Correct harness mounting - E36 coupe

[Daniel1]

I have an E36 coupe that I'm getting ready as a budget track car next year.

I've removed the interior but want to know how to best (and safely) mount the harness. I haven't bought a harness yet so advice on that area would be useful too.

Can I mount to the rear seatbelt bolt in the middle of the bench?

How do I mount the left side of the harness? The e36 coupe seatbelt is mounted to the oem seat, so there is no bolt hole.

Any advice appreciated.

[motorhole]

Look up the MSA blue book, that will show you how to locate harness mounting points to get the safest angles. Mounting the shoulder straps to the holes for the rear belts, although common, isn't the safest way as it can result in spinal compression injuries in an accident. Shoulder straps should be no more than about 20 degrees below horizontal IIRC. If you don't have a cage, the way to do this will be to mount spreader plates and eyelets to a suitable point in the chassis. Same for the lap belts. Would provide some pics but I'm on my phone at the mo!

[Trev450]

Your harness will come with fitting instructions so follow them and you should be ok.

If you don't have a cage fitted look into harness bars as well.

[Daniel1]

Thanks I'll have a look at harness bars, and I'll goggle the blue book. Thanks

[GC8]

Do you need a harness, really? Personally I would fit a better seat and then see whether I needed more - you almost certainly wont.

A harness without a seat is useless/pointless and when you have a proper seat you wont move about, so you wont need a harness. A seatbelt will be more than enough to hold you where the seat doesnt if you fit a CG Lock.

You only need a harness if youre fitting a rollcage and I dont think that anyone has ever needed a 'harness bar', unless because racecar.

[andye30m3]

For the left hand mount you'll need to weld one of these in http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/performance/harness-...

I think the mount for the rear seatbelt to low to be ideal although I'm sure people do se them

[Daniel1]

GC8 said:

Do you need a harness, really? Personally I would fit a better seat and then see whether I needed more - you almost certainly wont.

A harness without a seat is useless/pointless and when you have a proper seat you wont move about, so you wont need a harness. A seatbelt will be more than enough to hold you where the seat doesnt if you fit a CG Lock.

You only need a harness if youre fitting a rollcage and I dont think that anyone has ever needed a 'harness bar', unless because racecar.

The oe seat buckle is integrated into the oe seat and is lost when the seat is removed.

[GC8]

I see. Is it part of the seat or part of the runner/mount? If the latter then Id suggest retaining the original runners with the buckle and fixing the side mounts onto those.

As well as allowing you to retain the original seat belts, itll be adjustable and it will be MSA-legal too, if you choose to do more with the car (adjustable seats have to use the original runners according to the Blue Book).

[Clark3y]

Doing that isn't really practical or possible in the majority of cars, e36 being one of them. Probably one of the worst cars out there for bucket seats. I made my own frame, so the seat is level with the stock mounting bolts, and offset as much to the left as I could get it. This means cutting the carpet, using a BFH on the transmission tunnel for clearance, and *still* ending up sitting slightly to the right of the steering wheel.
Driftworks sell frames off the shelf now, probably best to save yourself the hassle and get one of those. I don't use a harness in mine, it's a daily drive and as such I use the 3 point belt. Bolt one of the rear belt buckles onto the seat frame and poke it through the seat. Be under no illusion though, a harness will hold you in a lot more firmly, regardless of how supportive your bucket seat might be.
Actually one time, I went on a trackday with a friend with his newly purchased car, no time to get the seats fitted so we chucked the harnesses in with the stock seats and it worked surprisingly well!

As for the OP, you'll need harness eye bolts welded to the floor, and you can attach to the rear parcel shelf too. If you think this isn't strong enough, then have a look where the stock rear belt anchor points are.

[Hol]

Daniel1 said:

The oe seat buckle is integrated into the oe seat and is lost when the seat is removed.

Most people I have seen get round that by using a rear seat belt lock. They are usually the same fitting, just on the flexible webbing and easily mounted.

If you did not bin them when you stripped out the car that is.

[GC8]

'The majority of cars'? Rubbish. Harnesses definitely don't 'work' with standard seats, either. Not if you want to avoid a specialist hospital, at least.

[Daniel1]

Hol said:

Daniel1 said:

The oe seat buckle is integrated into the oe seat and is lost when the seat is removed.

Most people I have seen get round that by using a rear seat belt lock. They are usually the same fitting, just on the flexible webbing and easily mounted.

If you did not bin them when you stripped out the car that is.

i was thinking of that... ive been having a look around the parts bin and i think i spotted one. I know ive got the centre lap belt. Either way the search for harness bars is only coming up short. Im goig to dig deeper this weekend.

[V8mate]

Daniel1 said:

I have an E36 coupe that I'm getting ready as a budget track car next year.

I dismantled my E36 track car a couple of months back. Do you need any parts?

[Daniel1]

V8mate said:

I dismantled my E36 track car a couple of months back. Do you need any parts?

Harness bar? Seriously though if you have the time to pm me a list of stuff you have I'd appreciate it, thank you.

[Clark3y]

GC8 said:

'The majority of cars'? Rubbish. Harnesses definitely don't 'work' with standard seats, either. Not if you want to avoid a specialist hospital, at least.

You must be 'that guy'. Sure yeah, I've done it and seen for myself the result, but you know best.