[Andy Green]

Thanks guys for chipping in. My priority is to make my car as safe as possible, not only for me, but when I have my wife, son & friends in the vehicle. If I believe something can easily be improved (for safety, servicing & assembly) I will do it. I’m currently in the process of building in a rear roll cage (to UK Motorsport standards); not that I planning on having to a big accident, but in the event I know the car I’ve built is as safe as possible.

When the UK VSA regulation states the following: ‘Seats are required to be secured firmly to the chassis or other obvious load bearing parts of the vehicle structure’, it is there for a reason and not being pedantic. My Tornado chassis, which was built in 2001 does not comply in this area, that’s why myself and UK builders are adding these straps. I’m sure there will be similar regulations for Europe & the USA covering this area.
Now OK, my job is not a VSA inspector, but I do have a sound engineering judgement. Just to prove I know what I’m talking about, my first degree was in Mechanical Engineering, followed by Masters Degree in Automotive Engineering Design. I’m a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. My current position is Chief Engineer at Lotus Cars, where I’ve been for the last 20 years.


Scott: presuming you have a powdered-coated chassis and the floor is riveted in place, you could still add reinforcing straps for a few dollars for your own piece of mind by bolting them in as attached. Bearing in mind your build is to be a show case for Tornado, what does this attitude say……


People like myself are not trying to have a go at yourself, Andy or Tornado, we just want to build a safe & well-engineering GT40.


Regards

Andy