cage and seat combo

[Travis77]

I have asked around quite a bit, but have not received much input.
I am struggling with the decision on what to do with the interior, more specific, the seat/belts. I do not want a welded in cross bar though.
Has anyone ever thought of using bucket seats with built in shoulder harnesses? Something similar to what a cadillac has in it. If I went this route, I would have someone build a little additional bolster in it so that it would give me a little support while racing. Then have custom covers wrapped over them. I could then have a removeable crossbar I could install in order to have racing belts(if desired). If I do not add a power adder to it, the car should be running in the low 11's. I realize it will be faster than the 1/4 track requirement for a cage, etc.. But it's not like this will be a drag car or anything. It may see the 1/4 track 5-10 times a year and road course 1-2 times a year. I do plan to build at least a roll bar but possibly an 8 point for the car. I need more than factory lap belts, but not as radical as permanent harnesses. And I want to avoid having a cluttered up interior while using a combination of the two.I need to do something in the next few months so please, any opinions would be great. Thanks

[crazeflier07]

What about instead of using a cross bar, how about running the belts down the back of the seat and bolting the brackets to the floor under the rear of the seat? I dont know if that is legit in any groups though...
~Jon~

[Travis77]

I have thought of that, but I hear alot of bad things can happen in the event of an accident. I have already been fortunate to have had one back surgery That may be my last resort though. Thanks

[Smock67]

ive seen people do like a bar the followed the rear of the set and mad like a hoop at the top which you could attach your belts to. no sure how this would work out for the rear seat and what not but it may be something to look into.

[NOT A TA]

I'm using Schroth harnesses in my 70 Firebird designed to attach to the rear seat belt attachment points until I cage the car. They do not have a sub belt and come in driver and passenger configuration seperatly. They're designed to turn the occupant away from the door on each side and so thats why they're different for driver and passenger. and without a sub belt there's less likelyhood of crushing since the occupant slides down a bit if there's an impact. They're not ideal and I'll swap them out as soon as I get my cage installed but I've been allowed on several road courses, dragstrips, and the ECTA track in NC with just an occasional warning to upgrade. As I said they're not ideal but I feel safer with them than I did with the 35 Y/O lap belts and they keep me better planted in the seat on road courses.

John

[Travis77]

Has anyone tried actually tried attaching support/ancore points for the harness into the upper portion of the seat and then cover over it? I wonder if I got tilting seats that they would be strong enough though. It would take some bracing throughout the seat. Never heared of anyone doing this, but may possibly work.

[Smock67]

Everythings a possibility, just make sure its reinforced enough cause its you thats going to feel the outcome if its not strong enough.

[Travis77]

Ain't that the truth.

[mikedc]

If you're gonna run shoudler harnesses anchored to the seat and there's no harness bar, then that seatback/frame had better be one MoFo of a strong setup or else it's gonna hurt you. Not only does the seatback itself need to be strong, but the seatback's mechanism of holding its position (in terms of the recline adjustment) had better be a lot stronger than anything I've ever seen on a stock musclecar.

You could also run a normal 4pt/5pt harness with a floor mount behind the seat. This is not supposed to be viable because of belt stretch and lack of guides to hold the shoulder harnesses in place, but you're talking about using a seat with some strong belt-guidings in place I assume.

You could also put a heavy chain coming off the floor for a foot or two behind the seat, and attach the harness to that. A strong (no flex) chain would shorten the disance that the nylon belts have to run between your body and the floor mount. This would help the "too-much-belt-to-stretch" issue that comes with a floor-mounted harness.