[flash]

make sure you reinforce that area to at least .090" thick. that's the spec.

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[Cloud9...68]

As I think about it, I'm wondering if it wouldn't be better to drill the hole for the inner lap belt mount in the floor, because the inside of the tunnel has a heat shield against it, making it a challenge to attach a nut there. I'd have to cut a large hole in the heat shield to make room for the washer and nut. Not inusrrmoutable, but not very clean, either.



Also, my harness didn't come with any attachment hardware. Is the hardware I need available at my local Lowes, or should I order a specific mounting kit designed for mounting a harness?



Sorry for all the dumb questions, but I've never done this before, and I don't want to guess wrong, particlarly on a safety-related item like the mounting of the harness. Thanks.

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[Eric_Oz_S2]

Cloud



If you refer to post 62 1st photo link it shows the location of the inner eyebolt (remember this is a rhd car). Below is a pic link showing dimension from rear. The captive nut and plate sits just behind the cat heat shield (at least for the s2). I have mine mounted a few inches further rearward than the outer seatbelt mount. You need to order the eye bolts separately from your harness supplier. I doubt the hardware tore would have the right ones.



http://s1304.photobucket.com/albums/s522...edia_share

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[Cloud9...68]

Flash,



Thanks for the info on the reinforcing plate thickness - I'll make sure it's at least 0.090"



Eric,



Ah, I should have realized yours is a RHD car. So, you did drill into the tunnel. How did you deal with the heat shield on the inside of the tunnel? Also, I see you're running a conventional irertia reel seat belt in addition to your harness. That's my plan as well.

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[Eric_Oz_S2]

Cloud



The eye bolt/nut and nut/plate sits just to the rear of the heat shield. I drilled a small pilot hole (2mm) through to get a reference and then worked out where to drill the main hole. Use the measurement in the photo as a starting guide. I presume the 968 exhaust heat shield is similar to the S2.



0.09" is not thick enough!! The plate needs to be 3mm thick - they are a proprietary item which you should also source from your harness supplier. This is from the Australian CAMS motorsport manual (our governing body) which mimics the FIA regs for a lot of requirements.



The nut and plate looks like this:



http://www.racequipuk.com/racequip-race-...roved.html

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[Cloud9...68]

Eric,



Thanks for the info. That mounting plate does look stout, but I didn't see it either on Summit Racing's site, or even on Racequip's site. I'll look some more later today.



I noticed you did state in post #83 that the hole in the tunnel was just behind the heat shield - I had missed that earlier.



Did you use the stock captive nut to attach you lap belt on the door side? Thanks.

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[flash]

funny that australian spec is beefier than pca spec and scca spec. i would have thought it would be the other way around. thicker is better of course, and if you're doing it, there is no reason not to go thicker.



of course none of the factory locations are very thick at all.

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[Eric_Oz_S2]

You need this



http://www.ogracing.com/reinforcement-pl...s-mounting



And this



http://www.ogracing.com/eye-bolt-for-harness-mounting-2



OG racing are great to deal with.



Yes used the stock captive nut on the outside with an eye bolt.



How did you go with mounting the sub strap?



Flash - 3mm is CAMS and FIA. Plate size is 50 x 75mm or equivalent. Wasn't aware that SCCA was lower spec than FIA.



Eric

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[flash]

neither was i. like i said, i'm all for safety, and of course thicker is better. i merely looked up what they specced and posted it.



i wonder though, what do they say about factory mounts? do you have to thicken those up too?

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[Cloud9...68]

Eric,



Thanks - yes I bought my seat from Og Racing, and they were very good to deal with. I need to order something else from Summit, so I was hoping I could order the harness mounting stuff from them as well to get it all in one shipment.



To Flash's point about the stock mounting points not being very thick - I assume that applies to the captive nut on the door side. Doesn't this represent a "weak link", which will fail in a serious crash no matter how much reinforcing you do at the other mounting locations? I realize I'm just essentially repeating Flash's question in his last post.



One more question - my harness has simple bolt holes, as opposed to snap hooks, at their mounting points, like this:



http://www.summitrac...00020/overview/



Do I need some special type of bolt and nut to attach the belt mount to the eye bolt? Thanks again for all the great advice.

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[Eric_Oz_S2]

Cloud



These are normally used with the eye bolts to connect the harness.



http://www.ogracing.com/snap-in-fitting



I can't remember what the size is of the belt mount bolt. At the time I simply removed and measured the stock belt. I think it was 7/16" as per the normal eye bolt size.



Factory belt mount points are normally OK for harness mounting. Remember you now have 5 or 6 attachment points instead of 3 to spread the load. The seatbelt mounts are reinforced with plates as well.

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[Cloud9...68]

Hmmm... I took a closer look under the tunnel in preparation to drill the hole for the tunnel-side lap belt mount, and it seems that the heat shield extends the entire length of the tunnel, which makes sense, because the exhaust runs the entire length of this area:



   



I don't feel very comfortable about drilling through the heat shield, and then removing enough of it to make room for the mounting eyelet's nut and washer. Am I making too much of this, or missing something obvious? Does anybody happen to have a picture of their mounting of the lap belt from under the car? Thanks.

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[Cloud9...68]

Anybody have any input on how/where to drill the hole for the lap belt of my harness in the tunnel? Eric posted a nice picture where to drill the hole relative to the front edge of the back seat location, but on my car, this would still have me drilling a hole through the heat shield on the inside of my tunnel, which just seems wrong. Mounting the harness is one of the things I'd like to work on this weekend, so I'd really appreciate some input on this. Thanks.

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[flash]

well.............the right way is to remove the heat shield. drill the hole. weld the backing plate with a nut welded onto it. reinstall the heat shield.



failing that, you could do essentially the same thing from the inside.



make a plate with a hole in it large enough for the seatbelt mounting bolt, and a nut threaded the same welded onto it.

undo the heat shield retaining hardware so you can move it around the torque tube a bit.

stuff a piece of steel between the heat shield and the tunnel to prevent you from drilling through the heat shield

drill from the inside of the car, where you want the bolt to go, making the hole large enough for the nut to fit through

weld the plate to the inside in the location you just drilled, with the nut in the tunnel on the underside of the car.

done

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[Cloud9...68]

Yes, I was thinking of something along those same lines. But since nobody had mentioned this degree of hassle (for lack of a better word) to install their lap belts, I wanted to make sure I wasn't either over-complicating things, or overlooking something obvious.

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[Cloud9...68]

Back to this thread again, with a question. I'm finally getting around to installing my five-point harness on the drivers side (I've installed a pair of inertia reels I ordered from eBay for street driving), and I noticed that in post #83, Eric shows that the inboard harness mounting bolt he's secured to the tunnel is about 230 mm (which is about 9 inches) from the vertical back seat bulkhead (or whatever it's called), if I'm reading his tape measure correctly. However, the stock mounting point on the outboard side is located about 13" forward of this bulkhead, which would make the lap belt mounting points quite nonsymmetrical. Is this correct, or am I misinterpreting? Thanks.

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[flash]

are you factoring in the extensions?

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[Cloud9...68]

Extensions?

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[Eric_Oz_S2]

Yes they are asymetric, but it doesn't really matter as long as the difference isn't too large. The positioning of the eye bolt on the tunnel side is a compromise between seat travel and access on the inside of the tunnel. obviously it is better if the offsets are similar, but not super critical. The straps are adjustable, right?, so there should be enough length in them to adjust to the right length.



Look at the schroth install instructions if you want to check the correct angles.



Cheers



Eric

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[robinlarry]

My two cents is that you install the driver's seat with sliders and the passenger's without. You may be 5'10" but the instructor you invite to drive your car might be 5'6" or 6'3". The weight difference is not substantial and there are track-safe rails available.



Don't forget the seat brace attached to your cage/roll bar.

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