Harness mounting points

[bulldog5046]

I'm seeking some advice on if i can use the rear headrest fixing as a suitable harness point in my 328 e36?

They seem to be very solid points and they will put the harness at near 90 degrees to the seat which i believe is the ideal position?



Thanks in advance,

Ryan

[iguana]

Christ no just look at it!

there are a few folks with e36s who mount like this, I call these people morons.

Its not close to being strong enough, & yes yes I know works racers did mount harnesses off the shelf but not like this!

Best option is to get a proper harness bar professionally mounted to your cage as I assume its not got one, I did this on a previous car & the cost wasnt silly.

or properly mount eyelets in the appropriate postion on the floor, will need strengthening & its a pain as the tank may need to come out (not sure on 36s but does on other cars)

You could reinforce & very much strengthen the shelf & mount there.

worth alook in the MSA blue book for pointers, can view it onlien easy enough.

At a push I'd run to the rear belt points, yes not ideal with the angle but far better than the parcel self idea.

[bulldog5046]

seems everywhere i look there is a different answer.

people say not the use the rear seatbelt points because of the angle, dont use a harness bar as it collapses in a crash etc etc..

do you have a link handy for the MSA document you mention?

[iguana]

Google is your friend, only takes 5 secs-

http://www.msauk.org/uploadedfiles/msa_forms/blueb...

Who are these people you have been taking to ref proper welded in harness bars on cages ripping out? some occupants of the special window lickers bus or something?

How the devil is that ripping out?

[hyperblue]

Rear seatbelt points would be preferable to that. Head rest mounts wouldn't be designed for much force.

See MSA yearbook for recommended setups - http://www.msauk.org/uploadedfiles/msa_forms/blueb...

[bulldog5046]

i found a link from somewhere to here:

http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2896572

as a reason for not using a harness bar.

and as i've not yet found a suitable saloon cage and someone to fit it i'm looking for somewhere to mount the harnesses to.

[Birdthom]

That one in the Honda is just a horrid 'show' thing and is downright dangerous. Very different from a proper harness bar fitted into a proper cage.

You're going the right way mounting it so the belts run horizontally to the driver's shoulders. You need to get a strong enough mounting point though. Don't use those headrest points! Maybe strengthen the rear bulkhead and bolt in some proper MSA-spec eyelets through welded-in MSA-spec mounting plates. Or get a proper harness bar as part of a cage and wrap the harnesses around that.

[iguana]

Ooh nasty, but see above I did say proper bar welded to cage, not some bolt in chav cack, that rubbish is on a par with show cages seen on Corsas etc, just KitKat foil bent into cage shape.

I've run e36 with buckets but the regular 3 point seat belt & felt it was ok, far prefer to do that than some of the lash up options anyway.

Edited to add- on the list of fans of that Honda site this pic did make me laugh, poor girl, that dude looks like he is about to kill her & use her skin as a coat or something!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Miguel-Guzman/10000...

Edited by iguana on Monday 2nd May 21:49

[Steve H]

Worth bearing in mind that unless you have proper roll-over protection you don't want to be using fixed harnesses anyway, inertia belts would be safer in some incidents.

[bulldog5046]

Thanks for the clarification.

I guess my next question is what cage will fit in the E36 saloon? but, thats probably a question for a seperate thread.

Do all cages require welding to some degree? as its something i have no skill or experience with, even the bolt in's require floor boxes welding in as far as i've seen?

Regards,
Ry

[Steve H]

Most of them do need re-enforcement plates welding in but this can often be done by a competent workshop and the rest is fairly DIYable.

In terms of which cages fit, they will be specific to model. Most of the bigger manufacturers would do an E36 cage I would think.

[iguana]

Yes you need to weld in towers for most e36 bolt in cages to mount to.

[bulldog5046]

Went and spoke with Launch Motorsport yesterday as i discovered they are just round the corner.

They told me not to waste my money on getting harness points welded in if a cage is going in and have recommended someone to build a custom cage for me.

Thanks for the advice