attach seat brace.
3. Attach anti-submarine belt. I don't remove the shoulder harness and lap belts for street configuration.
4. Attach fire extinguisher to roll bar.
5. Attach transponder bracket.
6. Personal safety gear is a 2 layer suit, nomex socks, leather shoes, gloves, SA open face helmet, balaclava and arm restraints.

[jatow]

Rod, I had good luck with a Kirkey Pro-Drag 17" seat. Made bottom brackets with 1.5"x.25" steel stock bolted to existing mounting points. Seat was plenty big but fits the car and sits about as low as you can go without cutting the "humps". No rib breakers on that seat either.

Russom has my old one, you might see if it's for sale. G'dale Performance used to carry them in stock. They typically have arm restraints in stock too.

Seat brace is easy, get a rollbar ballast mount with an i.d. to fit your harness bar and bracket to the back of the seat.

Regarding suits, multi-layer (/5 or higher) don't require approved undies. Single layer do. There are other options than Nomex for the underwear and Carbon-X is one you might want to look into. You can also get Cool-shirts that are approved under-layers, and believe me, a Cool shirt setup will be worth the cost.

What Chuck B said: Spend some time and get your brakes bullet-proof.

Andy

[rodhx]

Thanks for all the great tips guys! I hate to admit it, but I grew up in Gardendale, live in Kimberly, and have never been in Gardendale Performance. Looks like a trip is in order.

Charles, what I have in mind is pretty much exactly what you described.

[slowautoxr]

I've had 2 different seats in my car and in 3 different configurations. The current one has the seat bolted directly to the rear stock mounts. I fab'd some extensions to reach the front mounts. This is not the absolute lowest setup but it's a good compromise especially for removing and installing.