Re: More seat belt questions

[Marcus Alley <alley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Marcus Alley wrote:

>This reminds me of a question I had wanted to ask.  I'm interested in
>replacing the stock seat belts in my '71 GTV with something that will
>inspire more confidence.  While at the Palo Alto concourse several weeks
>ago, I saw two GTVs with similar seat belt arrangements that I thought
>were interesting.  Here's where the details get sketchy, and so I'm
>hoping that one of the owners is on the list and can help me out.  I
>believe they were Simpson belts.  There were two shoulder straps, coming
>from the back of the car on either side of the headrest.  Sorry for the
>total cluelessness (someone has to ask the dumb questions), but does
>this indicate a 5-point setup?  In one of the cars the shoulder belts
>looked like they were attached to the top of the rear "seats", while in
>the other car the belts were attached to the floor behind the
>driver/passenger seats.
...

The belts you saw were racing harnesses.  You can get them from various
suppliers for $80-120 depending on style, etc.  2 shoulder straps + the
2 lap belt pieces make it a 4-point system.  Add a crotch strap, and you
have 5.  Nobody I know actually uses the crotch strap on the street.  On
the race track, they are REQUIRED.  You should know that such belts are
not strictly legal for street use.  They are not DOT approved.  If a cop
really wanted to be annoying, he could cite you for that.  That being
said, I have driven my 67 GTV around with a 4-point system for years
with no problem.  One cop who gave me a speeding ticket said, "There's
no doubt you're buckled up."  ;=) He liked the idea that I was buckled
up more than being concerned about what kind of belts I was using.

The attachment of shoulder harnesses to the floor behind the seat is a
major no-no.  My car's PO did this, I had to undo it to go racing.  The
danger there is from spinal compression injuries, as the belt pulls down
in an impact.  The seat is not enough to keep you from serious injury in
that case.  It might collapse.

The mounting through the rear parcel shelf behind the rear seat is very
common.  They use real big fender washers above and below, with the
bolts going through the metal support under the panel.  I never liked
that idea.  The structure back there is not very strong.  My solution is
what's called a harness bar.  The GTV has two hard points for mounting
standard shoulder belts just behind the door and just below the rear
windows.  I had a straight steel bar made up with "ears" on it.  The bar
is bolted to both sides of the car forming a pretty rigid structure.
The bar sits just behind the front seat backs just below shoulder level.
The shoulder harnesses wrap around the bar with appropriate hardware to
secure them.  This also has the advantage of making the shoulder straps
pretty short.  The longer straps going to the rear shelf WILL stretch
more in a severe frontal impact.  I ran the car in one set of AROC time
trials, and in numerous ARA track tours at Sears Point.  The harness bar
setup does inspire lots of confidence.

Due to an email SNAFU at work, I am unable to CC the digest on this.
Please forward it for me, if it's not too much trouble.  Thanks.

Simon, from email purgatory

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