I want to be able to use my 5 pt. harnesses but really just want to get my interior back in and not have to install a rollbar. Is there any other safe way to mount 5 pt. harnesses??

I was possibly thinking to the sheet metal behind the rear seats (no longer in the car) with two wide thick plates of steel for reinforcement (but that involves the trouble of pulling the tank again and still probably inadequate.

 

I'm sure some people are going to come in here and disagree, but as long as the seatbelt is connected "back" and not "down" by the back front seat bolts you should be ok. Since you're talking about going all the way back to the rear hump, the connection angle will be close to the same as if you put it on a rollbar.

The reason you don't want part of your harness that goes over your shoulders connect to the floor close to the back of the seat is because it pulls you down compressing your spine in an accident...not good. Having them go back causes the belts to pull you into the back of the seat, which is what you want.

 

Yea I understand that and that is why I removed the way I had them (to the rear seat bucket bolt) and am just running lap belts. There is realyl no way that I can see to attach them in these cars without a cage.

Any ideas?

 

I had a 5 point in my car at one point, had it attached to the rear bucket bolt hole, realized I would be messed up forever in a crash and just put my stock seatbelt back in. You probably really dont need a 5 point, but if you really want one, you could extend a piece of nylon strap all the way back to where your t-top bag is and mount it with a few good bolts, or you can do like my friend did it and make a harness bar that stretches across the b-pillar and bolts up to the stock upper seat belt holes.

 

Mount the uppers near the factory upper location since thats a roll bar-ish part and the lowers under the rear seat hinges

If you mount the shoulder straps too low then in a crash they will force your shoulders downward compressing your spine

Bad things happen

 

scorchmaster...could you possibly get some pics of your friends setup? That is what I wanted to do but couldn't think of a good way to build the bar. After thinking about it, if I can get a good harness bar built I'll will skip the time and money of getting a cage at the moment.

 

no safe way without a roll bar with a cross bar, REGARDLESS of what else is posted. Furthermore why use them if there is no roll bar? Do you want to get in a crash and be in a wheelchair for life?

 

Obviously I don't want to end up in a wheelchair. However, looking at the stripped interior and the very thick steel I have, it would be extremely easy to make a solid harness bar that would position the shoulder straps in the correct position and bolt to the factory rear seatbelt locations.

 

crude and quick....looking straight down on the car from the front

 

stock seatbelts no roll bar

or

roll bar + 5 point harness

either way you're losing use of the rear seat with your little drawing. Do it right once, instead of wrong twice.

 

That drawing is basically what he has, you don't lose the use of the back seats but it makes getting into them more difficult. But you dont need a 5 point harness, there really is no point to having one with your setup. Do like xpndbl3 is saying and get the roll bar and mount it to that. If you're dead set on having it right now, make the bar or mount it to the trunk area.

 

Okay.....this car has had these harnesses in it for a couple years (mostly just the lap belts) and has been in surgery for quite some time (too many complications). They are staying stock belts are long gone. Obviously I don't need 5 pt. harnesses with my setup but Thirdgen's aren't anywhere near a question of need. My back seats are long as well as the A/C and heat, this is a toy for me.

What I don't understand, why would this bar not suffice? Someone with more knowledge than me please explain.
I'm sure not worried about it failing in the event of a crash and it will position the over-the-shoulder straps in the correct position.
I plan to use (overboard) 1/4" plates for the brackets to the rear seatbelt point behind the plastic and havn't decided on what to use for the actual bar yet.

 

There is nothing wrong with the bar as long as you use thick enough steel and your welds are perfect. Think of the bar as a moment arm, like when you use a breaker bar you get more force at the bolt. If you put 1 lb of pressure on the bar you're going to be multiplying that by the vertical length of the bar to the top mount. You'll feel about 40g's of force in a 60mph crash. So do some moment equations on the harness bar, do your deflection equations to find the correct thicknesses, dont forget to add a factor of safety in there, and dont sue me if you die. If you dont know what these equations are look them up, google will probably have them.

 

I've always heard not to put harnesses in cars without cages because if you flip it, it holds you vertically (where a normal seatbelt wold let you slouch over to the side) and messes you up as your head smashes into the ground...

 

Yeah thats pretty much what I've heard as well. Friend of mine rolled a 92RS into a creek and he would have been done for had he been held vertically.

 

if you slip out of the waist belt and you dont have the harness bar to attach the shoulder straps to, yeah you're gonna have a bad day.

 

An possible way to get pics of your friends setup Scorch?

 

OK after some looking around, this is what ive come up with.

I wasent able to find anything with a thirdgen, but I found some forthgen stuff, close enough right?

ok first some pics:




This ones from a mustang, but whatever, beggers cant be choosers





ok now some web sites:
http://dev3.bydomino.com/clients/lgm...is_Bracing.htm
http://www.rollcagestore.com/rollcag...5-03-p-27.html


hope this helps, im thinking of fabbing up a bar, that sits just behind the rear seats, instead of just before.

 

He's off at college and so am I but around thankgiving I'll send you a pic.

 

or post it up here so we all can see it?

 

Thanks for the pics and help everyone. I thirdgen owner on our local board has already done this as well and sent my some pics of it installed on his thirdgen. Gave me a great starting point even though I will do a couple things differently...I'll try to get some pics up.

 

that bar still makes the backseat pointless so why not a 4 point hoop at a minimum and have a little crash protection added in?

 

Time and money. You want the kind of short of it? 3 motor builds and tons of other problems got me wanting the interior back in and done as cheaply and quickly as possible. I've been so frustrated with the car over the last two or three years and all the car parts laying around for years is getting annoying. I had plans for a cage but without a good welder and not wanting to drop at least $200 I will try an alternate.
Trust me I want a bar, a lot, but I have to choose my battles. The money that will go into the car needs to go into ANOTHER motor rebuild (which I will not attempt this time). I'm not even buying a CD player, 6x9's, a sub or an amp for the sub until I have the motor running since I know what can happen...

BTW I don't know If I stated it but for me, the backseat is pointless anyway, and long gone.

 

kenny brown performance used to make one for 3rd gen cars, i cant find any online, they used to have an online store