Kids in the back?

[djone101]

Hi all - family pressures mean I'm selling my MX-5 and considering upgrading to a 944. It seems to tick all the boxes for me. Two questions though:
When did 3 point belts in the rear become standard?
I have an 8 year old and a 4 year old - how many years do I have before they won't fit in the back?...

Thanks - Dave.

 

[MRGT]

I have a 12 yr old and a 10 yr old and they still fit, although the 12 year old grumbles a bit []

 

[Mike_Pollock]

Hi 944 - Good idea!
I have a 19 yo an she went over to porscheshop meeting about 1hour trip on suturday in the back! Shes 5'8" but the 15 yo (5'10") wont go at all.
Dont know when 3 point belts became standard - S2 maybe - but all can have them fitted bolt holes are there etc from oval dash maybe earlier.
Mike

 

[ukmastiff]

I had a C reg December 85 registerd 944 turbo no rear seat belts. I even forgot to look and bought it not realising my little boy was most unimpressed
Its one of those things your brain just assumes is there

I now have a D reg 87 turbo which does have seat belts

From what I remember it was 1986 that it became law to have rear belts in a car ( not necessarily 3 pont of course) but at least you would have belts [&:]

Regards Mas

 

[edh]

The biggest problem is that kids under 135cm have to have booster seats by law, and booster seats just don't fit!

I decided that kids actually fit fine in the rear seats & carried ours without booster seats. They both whinge about room (both now just under 5 feet), but actually fit fine

 

[cococola]

My 20 year old sat in the back last week.............sitting one side with legs in the other footwell[][]
Mind you it can be a benefit not having room in your 944[]

 

[sawood12]

I was never happy with my 3yr old in the back even though I had a boost seat that fit nice and snuggly in the seats. I thought her face was too close to the back of the seat in front - even when the front seat was slid all the way forward, and there was not alot of room for her legs. I always had her in the front passenger seat. This is part of the reason why I came to decide to sell mine when number 2 arrived as we needed 2 cars with decent back seats and coupled with the fact I didn't have the time or funds to use the 944 in the way I'd bought her for (i.e. spirited drives for the fun of it at the weekends, trackdays and Nurburgring/Spa trips) I made the gut wrenching decision to let her go. I am still semi-regretting it and find myself browsing P/Heads classifieds often! Though funds wont allow another purchase while the wife is still off on maternity leave. Maybe in another 18 months I might find room for another - though I fancy a 924 based hybrid 944 if I were to do it again.

 

[Suffolk944]

ORIGINAL: sawood12

...I fancy a 924 based hybrid 944 if I were to do it again.

Oooh sounds intriguing ! Whats your concept for that Scott ? I saw a 924 with a 944S2 engine at Promax a few weeks ago, reckon that would be a lively car - Had quite a bit of appeal ! []

(apologies for hijack of thread)

 

[ukmastiff]

If you can tell me which booster fits I'd appreciate it

Regards Mas

 

[djone101]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. It sounds like I have a potential solution then:
8 year old is 135cm so doesn't need a booster - he can go in the back until he's too big.
4 year old can go on a booster in the passenger seat - until big brother outgrows the rear at which point positions are reversed (minus the booster)
Mrs Wife can go shopping in her car.
Everyone's a winner.

Now all I need to do is sell the Mazda (nice yellow one if you're interested) and start 944 hunting.

Dave

 

[sawood12]

ORIGINAL: djone101

8 year old is 135cm so doesn't need a booster

When it comes to booster seats I thought the law requires children upto a certain age (i've got 14 in my mind) to have booster seats irrespective of their weight and height?? In any case you could always get one of those polystyrene booster seats and hack into it with a stanley knife to make it fit the rear seats. The Booster seat's function is only to raise the seating height of the child to prevent them from sliding under the lap belt part of the seat belt so it is not as if it has to have any particular structural integrity to it like a baby seat does.

ORIGINAL: Suffolk944

ORIGINAL: sawood12

...I fancy a 924 based hybrid 944 if I were to do it again.

Oooh sounds intriguing ! Whats your concept for that Scott ? I saw a 924 with a 944S2 engine at Promax a few weeks ago, reckon that would be a lively car - Had quite a bit of appeal !

(apologies for hijack of thread)

It was the Promax car that appealed to me - it was a bare shell when my old 944 was in for it's KW's. Apparently the 924 shell is alot lighter than the 944 shell and you can transfer the running gear and front end pretty easily and I love the look of the GTS style flared wheel-arches. I'm thinking that you could pick up a really cheap 924, strip it, have the shell done with cage welded in and painted and then start sourcing the 944 parts and only putting back in the bare minimum you need to get the car up and running with the aim of a sub 1000 kg car so you can run a mildly modded turbo engine and still get great performance along with the handling. There is a guy at work who is into building hybrid cars, usually Audi's, but he knows 944's quite well, and i've been discussing things with him. He suggested a 2.7 biturbo v6 out of an S4, but I quite like the purity of using a 944 turbo engine. Might be a nice project to plan over the next 18 months to 2 yrs to get me back into 944 (ish) ownership. But it is all pipe dreams at the moment with no guarantees I could pull it off and would have no idea where to start with a project like this - i'd probably have to find myself a decent mechanic to do most of the work for me, no room at my place anyway and certainly no time so that may make the costs prohibitive. One thing is for sure - i'm hankering for another one and anticipating a few years time when i'll have more time on my hands once the girls are a bit older and getting into girly things, i'm going to need a hobby. I'd rather do something like this rather than a kit car of some description.

 

[Fat Albert]

The law is age 12 or 135cm tall whichever comes first, of course the back seats were designed before boosters came along so the kids are actually safer without them, but trying to tell plod that!
I had the same criteria when looking for my 944 and found that the turbos got 3 point belts in '87 and the NA cars in '88. The convertibles didn't get them at all but I have seen one with 4 point kiddy harnesses in the rear. I did investigate what it would take to retrofit 3 point belts to an earlier car, but it would involve welding mount points and stuff, so decided it was not viable.
My 9 year old (4'13") without a booster is more comfy than my 6 year old son on a booster. I often do the school run with one in the front (seat pulled forward) and one in the rear quite comfortably and able to eat their breakie (schoool run is 26 miles each way)

 

[Mike_Pollock]

All 944 have mounting points for 3 point belts welded in.
They may be still covered ny the seats in the middle and the lower sides and a blanking plug on the C post, but they are there.
These are for fixed 2 or3 point belts.
When the mounting for inertia reels were added (on the top of the rear wheel arches) I dont know, I cvant find them on my '83 car.
Mike

 

[edh]

Is that Sean's (Tam Lin) car?

I love the 924 shape - my ideal would be a 924S with a 968 motor (or maybe an LS []) - Lali's red one looks great.

ORIGINAL: Suffolk944

ORIGINAL: sawood12

...I fancy a 924 based hybrid 944 if I were to do it again.

Oooh sounds intriguing ! Whats your concept for that Scott ? I saw a 924 with a 944S2 engine at Promax a few weeks ago, reckon that would be a lively car - Had quite a bit of appeal ! []

(apologies for hijack of thread)

 

[billus99]

I carry my two kids (6 and 9 y.o.) in the rear of my cabrio without boosters, due to shape of seats, but I only have lap belts - can anyone confirim or deny whether the cabrio has mounting points for 3 point belts?

 

[Hilux]

OT I apologise but...........................

I'd rather do something like this rather than a kit car of some description.

Dont not consider kit cars, they offer fantastic value for £`s per bhp etc. There are good and bad but buy one done and then rebuild it so you know its right without the cost. there are some stunning simply awesome bits of machinery out there.

I`ve rebuilt a Westfield and a Ginetta G27 V8 and drove them more for sheer fear and exhileration than any other of the cars I`ve owned. Awesome experience, they assault the senses like a tin top never can.

The 924 route was one I considered as I have a love of sub sub 1000kg cars and love the 944 derivatives with bolt on arches etc but if my experience of building cars is anything to go by then it will certainly not be cheap (probably 5 figures start to finish if you dont do most of it yourself)

If you do then I demand first dibs on some pax laps. A standard 944T engine in sub 1000kgs is 250bhp per ton - bl**dy fast [8D]

 

[Fat Albert]

[gently steering this thread back to it's original topic]

Saw a new Booster seat in Halfords on Saturday, unfortunately we were in the 7, but it looked an inch narrower and about 1.5" shallower than the existing one I use, I will try and pop the 944 up there next weekend to test it. (£14.99) Will also pop into the new Kiddicare to see what they have in stock

 

[Fat Albert]

Well, popped into Halfords in Peterborough today and tried the new 'Urchin' booster and whilst the seat was narrower the lap-strap arms were very low and splayed so it fitted worse than the Britax one I have been using, then I spotted this:
Halfords Booster seat

Tried it and whilst not perfect it is better than any other that I have tried, it puts my son much further back in the seat and allows a lot more room for his legs, seems much more stable too so it is less likely to 'submarine'. Not cheap at £16.99, but worth it if my seat can go back a couple of notches when he is behind me, and for the reduction in ear-ache....
They do a red/black version as well which i didn't see in the shop, but is on the website

 

[supersport]

I am just fitting belts almost as we talk:-

My 86 car has mounting points for 3-point, but only static. If you want to go for inertia belts you need a mounting point fabricated on the rear wheel arch. As it happens I phoned Quickfit-SBS and got a quote for this, I think it was going to cost me £250 fitted for two inertias in the back. I decided it wasn't worth it for this car but will be sending the 911 there.

So I got some static 3 points for about £20 each and I expect these to be fine.

As to child seats, i used a Romer prince in the back of my 911 until our lad was too big, 20Kg I think. Quickfit-sbs gave some advise on the next seat which this is a maxi-cosi I think, can have a look when I get home. This seat has a removable back on it so that it can become a booster.

As others have sad you have to use a booster until aged 12 or a certian hight. I am very tall and so is my lad, so even though he is five he is the size of an 8 year old. Both Quick-fit and myself think he will fit better WITHOUT a booster, and so I have tried him in both cars and this is the case. With the booster his head is way above the seat back.

Obviously this is illegal, but I think it is safer without the booster and then worth having an explanantion with a jobs-worth copper should the need ever arise. I care more about his safey than the law. These seats in these cars are completly different to any other car.

 

[Eiger]

I'm fitting belts in the back of my 86 also - they arrived a couple days ago. I've had a feel around for the mount points but besides the ones on the pillar I'm at a bit of a loss. Can you please post a pic of your belts when fitted?