Temporary seat mounting solutions for go-kart stage?

[facultyofmusic]

I recall receiving advice (I forgot from whom) to not lock-in the seat location until the body's on. I won't have the body on for a while but I do want to go-kart it, and without mounting the seat I find myself sliding backwards every time I depress the clutch. Wondering what y'all recommend as a solution to this? I was thinking double-sided tape... but I feel there's gotta be a better way.

EDIT: by sliding I mean the unsecured seat is sliding, not my butt on bare aluminum.

[txboiler]

Seats we are supposed to have seats for go karting. ��

[facultyofmusic]

Seats we are supposed to have seats for go karting. ��

Sorry I should have been clear. I AM sitting on the seats, they are just not secured to the floor. I'm not sliding on my bare *** on the sheet aluminum LOL

[egchewy79]

I had my seats bolted in before go karting. these things are dangerous enough without unsecured seats. you can always do a rough fit on the body and mark where you seats need to be and then remove the body again. At least that's what I did. only takes a few minutes and a helping hand.
In regards to your original question, maybe stuff a few towels behind the seat or some pieces of scrap wood to keep you from sliding backwards.

[Chopper]

If you're using any kind of high back seat, be careful of location as it will be impacted by the body. If you're using any of the low back options available with the kit, should be a non issue.

[GoDadGo]

Seats, What Seats?

A life jacket and a throwable flotation cushion will work just fine.

Disclaimer:
Don't Try This At Home!

[ggunter]

I see no reason not to mount the seats while in go kart stage. The body is really no where around the seats as far as fit goes. At least it did not interfere with me on my build.

[edwardb]

Kind of depends on what you consider a "go-kart." Some apparently have access to open roads (or choose to take their chances) and do full-on street driving, cruising in traffic, relatively high speeds, etc. Others I've seen doing donuts in parking lots, etc. None of that is my approach. Untitled, unlicensed, uninsured, unsafe (my opinion), you get the picture. If that's your approach, better have the seats bolted down and safety harness in place.

My style is to putt up and down my very quiet and low traffic dead-end neighborhood street a couple times in 1st and 2nd gear. Probably never exceeding 20-25 mph. Demonstrates all I need to know that the engine runs, it moves under its own power, the clutch and transmission work, the brakes work, it steers relatively straight, etc. Then mark it down as go-kart milestone achieved and move on. Note still taking a risk with the untitled, unlicensed, uninsured aspects. No one seems to mind and hopefully a LEO would understand if it came to that. For those go-karts, I set the seat on the floor and nothing more. For my truck, didn't have the seats yet, so was sitting on a pile of moving blankets. 100% safe? Probably not. But low risk IMO.

[Dave Tabor]

Let's give life and death advice (and maybe take it) in a public forum.

[RoadRacer]

Yeah, gokart to me was under 20mph around a very low traffic neighborhood, and was truly in go-kart stage - (hot rod comes in stage 1, with no body or seats). I just put a couple of patio seat cushions on the aluminum.

[facultyofmusic]

I'm not planning to go on any major roads in go-kart stage, but I definitely want to go up and down my local residential street quite a few times over the next month or so to make sure stuff ain't leaking or coming loose. I think egchewy79's idea sounds the most logical right now. Should only take 30mins to get the body on and see where the doors are. Thanks for everyone's advice! I also want to get the coyote tuned at a local shop before putting the body on, and before I dare taking it to a tuning shop I want to make sure everything's in good order so I don't end up wasting everyone's time.

While we're on the topic, how much precaution is "too much" precaution? Sure I can throw the body on the week after it starts and just hope things work, but one should go-kart it before putting the body on for reassurance I think? I don't have a good idea on what kind of issues pop up and when. I suppose I should just go do more forum reading.

[Fman]

I am with EdwardB - just put the seat on the floor and drive it... I put about 50 miles on my car in go-kart but never went over 25-30 mph around my neighborhood. Never had an issue with the seat moving much at all. I would not bolt down that seat until your body has been properly fitted on the chassis there definitely is room for error if you bolt it down in the wrong place. I did not mount my seats until the car was painted and body fitment finalized which was recommended to me from the guy who painted my car.

[MB750]

Seats, What Seats?

A life jacket and a throwable flotation cushion will work just fine.

Disclaimer:
Don't Try This At Home!

Yup. Factory 5 official go-kart seats right here:

168765

[JMeyer914]

For the go-kart stage I installed the seat belts (being sure to protect them where they come through the rear wall behind the seats. The four point harness does a pretty good job keeping you and the seat in place for go karting unless you get a little spirited. I agree about waiting to install the seats until you dry fit the body. Good luck and safe go-karting!

[egchewy79]

did you mention what seats you're using? with low backs, you worry less about the interference w/ the body. I got my body on, low back seats in place and adjusted them so there was enough room for my outside arm relative to the body. I was using the breeze seat brackets and easily traced 2 sides on the floor once I was happy. I made the other side the same as the first. keep in mind the seats are a bit angled, parallel to the trans tunnel. Stand in your trunk looking down to assess symmetry. and definitely go kart before putting the body on for good. this lets you more easily track down any leaks and squeaks. keep the DS outside footbox wall off until you're totally happy with pedal placement and sound/carpet installation. consider putting a dead pedal on the footbox wall while it's off.

[42Bfast]

Not to be a pessimistic party pooper, but….
One of my cousins purchased a T-bucket hot rod a few years ago. He had driven it for a bit to be comfortable with it. Decided to take the wife and grandchild for an easy slow ride around the neighborhood. Blipped the throttle, throttle stuck open. Car instantly spun out of control down an embankment and flipped when the front tires hit the ditch. Both adults suffered severe life threatening and life changing injuries. The grandchild, held in the grandmothers arms, did not survive.
Extremely rare set of circumstances and chain of events, yes. (This includes all of the blame and hindsight judgment one wants to heap upon the situation)(Trust me, the mental and emotional anguish for them is far worse than the physical injuries)
These are very high performance machines that are assembled over time. Even the very best can miss something. Go-carting is flight testing. Things might go astray. If they do, your chances of controlling the car and surviving the event go up significantly if you are strapped in with a solid stable seat.
Life is full of risks and we can’t hid from that. Nor do we necessarily want to.
As always, it’s your decision if the risk is worth the extra effort. Just don’t be unaware of the possibilities.
My apologies for the lecture I suppose. However, the wonderful thing about this forum is we get to learn from others mistakes without duplicating them ourselves. I felt I needed to share what I have seen.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Every car that I've built has had the body test fitted so that the seats and belts could be fully installed in their permanent location prior to any go carting. I'm not a big believer in go carting so most of those cars had less than 2 miles put on in go cart stage (the few that went farther were ones that the owners came to visit and I couldn't pry them out from behind the wheel :) ).

All that said you've had plenty of input to allow you to make your own decision. Good luck!

Jeff

[facultyofmusic]

Thanks for the additional suggestions everyone, especially 42Bfast as it really made me consider just how worth while it is to risk it. @Jeff Kleiner, when you say test fitted is it just putting the body on , fit the seats, and then take the body off? Will the final body fitment process change at all from just throwing the body onto the car? I'm going with low-back seats, but I do foresee myself swapping the seats out for some bucket-seats for auto-crossing. I have the breeze seat mounting brackets too.