IF you had read this entire thread you would have seen what I was talking about. I said exactly that, requirements are dictated by ET. We were talking about a probable 17 second car, none of that was required.

The window net argument has gone on for years. You do not have to have one in a car that does not run the ET they are required at, whether the car has a cage or not. As soon as you cross the ET barrier, then yes, all specified equipment is mandatory, as is all date tagging.

In a 17 second street car it is a moot point.

My car is built to the letter of the rule book. It has all the equipment that is REQUIRED for the ET it runs.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

A point on date tagging. If you use a saftey item, that has a dating requirement, then you must adhere to the dating rule.
Example: Basicallly a stock automobile, maybe mild mods. Runs 16's in the 1/4 mile. OEM seat belts are OK by the rules ( even if 30 years old). If you upgrade to aftermarket belts ( not required by the rules) the date requirement comes into effect (cannot be more then 2 years old).

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

That is not true. They do not need to be in date unless the car is fast enough to require them. A bunch of racers in Division 3 fought that and won. Tech will try to tell you they have to be in date, but they do not unless the car will run faster than the ET requirement.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

'Zilla, like I said, just because you guys are getting around the rules doesn't make it right. Sure we are nitt picking the rules on a car that will never run the number but damn man, read the rules and try to adheare to them!!!

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Chris'
Autobody
Restoration
Service

I do.

If you want to run a 17 second car with a full cage, window net, and full harness by all means do it. But you don't have to by the rule book.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

You are being just like the cop who wanted to give my son a ticket for having ïllegal " 4 point harness in my Valaint instead of the stock 1965 lap belt. I fought it with his detachment corporal who wisely said common sense should pevail.

My 4 point harness is now 5 years old and in perfect condition....we could fail it and I could dig up the crispy 1965 lap belts for a 16 second car......


Failing a 3 yearold harness is ridiculous on anything slower than 10 secs.

Having a rule like that leads to a ton of guys running ancient stock belts instead of a common sense restraint system.

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Yeah....Im the one who destroyed this rare, vintage automobile.....

Personally, (and this is ONLY a personal opinion ) in a car w/o a cage I would rather have a stock belt than a harness anyway, only because a harness will keep you upright and let the roof get you in a rollover.

If the day ever comes that I put the Duster together it will have a 5 point, net, yadda-yadda, blah-blah, etc.. I just don't want to spend the money to do it in the red car when it will get scrapped soon anyway.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

I really don't understand that statement. There is no et requirement for seat belts. Every/any car in competition needs seat belts. I am not talking about a harness, just a lap belt. Last year I had to get a new RCI belt because my old ones were outdated by 1 year. Even the tech guy said the rule was stupid. He would rather have me use the out dated belts, then the 40 year old stock belt.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

The problem I run into is not the rules themselves, but the way each tech guy interprets them. A four or five year old set of racing belts sure seems like a safer way to restrain my carcass than 45 year old lap belts. The tech guy at one track enforces dates only if the rules (read E.T. requirements) mandates their use. If not, he refers to them as "upgrades". Of course, installing stuff with tie-wraps, hose clamps and duct tape will get you bounced (seen it done...) Yet another track's tech guy reminds you of those dolls where you pull the string out of its butt and you get one of five idiotic sayings. He wouldn't tech my 13 second wagon because my head wasn't > 6" from the roll bar (I'm short legged, okay). I took my tech card, lined out "roll bar" and wrote "frame connectors". Then he told me my belts were out of date. "Yes, however dated belts are not REQUIRED in this car" He was adamant. So I went to the swap meet, and purchased a lap/shoulder belt assembly from God knows what year and bolted them in the car. Yessereee!!!!!! Made Tech....

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If you can't be good, at least be colorful

The big problem, is traveling 600 miles, and the tech guy fails the car, for something the tech guys at every other trak pass. What I do now about the belts, is I carry the old OEM belts with me. If the 3-4 year old racing belts fail, I give the tech guy a choice of which belts he wants me to run.
I have run into a similar situation with a fire jacket in a nitrous car. First time I went to Bristol, I couldn't run my nitrous. Tech said I needed a fire jacket. Only other track that questioned that was last year at Valdosta. Tech guy was looking in the rule book. Not a problem, since Bristol I carry a fire jacket with me. I used to drive a front motor dragster, and still had the full fire suit.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

That's my biggest fear when traveling too Charlie. It seems like safety and common sense don't cross anywhere in the rule book. At the same track where I had such a hassle was a street car with a 250 shot and a bolt in roll bar made out of exhaust pipe and painted (I tapped on it and it rang like a bell), lap belts, wind pants and a t-shirt with BMX helmet. If he'd screwed up they'd have scraped him off the guardrail with a putty knife. My complaint isn't the rules, it's the inconsistancy with which they're applied. Thanks for the vent forum guys.

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If you can't be good, at least be colorful

OK. based on the seat belt part of this discussion, I sent an e-mail to the division tech director. Since my car is legal with the OEM seat belt, I asked if I voluntarilly up graded to a "racing" belt (belt only, not harness), if it had to meet the "not more then 2 year old" rule. Waiting for a reply. By using e-mail, if the 2 year rule does not apply, I can show the inspector in writing.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

Charrlie
Im following this closely as my harness go out this month. I may get laps to go in just til I can afford new harnesses.
I guess I hadent thought of the harness 'holding you upright in a rollover condition" Thanks Big D.
Ill have to hurry and get the roll cage in now??
Frank

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Scrapple: Because a mind is a terrible thing to waste.
73 Duster - Race Car
66 Dart Wagon - DD
178" FED
82 D150
All Slant powered

Yeah, you'd better! Dago Red and Ron Parker will repossess it if you don't!

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Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

Charlie did you ever get a reply back on this seat belt issue. Racing belts "upgrade" obviously seems to be safer than a 40 year old set of OEM belts!

Rick