Have a Seat!
Driver safety has improved by leaps and bounds over the past few years. The intense scrutiny on safety equipment really started with Dale Earnhardt’s crash at Daytona. Accusations and rumors made it pretty ugly, and the reality was he sustained a brain/neck injury that was fatal. Since that day the safety equipment manufacturers have been trying new ideas to improve safety.
From head and neck restraints, improved safety harness materials, better fire resistant materials for fire suits, and improved support in the driver seat area to support the entire body to softer walls on the racetracks. The sport in general is doing a great job to improve racer safety.
ISP is a small company accomplishing big things. Their research into better padding around the roll cage to absorb more of the impact has no doubt already saved lives. Their seat padding and head restraint padding is a popular choice among pro race teams. When they started “pouring seats” around the drivers they took it to the next level. With the ISP “poured in place seat” you now can have a perfect fit and 100% support for your upper torso.
The last couple years almost every pro team has had Kris VanGilder, ISP owner, pour race car seats for them. It involved a lot of travel and expense but it was a value to the teams since it protected their driver in the event of an accident. One of the unexpected benefits of the pour in place seat was that drivers actually drove better. They could concentrate on driving and not concern themselves with getting comfortable in the car every time.
The ISP pour in place seat uses special foam to be durable in every racing situation. From NASCAR to NHRA the ISP seat is setting the standard. The only problem was how the sportsman racers could get these seats. Well, ISP put their heads together and they now offer a “Pour in Place Seat Kit.”
The ISP Pour in Place Seat Kit will retail for about $595. At first that seems like a lot but for the added safety, better driver comfort and better race results I felt it was worth the investment. I was going to order just a cover for my dragster and it was going to cost me $295 and it was nothing but some fabric stitched to about ½” of foam rubber.
The ISP Pour in Place Seat Kit comes with just about everything you need to do the installation and final trimming. The only things I had to have were a pair of scissors, a razor knife, an electric carving knife and a spray can of 3M No.77 Spray Adhesive. I “borrowed” all that stuff from the wife, except for the 3M adhesive, and a local O’Reilly’s Auto Parts store had that for $5.50.
GETTING READY TO POUR A SEAT
 This is how we applied the two-sided tape. We kept it a couple inches apart. It is used to hold the plastic bag in place before the pour starts. |
Clean the fiberglass or aluminum seat with mineral spirits to get rid of any oily residue. The next step is to use the special double-sided adhesive tape and run strips about 2” apart all over the seat without overlapping the tape. Leave the front side backing on for now. When you remove the backing that adhesive will hold the bag in place for the pouring process.
