For Questions Regarding WOFs/CERTs/NUMBER PLATEs

[Taistorm]

Can anyone explain the lvv rules around making custom seat mount bases. I'm struggling to interpret the wording in the rulebook so hoping someone can shed some light. 

 

With my mazda 1300, I no longer have the factory front seats or seat bases/rails. I have some other oem seats with factory bases/rails from a daihatsu I'm wanting to fit. I was going to just use some 50x50x5mm angle mild steel to bolt to the floor mounts, then bolt to the bases. I'll need to offset them as the seat bases are wider than the original floor mounts and to clear the transmission tunnel, but not by much. My main issue however is that the cars floor mounts sit on a decline towards the rear, approx a 30mm drop.

 

I have some 50x50x5 angle steel. Can I weld flat bar or channel uprights to the angle to raise it (approx another 50mm) to get the desired seat height/position or is there a better/recommended way of doing this. Picking up factory seat bases and making an adaptor plate isn't really an option due to the rarity of the car. I am a competent welder and perform many fabrication tasks at work and have been for years but I am not certified/ticketed.

 

I will also be using the factory seat belt anchor points so they would be distressed seats. 

Any insight on this would be much appreciated.

Cheers

[cletus]

50x50x5 angle will be well strong enough

There isnt a recipe in the book for what you're doing , as long as the bolts are at least 8mm for each corner , it bolts to the original floor anchorages, and its an unstressed seat, the certifier can just use common sense when assessing it  

[Taistorm]

Thanks for that Clint. So welding would generally be acceptable if it is done to a good standard? This would most likely be mig welding 30x5mm plate to the 50x50x5 angle to raise the rear mounts to achieve a better height for the seats.

 

Cheers

[cletus]

Welding is fine if done by a competent welder 

The design of the bracketry is probably more important than the welding , ie gussets on flat bar sections 

A bit like engine mounts, if the design of the bracketry is correct then you can use thinner materials 

[Taistorm]

Awesome, all the information I need. Thanks again bro, it gives me much better clarity.

 

Much appreciated!

[Muncie]

On 02/05/2026 at 17:26, cletus said:

I dont know, I'd have to contact lvvta and see what they say, as airbag mods without knowing what's going to happen when they go off are generally a no go, when its to do with frontal impact bags.

For example lvvta does not allow the fitment of aftermarket airbag wheels where they have a slightly different shape rim /carbon inserts/ retrim with fancy materials but use the factory airbag 

 

However there is no side impact requirement so side impact bags can be removed.

But i don't know about when they are modified and still fitted as people usually want to remove an airbag seat and fit a $150 fake bride one 

Hey, circling back. Have since fitted SRS Module from lower spec commodore with no SRS side impact airbags and reprogrammed the dash to suit so the module matches setup. SRS is now clear on dash rest of system functions as.it should. How should I document this for dude doing cert? Photos and a pdf description of setup do the trick?

[cletus]

supply as much info as you can to whoever is doing the cert.

the text you quoted still applies, i dont know what lvvta will say about air bag mods like what you have done, i have not dealt with anyone doing what you have,  so it would require their input at time of the cert inspection

the potential issues are, the seats from a different model car, nobody knows if that is going to act the same in a crash when the bags are in a different shape car, so they may require the bags are removed.

[Muncie]

4 hours ago, cletus said:

supply as much info as you can to whoever is doing the cert.

the text you quoted still applies, i dont know what lvvta will say about air bag mods like what you have done, i have not dealt with anyone doing what you have,  so it would require their input at time of the cert inspection

the potential issues are, the seats from a different model car, nobody knows if that is going to act the same in a crash when the bags are in a different shape car, so they may require the bags are removed.

Just for clarification ive coded the side curtain airbags out of the SRS system as you suggested there was no real saying how a side curtain bag from a different cabin may behave (i dont like the idea of that either). So ive fitted the srs module and wiring from a vy commodore that didn't have side curtain bags stock (base model) and just relinked the dash so all other airbag systems are completely functional again. So im just back to having commodore seats that bolted straight in.

They sit in same place on unmodified VY Rails around same height but hold you way better with bigger side bolsters than the vy-vz equivalent.

Sure its fine updating in case you get an enquiry from someone else doing same thing.

[cletus]

ah righto, sorry i missed that bit

 

should be easy enough then

the only potential issue  is for some reason lvvta has said that inactive air bags must be removed not just disabled

that hasnt come up with seats yet though only dash ones 

im not sure why it matters, and i was talking to someone the other day and apparently the NZTA wording is slightly different and allows for it

 

but i havent had time to look into it

[Bearded Baldy]

35 minutes ago, cletus said:

...

the only potential issue  is for some reason lvvta has said that inactive air bags must be removed not just disabled

that hasnt come up with seats yet though only dash ones 

...

I am watching this bit aswell, since the xr6 seats definately have side airbags, but my 1978 car only has speaker wire running under the seats. 

Was planning on waiting til the last minute then panicking about it. Got around 35 years left to go though before i need to worry about it.

[RUNAMUCK]

On 08/07/2026 at 21:07, Bearded Baldy said:

I am watching this bit aswell, since the xr6 seats definately have side airbags, but my 1978 car only has speaker wire running under the seats. 

Was planning on waiting til the last minute then panicking about it. Got around 35 years left to go though before i need to worry about it.

Oh, 

I'm glad you quoted that bit, cos I missed that part the first time around. I have some uber lush euro leather buckles with bags. I guess I'll have to wade in, and extract them nearer the time too.

[Muncie]

Airbags can be taken out without skinning seats. Back cover pops off and are held in by 2x 10mm nuts they just roll out and can be packed with rags or foam to keep space from collapsing.

I cut the wires off and pulled them off back into the seat theres no risk of them finding power ever again.

[RUNAMUCK]

Tube front end question,

Since I was where the car is, I had a wee measure up to see what it might look like. 

The centre of the factory strut top hole would be in a line with the black felt mark. (I see the OG guy had a white line in the same spot too) The centre of the hole would be somewhat inboard of the tube too.  

Since the original strut town is long gone, there's nothing to stop the new one being higher than the orginal was. I've seen this done on racecars/at least one road going datsun. (There was a shellsport car where the tops of the struts were proud of the bonnet even)

Obviously this retains suspension travel/strut length, while kicking that pesky ride height to the kerb. 

My question is, would I just get a couple of  steel plates (say 5-6mm) cut a hole in them, notch out the bottom,  and hang them over the tube & metal glue them on? 

Then add a top plate across them, which had the holes for camber tops etc?  The outboard side could be boxed in too, with that section also attached to the tube. 

Is my thinking on the right track here? 

[ul9601]

this is just out of curiosity than anything else but vtnz gave a mate wof fail all minor. 

but if its corrosion that is able to be "to be cleaned", which im guessing wire brush n paint over, this wouldn't be structural and surely can't be a fail? 

obviously i cant comment on it objectively cos i ve not seen it but just going by the wording. if its structural i d imagine "to be repaired" would be appropriate (but then neither has my mate, such is the ways of vtnz, send the car in the queue, you get a piece of paper at the end)

[Nominal]

Probably a bit subjective but not much point arguing the toss

[ul9601]

thanks

yeah i know i wasnt gonna argue anyway 

i ll go and have a look today tomorrow and see it for myself, hopefully an easy one (which would piss me off then lol)

 

[Crispy]

Electric Columns.

I know Lvvta have put out a few resources on this, and I’ve checked them all. I get the basics; make sure it’s braced well, no welding to the column itself etc etc. 

Have a few questions for Cletus or anyone else that’s ran a car with an electric column through cert. Before I go spend a bunch of money on something that won’t pass. 

Planning on running one in the Moke. A lot of top guys in motorkhana/autocross/autotesting in Aussie and the UK run them. And I’m also running an LSD which can make steering heavy. 
Want to be able to steer the car a full 180 with one hand while pulling the handbrake/throwing shakas etc.

My plan as follows….

Later model (but still classic) Mini pedal box/steering column bracket, which bolts into the Moke, is a bit stronger than the OG 60s one. Braced appropriately (I will liaise with a certifier and the old man, who is a fitter welder/engineer on the best approach. Probably run a bar spanning the width of the car and tie everything into it.) 

Prius Column, mated to Mini column bracket (again will take certifier’s lead here as to what is sufficient) this seems to be what everyone uses. I know you can wire them up in a default mode if you have the module, and can get controllers to speed em up etc etc. 

11/16 36 spline to 3/4 DD Universal. According to my research, this should bolt onto the end of the Prius column. The other end will go to the steering shaft. 

3/4 DD steering shaft. This will be cut to length and mated to the universal. No welding, should just slide in (hehe) and have the bolts to tighten against it. 

9/16 36 spline to 3/4 Universal. This will slide onto the other end of the steering shaft and the splined end will slide onto the Moke/Mini rack according to my research. 

Does this sound good? Are Borgeson steering components passable? (with invoices ofc) I see they’re the easiest to get ahold of here. 
I’m picking I can trim off the factory Prius mounting brackets and weld our own ones to the tube around the column to mount the thing where I want it? 

Im probably best to just starting to engage with a certifier. But want to know if there is anything I’m missing. 

[cletus]

if the borgeson u joints are the type that have grub screws to attach, i would advise against using these wherever possible

they can be certified 

BUT they always come loose, especially if they are used "downstream" of power assistance, or on a heavy manual setup

if possible, use something OEM from a japanese car, and it will never fail

this is not always possible though especially going between double d and splined sections

a clamp type u joint is vastly better if you can get one

 

the other thing to consider is when you make it hard to steer, ie sticky tyres, lsd, etc

and then stick power assist on the column

the life of the rack and its mountings, tie rod ends, attachment of the steering arms etc gets a lot harder and must be considered,  may need strengthening or at least making as good as possible,

like from memory the rack is attached to the car with small u bolts which come loose? that might be something that could be beefed up 

 

that side of it is up to the certifier to decide

[Bearded Baldy]

I has a question too please @cletus.

My XC coon has this shape for the rear floor,

And the B series seat has this shape under it,the half with the fuel pump dome is curved up and away from back half, hard to photograph.

I scalped the seat bracing panel out of a BA on the weekend, 

In theory, if i reshape the center section to fit around the tunnel, can i simply plug weld the BA panel to the XC?

Because then i am using the factory hookin points and have proper support under the seat in a relatively simple way.

[cletus]

cant see a problem with that if it fits the floor shape and has an equivalent number of spot welds as oem