Thursday 23 August 2012

Getting strapped in

Did this a little while ago but not updated the blog, but I have fitted the 6 point harness that I had delivered.

A nice pair of blue SRS 6 point harnesses, apparently these are actually made by Sabelt but there were a lot cheaper.  Fully FIA approved though.

Also delivered were some eye bolts and backing plates.  These are to go on the outside of the car to stop the bolts pulling through the bodywork.  That would be bad.

So I measured up where the belts should go in relation to the seats, and marked the body work.  Then out come the seats again, and the trusty drill is used to drill two holes each side underneath the seats for the anti-submarine straps to clip to.  These straps are not actually for destroying submarines, but to stop you sliding down in the chair in case of a crash.  After a bit of nervousness related to drilling holes in the floor, these were actually pretty straightforward.  Screwed in the eye bolt and these straps are done.

Next up is the lap belts.  One of them just screws straight into the existing seat belt hole, but the other side needs another hold drilled into the floor on the opposite side.  This is a bit fiddly as it is so near the fuel tank, but a deep breath taken and then just dive in.  Same principal as the sub straps, but this time under the car I had to jam my hand under a plastic cover which was somewhat painful and annoying.

Lastly the shoulder straps need to go into the firewall behind the seats.  This involved taking out the heat shield from the engine bay, and to do this I had to take out the strut brace.  Pain.  Anyway, while doing this I found that the previous owner had left in part of the air box which is no longet needed, so I took that out and chucked it :-)

Once all that was out, drilled the holes and screwed in the eye bolts and all was done!  Not too bad at all.  Except now I had to put the seats back in.. I HATE DOING THAT!  Anyway, it got done and then it was a case of adjusting the straps to the right length, and this also took a while as I had to keep taking them off the bolts, adjusting them and then putting them back.  Over and over.

So here is the finished product, looking pretty cool I think...

 
Front view of drivers seat
 
 
The shoulder strap attachments in the firewall


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