Child Safety Seat

sprintamx · 02-19-2008, 10:43 AM

Has anyone successfully fitted a child safety seat into a back seat on a 911 Carrera? Specifically, this is an '86 Targa. I have a seat that will basically fit in the wedge-of-a-seat, but the lap belt will not hold the safety seat in anywhere near a secure fit. The car is stock and in great shape, so I don't want to start making cuts or drilling holes. There do not appear to be any anchor points available other than the seat belt mounting points themselves. My daughter is really jazzed about "daddy's Porsche," and I really want to include her and the wife on some weekend jaunts.

Consider this under the "lighter side" of technical topics.

Thanks guys,
Aaron

jbrand540 · 02-19-2008, 12:20 PM

I am currently looking at the same situation for the back of my cab. I know people have done it and there are a few posts on here regarding this, however, these usually are regarding coupes which had locations for upper mounting brackets.

I am looking at removing the seat belts and fashioning a bracket to mount in place that can use the seats anchor straps.

bikerfur · 02-19-2008, 12:50 PM

When I purchased my '83 911 I had the same situation.
My daughter was 5 at the time and all she required was a booster seat.
I went down to Target and found an EVENFLO booster seat for $19.99 then took a look at my back seat. Of course the back seat of a 911 is only big enough for small people and the 2 humps provided as seats do not leave many options. So I took off the upholstery on my plastic booster seat and grabbed a PVC saw and started shaping. That's right, there is enough plastic on the bottom of the booster seat to shape 2" @ 45 degree so that it eventually sits flush in the seat. Special provisions will be needed for the seatbelt. I had to provide an extra notch on the receiving seatbelt clasp side of the seat. Note that the '83 911 only had lap belts in the rear.

Now after saying all this I prefer to put my daughter in the front seat with the shoulder strap. It is a better place for her.

sprintamx · 02-19-2008, 12:56 PM

I'm also "looking" at the seat belt anchor points as a possibility. Perhaps bolt in some steel brackets in place of the belt parts and use the latch system? I really like the idea of a five-point harness system.

Bikefur, how did you secure the seat and your daughter?

rudderboost · 02-19-2008, 01:59 PM

I attached a child's seat in the back of my '82 by taking the seatbelt out and then attaching racing harness eyebolts to the latch system harware. If I remember right the slack taken up by the strap was quite a bit and was really tough to get tight. Once tight, the seat is really in there good. I think my daughter is probably safer than we are in that seat!

Bench-Racing · 02-19-2008, 05:40 PM

Rigged up such an attachment on our 356 and 911. Removed seat belt attachments and installed the eye bolts. Took a med size tie down (the kind used for fastening loads to your luggage rack or truck bed, the ones that come four to a pack from Costco). I was then able to more then securely fasten the seat to the car and then use the built in four/five point harness built into the car seat. No permanent modification or damage to the car and a very secure child. Our 9 year old still remembers doing laps at California Speedway in the back of the 356 when he was two and a half. Priceless.

sprintamx · 02-20-2008, 07:14 AM

Any recommendations on where to source those "racing" eye bolts? Would any general hardware store have a similar type piece?

Thanks guys,

DW SD · 02-20-2008, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sprintamx

Any recommendations on where to source those "racing" eye bolts? Would any general hardware store have a similar type piece?

Thanks guys,

buy them from a racing parts supply house. search for race car parts and you will have no shortage of options.

Doug

mike635 · mike635's Garage

I just bought a couple, here's some suppliers from a previous thread:

- PEP: http://www.peparts.com
KT100-EB-BP

I got mine from here:
Mid America Motorworks ( Schroth Eyebolt part# 112-061)

I haven't got a seat mounted yet but the bolts fit perfectly (they're an unusual thread, M11-1.25 if memory serves...)

Mike

175K911 · 02-20-2008, 10:57 AM

Depending on age, there's an alternative. Here in Illinois our law for booster seat age children is written that if the rear seats of the car don't have shoulder harnesses, it's legal to use a booster in the front seat. My 86 obviously doesn't have a shoulder harness in back, so the one time my 5 1/2 yr old went for a ride, she was up front in her booster. I printed the exerpt from the state regulations that permitted this just in case I was stopped. (Couldn't put her in back anyway because of the roll bar.)
Not sure all states allow this, but might be worth a look.

sprintamx · 02-20-2008, 11:26 AM

My goal is to set up a seat so that my wife and daughter can both have fun on a run. Since the little girl is not yet two, a full blown seat with 5 point harness for a solid, semi-permanent mount in the backi s in order.

Thanks for the references to eye bolts. I look into those this weekend . . .

84porsche9113.2 · 10:42 PM

I thought I'd add something here. I also installed a safety seat by removing the seat belt straps and installing 2 eye bolts. I think mine were sparco brand. They work great as latch anchoring points, or you can thread a racheting type or grip type tie down strap and snug the seat secure that way. However, one problem i've noticed is there isn't a place to hook the third latch strap that usually secures the top of the child seat. On most new cars these days they have a latch attachment on the seat back or directly behind the seat on the floor where you can anchor the top lath tether to. I feel this is quite important, because even with the seat secured snugly with the bottom seat belt points, I do notice that the top of the seat can still be wiggled front to back quite considerably. Has anyone considered modifying the rear deck of the 911 to install a latch attachment point? If anyone has, please let me know how to do this..

FYI, as far as the child booster seats i've been looking into this too and some people are saying that even though most seats will tell you over 40lbs and 4 years you can go to a belt-adjusting booster (or the seat will convert to one), however 5 point harness is better for as long as you can keep them in one of those seats. The Britax REGENT apparently uses a harness for up to 80 lbs but is quite a big seat and might not fit in the porsche. Another option is the Safeguard booster seat that says you can use the 5 point harness up till 65 pounds (but again, probably won't fit in the 911 b/c it requires the top latch for installation)...

I think the previous poster is right, you don't want to be using any booster seat without a shoulder strap and only the lap belt, i think this could be quite dangerous. If you have a bigger kid who won't fit a harnessed seat which can be installed in the rear like the britax (which might not fit in the porsche anyway) then the front seat looks like the only option.

Even if your child will still fit in a harnessed seat in the back (like mine) -- the problem I have is that I'm still looking for a better / more secure way to mount the seat which includes securing the top tether. I haven't been able to figure anything out yet. Any ideas?

Thanks.

mike635 · mike635's Garage

>Has anyone considered modifying the rear deck of the 911 to install a latch attachment point? >If anyone has, please let me know how to do this..

Check out this thread, a nice solution to the rear tether issue:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?t=349008

Mike

84porsche9113.2 · 02-23-2008, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike635

>Has anyone considered modifying the rear deck of the 911 to install a latch attachment point? >If anyone has, please let me know how to do this..

Check out this thread, a nice solution to the rear tether issue:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?t=349008

Mike

Thanks. That looks like a lot of work though! Plus I'm not so sure I want to drill a large hole in my engine compartment.

I was hoping for an easier way, or a less intrusive "modification".

The thing I like about installing the eyebolts in lieu of the seat belt, is that it is quick and easy, and there's no permanent modification required.

Too bad there doesn't appear to be a similar easy solution for the top tether....

toddlwitte · 03-30-2008, 04:28 PM

i have a 1988 930 cab and 3.5 yr old twin boys.
we made a lot of trips back n forth to Target, wal mart, etc. we settled on Graco comfort sport seats. I un bolted the porsche rear seat belts and bought generic seat belts from Mcmaster carr. cut the straps off, as all i wanted was the metal anchor plates. used teh fact porsche bolt and bolted the metal plate from mcmaster carr back into the rear of teh prosche. then i used the quik latch system that came with the car seats. I decided to snake the tether behind the rear upright porsche seat and then fastened it to teh bottom of the car seat. it was very secure.
At present i am working on a 4 pt racing harness that kids use in the go cart racing sport, with teh seats as confining as tehy are in teh back and with a 4 pt harness, i don't think the little twinkies will be going anywhere. Obviously we will be using the belts less the quik release center button..LOL

84porsche9113.2 · 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toddlwitte

i have a 1988 930 cab and 3.5 yr old twin boys.
we made a lot of trips back n forth to Target, wal mart, etc. we settled on Graco comfort sport seats. I un bolted the porsche rear seat belts and bought generic seat belts from Mcmaster carr. cut the straps off, as all i wanted was the metal anchor plates. used teh fact porsche bolt and bolted the metal plate from mcmaster carr back into the rear of teh prosche. then i used the quik latch system that came with the car seats. I decided to snake the tether behind the rear upright porsche seat and then fastened it to teh bottom of the car seat. it was very secure.
At present i am working on a 4 pt racing harness that kids use in the go cart racing sport, with teh seats as confining as tehy are in teh back and with a 4 pt harness, i don't think the little twinkies will be going anywhere. Obviously we will be using the belts less the quik release center button..LOL

your post about running the latch belt behind the seat gave me an idea about what to do about the top tether. does anyone know what the seat backs are made out of (under the carpet)? I am thinking it is wood. If so, I could use wood screws and fasten an anchor (something like a latch anchor) to the seat back. Then I could fasten the top tether to it. Most likely it would be at the very top of the seat (in back) and the tether would be only a few inches from the seat to the anchor point -- but better than nothing..? This would be a pretty quick and dirty mod that seems like it might work.

Edit: Just got done installing it (see pics). I already had previously replaced the stock belts with the racing eyebolts. Now I am running all LATCH straps at 3 attachments points. The anchor for the top tether seemed more secure farther down on the seat than at the top. Because the seat is not "fixed", it isn't the most secure thing in the world, but it is a little better than nothing. If you have a cordless drill it takes all of 10 seconds and the part is like $2.50 each (utility pull). It would be much more solid affixed to the car frame at the base of the backrest, but I didn't want to take a chance drilling into the metal and not knowing what was behind the metal... In any case it probably does close to the same thing as running it through the back and attaching it to the base of the seat.

darshie76 · 09-13-2011, 05:37 PM

Reopening an old post just to add my experience:

I was able to install a front facing seat with LATCH easily in the back of my 1980 SC Targa; all that i had to do was to cut off the straps that holds the rear safety belt, and leave the bolt with the metal part attached; they fit perfectly the latch (i do not use the rear seats anyway so i do not need the belt at all).

The back was strapped using the rear belt with the hook, to the back of the reclining seat; once is tight the seat moves very little.

Is not something that you wanna use every time, but if you feel that you wanna have your kid for a short ride on a sunday morning, it is a doable thing, instead than using the eye ring ( they were hard to find in that specific size that fits the rear bolts).

The only downside is that the front seat doesn't go that far , so you gotta use the recliner wheel to lift up the back part of the seat, and this somehow could cause visibility issues if you are not used to