Seat belt

[bert]

Hi,

I want to mount a four points seat belt in my Sumo. Does anyone have some pics how and where it should be anchored and which belt has been used.

Cheers,


Bert

[TheUnixKid]

Bert,

Please look at Seatbelt section in the Build area of my website www.jgr-design.com/sumo there are lots of pictures in there. We are using a Willans 3 point harness which looks like a 4 point but the top strap joins into one.

I hope this helps,

John

[TheUnixKid]

(You can see the harness we are using at Europaspares.com)

[Paul B]

Bert

Looking at the photo's on TheUnixKid's site I would make a few suggestions.

The lower mounting points ought to be behind the Pilgrim points as, when the seats are installed, you will find they are too far forward and won't pull back and down when tightened. You will then feel very unsupported.

I have used 4 points harnesses from Sabelt and would recommend the 3 point belts as being better. The two top mounts are only around 6 inches apart because the rear bulkhead is so close. On rally cars, the top belts will go through cut-outs in the seat whilst on the standard Pilgrim seats they will go over top of the seat and really only need a single central mounting point.

If required, I will try and post a drawing of the bracket I made and some photos of the belts installed.

Paul

The top mount bolt would go through the "glassed" in metal strap in the body but I also made strengthened bracket that fitted between this metal strap, down behind the fuel tanks and was bolted directly to the chassis. This provides a much stronger anchorage for the top straps.

[TheUnixKid]

Bert,

There are pictures of the metal strap that is bolted into the body behind where the fuel tank sits on my webite. We bolted the stainless steel strap into the body in 3 places and glassed it in with 4 layers of heavy duty fibre glass.

[Paul B]

Sorry guys, I think we are getting a bit confused.

The metal strap I am referring to is moulded directly into the body shell above the fuel tank by Pilgrim. The only metal strap I can see on theUnixKid's website is bolted and glassed to the chassis below the fuel tank.

I assume that TheUnixKid (what is your real name ??) will be passing his seatbelt straps down through the top of the body and behind the fuel tank to the eye bolts rather than down behind the seat and through the rear bulkhead. This will, almost certainly, not with the SVA requirements as they measure the top mount height above the seat squab and the path of the straps through the body will cause the body to crush or cut the strap during an accident.

I don't wish to offend anyone but this is a "safety critical" item that will kill if not done correctly and fail the SVA if it does not meet their demands.

Paul

[TheUnixKid]

Paul

My name is John. No offence at all, I want to get this right, my father and I have been on the phone to Pilgrim for HOURs trying to make this work. I hope we haven't done it incorrectly. I had planned to run the belt down behind the seat and through the rear bulkhead and then into the eye bolts and not through the top of the body as you said. Do you think this will be a problem with the set up I have now? I hope not because we have spent a long long time redoing this already!

John

[Almac]

John,

SVA require a minimum distance (height) between the upper seat belt mounting point and the seat reference point. I don't recall the exact measurement (450mm srings to mind) but I'm sure someone can reply with it. Similarly, you will need a definition of the seat reference point.

To put this in perspective, fitting a 3 point harness top mount between the single roll hoop uprights is OK (see my previous post about single roll hoops over the past couple of days). Fitting 4 point harness is likely to fail SVA because the outer mounting point would be too low because of the body curvature (according to Tony Holmes). So from this you should get a feel for just how little flexibility you have. Your plan to run the belts through the rear bulkhead sounds destined for SVA failure.

Alan

[TheUnixKid]

Alan,

Thanks for the info, I'll give Pilgrim a call because we've been working from what they have been saying, these are 3 point not 4 point harnesses by the way! I'll let you know what happens.

John

[Paul B]

John

Sorry for causing concern but you will almost certainly not be able to run the straps through the bulkhead.

Where you have currently mounted the eyebolts on the steel straps, and glassed in, is not the mounting point but could be removed and a bracket made to run up behind the fuel tank to nestle into the underside of the body. You could then place your eye bolt through the top of the body and would probably be ok. I would also recommend moving the lower mounting bolts as commented in my earlier posting, and ensure that you will have sufficient space between the side of your seats for the eye bolt, you may have to use "bolt through" end fittings as they are thinner.

I, initially, ran with the inertia belts to get through the SVA then changed over, just to be sure.

Where are you based ? I am sure someone with a Sumo could give you a few more pointers. I will be at Stoneleigh on the Sunday and would be pleased to further explain what I mean.

I will try and get some photo's and a drawing of the bracket and post it for your information.

Paul