re: seatbelts & rollbars

[Dana Loomis <dloomis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>This leads me to a follow-up question about the seat belts.  I like
>the idea of Simon's harness bar:
>
>    sf> I had a straight steel bar made up with "ears" on it.  The bar
>    sf> is bolted to both sides of the car forming a pretty rigid
>    sf> structure.  The bar sits just behind the front seat backs just
>    sf> below shoulder level.  The shoulder harnesses wrap around the
>    sf> bar with appropriate hardware to secure them.

Another alternative is to use a guide bar fastened to the GTV's factory
mounting points for the shoulder belts, and attach the shoulder belts to
the floor under the rear seat.   There is already a factory hard point for
the outboard belt, so you only need to install a new mount for the inboard
end, near the tunnel.  The shoulder belts angle up and forward from the
rear floor, pass over the guide bar, and then over the seat and the
driver's shoulders.  The guide bar serves to keep the belts at the right
angle as they pass over the seat back, but does not anchor the belts. This
arrangement is allowed by most competition sanctioning bodies for events
that don't require a roll bar/cage.

>So related to this, what kind of experience do people have with roll
>bars in a GTV?  

There is no question that a roll bar will provide a greater margin of
safety and a full roll cage is better yet. However, installing these
devices--especially a cage--does begin to compromise a car for street use.
If you decide to go this route, I would recommend having one custom built
by a good local shop that is experienced in race preparation and knows the
rules of whatever organization you plan to race with.  Mass-produced
commercial stuff often doesn't fit very well and isn't always of the best
design.  

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