[stormin'norman]

Goodmorning Clubroadster. It came to my attention this morning that we've gone on far too long allowing monstrosities like this:

to continually pop up on our forum. It's understandable that not everyone has the money to invest in a setup all at once but please for the safety of yourself/passenger do it right and preserve your dignity to boot.


What To Buy

1. Start with a rollbar. There are many options to choose from. Hard Dog, Black Bird Fab Worx, Boss Frog, Autopower and many race prep shops either have off the shelf bolt in kits ready or can likely install a custom rollbar or full cage for you.
BBFW GT3



HardDog Hardcore DD + Harness Bar



2. Your rollbar may or may not come with a harness bar. So either purchase one with a pre-welded harness bar or buy a bolt in version. Hard Dog and Boss Frog offer very sturdy examples of bolt in bars.

3. You're probably tired of sliding around on those sloppy oem seats by now huh? Let's go shop for a fixed back race seat. I'd recommend taking a serious look at some of the FIA/SFI rated seats from companies such as Recaro, Sparco, Bride, Cobra, Corbeau (bleh), Status, OMP etc.. Prices will range from ~$350-many thousands. Used is often an option as well. Keep your eyes peeled on forums/Craigslist. Inquire about the seat's history. Has it been in a crash etc and use your best judgement.



4. Mounting seats in a Miata can be tricky but using zip ties to hold your seat in is not acceptable. (Yes this has been done before)

Excellent bracket solutions are now available. Forum Vendor, Pro Car Innovations/Kazespec, have created some nice looking mounting solutions. http://clubroadster.net/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=54021

It should also be easy to find someone local who can fab up what you need. This is the route I went for mounting my seats.



5. Time to strap yourself in eh? Are you on a budget or are you looking for name brand Takata or Schroth? Well the good news is which ever boat you fall in you can still setup a harness affordably and safely. Take a look at the many affordable 5 and 6 point camlock harnesses from Gforce, Simpson, Crow Enterprizes.


Diagram of how belts should sit against your body. You'll quickly realize how important the sub belt is to keeping that lap belt in place.


Take some time to explore your options. There is also excellent harness setup material available online from Schroth. Harness bar harness wrapping, mounting angles and other safety related documents are found below. Familiarize yourself.

http://www.schrothracing.com/main/Engineering
http://www.schrothracing.com/main/Media

Informational Harness Videos

6. I have to put belts across my balls?!? Yes use the 5/6 pt belt. These are there to keep you from submarining under the lap belt

and are useful for securing the lap belt in the proper position so it won't ride up when you cinch your shoulder belts down.

How and what do I mount it to/slide it in? Remember that fancy race seat you purchased? Flip it over and discover a neat little passage way that will allow the ASM belt to slide through.

With your seat in the car, mocked up in roughly your seating position identify the point directly below the seats ASM belt hole. Measure back 4-5". This is where you will drill through the floorboard and mount your graded hardware and backing plate for securing the 5 or 6 pt belt.


Backing plate? Yes a backing plate. I prefer these: ([url]http://www.schrothracing.com/store/Competition/hardware/reinforcement-plates)as they have a threaded/welded on nut to hold your hardware. I put it all together in something like this order: Bolt>Lock washer>Belt>Washer>Floorboard>Backing plate.

Finished product like so. Get out and enjoy some motorsports.

Schroth Belt Installation Resource:
http://www.schrothracing.com/sdocs/2009_Competition_Instructions.pdf


Done with one side? Start from the top and protect your buddy, instructor etc.. :

Don't go shopping for a race seat. Shop for two. Get two of everything, you cheap bastard. Whether or not equal restraint is mandated by whoever you're tracking with, it's a **** move not to provide the same level of safety for your passenger that you provide for yourself.

-Dur, but I am lonely driver and I am 2 gud 2 need anyone in shotgun telling me wut 2 do

Well your car looks stupid all lopsided like that anyways. Two of everything.

 

[stormin'norman]

I'll add on more and clean things up a bit later. Feel free to ad suggestions, outside resources and other photos and we can compile this into a very useful thread.

 

[sfl_miata]

I like this thread. Great idea Nial. I'll add pictures of my setup in the future.

 

[Andy]

Fantastic thread idea. It lets me know exactly what I need to know. This thread should be stickied.

 

[stormin'norman]

HMSmotorsports harness wrapping how to video added.

 

[acedeuce802]

Needs a sticky for sure, great information. Thanks for taking the time to write this up!

 

[scenturion]

sweet. HMS/Schroth is a great source of information.

 

[morr]

Thanks for making this thread, we definitely needed it. Pardon my noob question, but can you explain why it's important to have a harness bar vs. wrapping the harness around the lower part of the roll bar?

 

[tanakapz]

this is a great idea. thanks for starting it off.

i have a question: are tubular steel frame seats safe for daily driving? i've worried about hitting my head in an accident.

i sat in a sparco sprint V and it didn't seem as if it'd be an issue, but i wasn't sure.

 

[morr]

i have a question: are tubular steel frame seats safe for daily driving? i've worried about hitting my head in an accident.

I'm hoping someone will chime in with a definite answer to this. I figured, better safe than sorry. It was the reason I got rid of my Corbeau Forzas. My head was resting right on the tube itself. I went back to a stock NA seat with SFI padding on my roll bar for now. Currently looking for new seats...

 

[tanakapz]

I'm hoping someone will chime in with a definite answer to this. I figured, better safe than sorry. It was the reason I got rid of my Corbeau Forzas. My head was resting right on the tube itself. I went back to a stock NA seat with SFI padding on my roll bar for now. Currently looking for new seats...

in the sprint V it seemed as if the tube was covered with a padding of some sort... but then again i didn't really check it that thoroughly. was your forza just plain steel against your head?? that would seem pretty dangerous to me. sounds like you made the right choice imo.

 

[morr]

It had the fabric of the seat that covered it, but that was it. No padding. Hell, if I bumped my head off it just sitting there it hurt. I wouldn't want to imagine how bad an actual accident would be...

 

[imnatelol]

That first pic is of my car, how dare you insult my harness mounting methods

 

[stormin'norman]

That first pic is of my car, how dare you insult my harness mounting methods

I can pay royalties if you allow me to leave it up.

 

[ebruner]

That first pic is of my car, how dare you insult my harness mounting methods

Hey it least it was a flawless execution... of doing it wrong unfortunately.

In two weeks I'll have many pictures to post of how to do it as safely as possible. Luckily for me moti will be doing the work... lord knows if he weren't I'd end up like that first picture.

Awesome and necessary thread.

 

[stormin'norman]

In two weeks I'll have many pictures to post of how to do it as safely as possible. Luckily for me moti will be doing the work... lord knows if he weren't I'd end up like that first picture.

It would be awesome if Moti could create an "ins and outs of making a safe bar/cage thread". I'm sure there's alot more science/engineering in it than meets the eye. Then again he may not want to divulge his secrets. :mrgreen:

 

[SuperTuner12010]

One thing I didnt see is mounting the shoulder belts, if so im blind.

I see too many people making the mistake of bolting them to the bottom seat bolts, or even just on the floor behind the seat. We all know this is incredibly dangerous. In a front collision instead of your body going forward, the force will pull your body down into the seat and can compress your spine. Hopefully one can elabore more/properly.

More than %60 of the cars I see localy with harnesses are done this way :|

 

[Blackbird]

Great thread, Nial.

Then again he may not want to divulge his secrets. :mrgreen:

Correct, there's a lot of secret sauce in these things and I have no intention giving away the recipe for any of it.
The basics are well covered by SCCA and NASA rulebooks.

Moti

 

[nannerpus]

Don't go shopping for a race seat. Shop for two. Get two of everything, you cheap bastard. Whether or not equal restraint is mandated by whoever you're tracking with, it's a **** move not to provide the same level of safety for your passenger that you provide for yourself.

-Dur, but I am lonely driver and I am 2 gud 2 need anyone in shotgun telling me wut 2 do

Well your car looks stupid all lopsided like that anyways. Two of everything.

 

[stormin'norman]

Don't go shopping for a race seat. Shop for two. Get two of everything, you cheap bastard. Whether or not equal restraint is mandated by whoever you're tracking with, it's a **** move not to provide the same level of safety for your passenger that you provide for yourself.

-Dur, but I am lonely driver and I am 2 gud 2 need anyone in shotgun telling me wut 2 do

Well your car looks stupid all lopsided like that anyways. Two of everything.

Excellent contribution. Thanks Nannerpus for covering a topic I skipped over. Look out for your instructor/passenger if you plan on having a second seat.