racing harness

[mom'sZ]

I trying to pick out a racing harness. My car is a 1977 280Z prepared for SCCA improved touring road racing. I have an autopower bolt in roll cage that I'm installing. My questions are these... which mount style to choose? And 5, 6, or 7 point?

I'm looking at a MOMO start seat. It FIA approved so I won't need a seat back brace mounted to the roll cage. It pretty reasonably priced. Anybody have one? I'd like to get MOMO harness to match. They have long and short styles and one they call roll bar mount. If you have direct experience mounting a race harness in a zcar with a cage please give some pointers. Also the 6 and 7 point harness, I know the two extra belts go around your legs, but how? Where do they mount? To the lap harness mounts? I'm going to go with a four point plus sub belt (5 point... min. requirement) or a 6 point with sub belt (7 point, not required, but suggested)

[doublexl240z]

I have found the Schroth harnesses to be the best out there. I hope you are looking at a HANS device as well!! Schroth makes a set of belts that is designed specifically for the HANS. It has 2in. shoulder belts that are legal ONLY with a HANS, and are available in 3 in. if you are not using a HANS.

6 point is the most popular and I would say the easiest to deal with. I see you live in Fl somewhere and Wine Country Motorsports in Melborne is a great dealer for them.

The shoulder belts are wrapped around the horizontal bar of your main hoop. The lap belts are bolted to the floor underneath the seat, and the sub belts are bolted underneath the seat and come up through the hole in the bottom of the seat. Hope this helps!!

[Mr.INSANE]

the extra 2 points go between your legs opposite eachother

 

I myself am looking for a cheap harness for this same thing.

[doublexl240z]

For an inexpensive alternative try Safe Quip Racing in NC. Very reasonable and great service too!!

[Guest 280ZForce]

I have 5 point (only using 4 though) Safe Quip Camloc harnesses in my Z w/ the Autopower roll bar.

 

I bought them for $95 each off ebay through an ebay seller...he gave them to me at a better price since it was off ebay.

[Mikelly]

I'm probably gonna continue using the Gforce stuff that was in the Vette. The Harnesses were like new when I bought them and I'm pretty much good to go with them...

 

Highly recommend 6 points on the harnesses for anyone who hasn't committed to buying them yet...

Mike

[mom'sZ]

the extra 2 points go between your legs opposite each other.

OK... sorry, I'm super dense when it comes to verbal descriptions. I know they go around your legs, but where do they anchor? and how do they wrap around your legs? I know where the crotch strap goes, where it anchors, do the leg straps anchor in the same spot as the crotch strap and come up between your legs or around the outside of your legs? I'm not getting it. I'd like to use one, (a 6 or 7 point) but if the implementation is going to be difficult in a stock bodied s30 with just a bolt in roll cage, I'll skip it for now and do it later when I have a pro cage fabricated. Also, I've got some ideas on an anchor point for the crotch strap, but anybody want to give some advise on how they did it in an s30, please do.

280ZForce: you say you attached yours to an autopower bar, how? any pictures?

doubleXL240z: you say it wraps around the bar. Is that how it mounts? I suspect that is the roll bar mount version. I've seen them 'wrap' but how is it secured? is there a mechanism on the belt to grab itself. I've seen weld on tabs on the bar that the ends of the belt bolt to. I have to do some welding to add the second mandatory door bar to my cage anyhow so I could add some tabs.

[tfreer85]

Here's a pic of a 6 point harness, though I don't know where the bottom halfs would mount either.

 

 

Tyson

[Guest 280ZForce]

280ZForce: you say you attached yours to an autopower bar, how? any pictures?

what i had done it bought some steel piping...same diameter as the roll bar and made sure it was the correct thickness for track use (if forget the thickness). Then i had a shop weld a cross bar behind the seats on the main loop so that I could strap the harnesses to it. Then while I had it all out, I painted it black.

 

Oh yeah, this pic also show my new custom floor I just built and upholstered myself from scratch. (280s hatch floor usually sit 4" higher and dont utilize those comparments behind the seats)

 

[mom'sZ]

ah... ok mine's a little different

hope this isn't huge picture

 

 

I guess your's is just a roll bar. It didn't come with a cross bar? You had to add that? wow... that seems... odd. And obviously no diagonal either.

Well anyhow, I obviously have a cross bar I can attach the sholder straps to. Again not to seem dense, but it's pretty clear in your photo the harness wraps around the bar, then what? is there like a cinch or buckle or something (do ya tie the damn thing in a knot) and could it slip under extreme circumstances? nice work on the floorboard by the way 280ZForce.

What does everybody think of this thing? Yes, it bolts to the wheelhouses. I knew it did, and I'm ok with that but I figured the rear stabilizer bars would go to the strut tower tops. They don't, I guess in the name of making it completely bolt in, you would have to remove the stock seat belts. It will definitly bolt right in with no modifications to a stock z whatsoever. Check out the flat bar running from the diagonal to the main hoop behind the driver's head. It's like 3/4" x 1/8" flat bar. I called the guy and asked what it was for. He said it's a 'head rest' and it just has to be there to pass tech. I said what??? Does the seat have to attach to it? he said no, nothing attaches to it, it just has to be there.

The other goofy thing about the cage is it showed up with no bar for across the top of the windshield. I called up and told him, he made me describe every bar I had, and then said, ok... you need a windsheild bar. Few days later the ups man left it on my door step.

[Guest 280ZForce]

I guess your's is just a roll bar. It didn't come with a cross bar? You had to add that? wow... that seems... odd. And obviously no diagonal either.

Well anyhow' date=' I obviously have a cross bar I can attach the sholder straps to. Again not to seem dense, but it's pretty clear in your photo the harness wraps around the bar, then what? is there like a cinch or buckle or something (do ya tie the damn thing in a knot) and could it slip under extreme circumstances? nice work on the floorboard by the way 280ZForce.[/quote']

 

My friend has the roll bar just like yours.

Mine it just a standard autopower roll bar that I had to add the cross bar to. You can just wrap the harnesses around the bar and through a metal harness adjuster (cinch i suppose), the metal adjuster (which is not visible) holds everything down in place. The belts will not slip. The tighter you pull the tighter they hold in a sense. I'll try to get some pics of it shortly. Very simple concept.

 

Pics up soon. Thanks for the compliment on my new hatch floor...I impressed myself on never doing anyting like that before. Only my 2ns real upholstery job.

[Guest 81na ZX]

Also, go for a pull down, not pull up. Pull up types are almost impossible to adjust properally in a closed cockpit car and almost impossible for the drive to adjust properally. i.e. they are perfect for an open car with an assistant above the driver - like a top fuel dragster.

 

And make sure your belt is SFI 16.1 rated. All the good belts are. FIA rating is good too, but if its a US-only company, many don't bother with FIA because its not the norm for the majority of US racers.

 

Also, camlock are much easier to put on. Not any safer or less safe, but a convienence thing - you latch one belt and forget about it, unlike traditional ones where all 5 or 6 belts are aligned then latched together.

[HB280ZT]

I second 81na XZ and make sure whatever you get it is SFI 16.1 rated.

 

I have 5 point G-Force belts and they are great!

 

HB280ZT

[Guest 280ZForce]

Also, camlock are much easier to put on. Not any safer or less safe, but a convienence thing - you latch one belt and forget about it, unlike traditional ones where all 5 or 6 belts are aligned then latched together.

I beg to differ. I used to have 5 point Crow harnesses that were latch type and they suck! I actually got stuck in mine once and it took me like 20 minutes to loosen up all the belts and worm my way outta the harness and the car. Most people it wouldv'e been impossible to worm outta, as it was a pretty hard feat. I think I had success cuz I'm skinny and pretty flexible. I had my dad come out and try to loosen it up, i tried tools to loosen it up...nada worked.

 

Then 30 minutes later I went out to go to the store and the damn latch unbuckled with ease.

 

It was always a great effort to get those latch belts off. I dunno if I just got a tight latch set, but never again. I felt my life was at risk as well as others who rode in the car too.

 

At that point I said f*ck that sh*t, if I got into an accident and I got stranded in my car in an emergency situation that would not be good. So I immediately ordered the camloc type of harness. Much easier to put on and much easier to get off.

 

And it was a good name belt and everything, not like it was a knock off. I paid about $120 each harness for those from a hot/street rod shop that is a Crow distributor and they were brand new and not expired.

 

After a couple of bad latch type harness incidents, I will never use 1 again. Period.

[Mikelly]

280ZForce, the straps are mounted incorrectly in your pics... Look online for mounting instructions, but those straps should be at a 45 degree angle below your shoulders. They need to be anchered below those holes in the seat BIG TIME...

 

Mom'Z you can run the mounts for the lower two points to the bolt holes for the sliders. They need to be anchered below and under the seat though so they pull towards the back of the car somewhat. The purpose is to insure you won't slide under the straps... People have actually sustained injuries from the sinlge crotch strap and the double better centers the load...

 

To all of you, I'd seek advice from A NASA or SCCA inspector for mounting... I see bad ideas for harnesses all the time...

 

Mike

[doublexl240z]

Momsz, Do you have more than one door bar on each side. I hope you do because that is the requirement as of 1Jan07 in SCCA. Also I would highly recommend a 1.5 in/1.75 in. (what ever matches you cage) bar for the belts to go around, behind your seat, and one that continues on the other side of the diagonal bar. Also if you are not utilizing an FIA rated seat you will need a seat brace to prevent the seat from reclining back in case of an impact. Where are you in FL. I'm in Orlando area and I build cages and do chassis work etc. I can help you out very reasonably!! Have you memorized the GCR yet???

[mom'sZ]

Momsz, Do you have more than one door bar on each side. I hope you do because that is the requirement as of 1Jan07 in SCCA.

Yes I'm working on it. When I ordered the autopower roll cage, I asked if the cage was in compliance with the new rule. He said some had been updated, others had not, the zcar had not. So, what he did was send me all the stuff to add the second bars myself at no extra cost. What I got was the two extra prebent door bars and the four tubing pieces, prenotched to weld on, plus extra tubes and bolts to attach them with. At first I thought there was no way they were going to have anywhere to weld in with the design of the main hoop. But after I stuck the whole thing inside the car and trial fit it, I think it's going to be made to work pretty well. The door bars that are already there run very low in the door opening, they actually run just under the arm rest on the door. It seems that it was designed to fit inside the stock car without having to remove or change anything. Well the car sits pretty low and with the door bar so low in the opening I'd be worried about something hopping right over it and coming inside with me. But then I held the extra door bar up there, positioning it about 5-6 inches above the first one and it appeared to be a very effective nascar style side protection. The stub to mount it will need to be welded on around the area on the main hoop where the diagonal comes down (see picture above) and around the same place on the other side and the arm rest will have to be removed. The arm rest on my side is already gone for elbow room so no biggie. With a vertical brace or two between them this thing would be very stout side protection. Overall considering the compromise of having to fit with nothing removed from the interior, I think it fits pretty good. There isn't a lot of room inside these cars for a cage.

Also I would highly recommend a 1.5 in/1.75 in. (what ever matches you cage) bar for the belts to go around, behind your seat

not sure I follow you, look at the picture above, does the cross bar not do that? please explain

and one that continues on the other side of the diagonal bar.

continues where? through the roof of the car or out the side? Again... I don't get what you are saying.

Also if you are not utilizing an FIA rated seat you will need a seat brace to prevent the seat from reclining back in case of an impact.

I mentioned in the first post that I am indeed planning on using a FIA approved seat.

Where are you in FL. I'm in Orlando area

I'm in Palm Beach County on the south east coast. Thanks I'll keep it in mind

Have you memorized the GCR yet???

The whole thing... every word??? well... not quite, but damn near.

[mom'sZ]

Look online for mounting instructions

Mike... WHERE????

I've been searching the net for days trying to find documentation for these things. Figured it would be easy... no dice. If you have a link please share.

[mom'sZ]

You can just wrap the harnesses around the bar and through a metal harness adjuster (cinch i suppose), the metal adjuster (which is not visible) holds everything ... I'll try to get some pics of it shortly.

280ZForce: yes a pic of it would be great

oh and cam lock all the way... no doubt about that.

[doublexl240z]

Moms'z,

It appears in your pic that the bar that is behind the drivers seat is a piece of flat stock not cage tubing, that extends from the diagonal to the main hoop behind your left shoulder. I may be wrong. A continuation of that bar(actually a seperate piece) from the diagonal to the pass. side of the hoop, on the same plane as the belt bar.

Not every word but most everyone from the ITCS and general rules.

P.S. a cage can never be overbuilt!!!

There was a nasty crash this weekend @Sebring between the Nat'l Champ GT1 and an ITS RX7, resulting in the RX being flipped over a 12 fence on its roof. Driver walked away, shaken not stirred!!

Car totalled!!!

Driver going to work tom.