My Harness Bar, Seat Mod, and Harness Experience

[Conan]

I'll be posting pics, observations and questions about my progress towards getting a 6 point harness installed.

Today (10March07)------------------------
Got the 4tress harness bar from sector111 installed. Not bad. Hole alignment was iffy on the passenger side, but overall, it was a good fit. I removed the foam piece from behind the speakers and left it out (see images). The worst part of the install was a speaker grill came off and wouldn't go back on. I had to take a flat tip screwdriver and work the grill in, bit by bit around the edge. I'm not going to go into detail about the steps involved since there are tons of threads about it and the instructions are fine.

Next step: Drilling the bolt holes for the harness.

[Conan]

Before I start drilling holes into my car, can someone verify my plans (see image) for the holes? These will be the bolts that the harness lap belts attach to.

[paunch]

I thought there wasn't any drilling required to install the 4tress Harness bar from Sector111? I'm sure you've already seen the install video but just in case:

http://videos.sector111.com/video1.php

I'm planning on getting a harness bar along with the Schroth PROFI II belts . . . along with new suspension and a new exhaust

I was going to try to do much of the install myself so I would be interested to know if I need to drill to install the harness bar.

EDIT: Oh, I didn't read your post carefully. You are installing 6 point harnesses. Perhaps these need drilling but the four point PROFI II do not?

[Conan]

Originally Posted by paunch

I thought there wasn't any drilling required to install the 4tress Harness bar from Sector111? I'm sure you've already seen the install video but just in case:

http://videos.sector111.com/video1.php

I'm planning on getting a harness bar along with the Schroth PROFI II belts . . . along with new suspension and a new exhaust

I was going to try to do much of the install myself so I would be interested to know if I need to drill to install the harness bar.

The holes aren't for the bar. They are for the lap belt harnesses. I'm not going with the Schroth harness. I bought a G-force pro 6-point harness.

[paunch]

Originally Posted by Conan

The holes aren't for the bar. They are for the lap belt harnesses. I'm not going with the Schroth harness. I bought a G-force pro 6-point harness.

Gotcha. Thanks for the install pics

[Conan]

I have finished the driver's seat. I used the Sector111 seat grommets in my stock seat. Wasn't too happy with how they actually went together compared with how they are advertised. They wouldn't hold together so I had to epoxy them so they would stay. Also had to cut away a lot of the back half of each side because the flange would hang up on the thicker back section.

I also installed the Sector111 anti-submarine bar. I cut out the 6 point hole just behind the reinforcement cross member that the AS-bar attaches to. It wasn't the best location, but the other side would have put the hole too far forward. My wife, having her own seamstress business, sewed an extra piece of material iinto the hole for me to give it a decent finished look. I had to test fit the seat with the AS strap a couple of times because the strap won't be adjustable once the seat is bolted in.

Other than that, it was pretty straight forward. Drilling the holes for the lap belt bolts was uneventful. I used the hardware specifically desined for this GForce harness. I used silcone caulk between the reinforcement base under the car and the car itself to minimize any cavitation between two dissimilar metals. I also used red loctite on the threads.

I'm going to do the passenger seat later.

[lancer360]

Nice looking install. I've got my car in pieces also doing a harness install along with new seats.

http://www.elisetalk.com/forums/show...t=34124&page=3

Did you consider the SYSpack from S111? Sounds like it would be a good idea since you don't mind drilling the necessary holes through the chassis. Mine should be arriving some time this week along with the new harness's. It seems like cheap insurance for the price.

[catapult]

Originally Posted by lancer360

Nice looking install. I've got my car in pieces also doing a harness install along with new seats.

http://www.elisetalk.com/forums/show...t=34124&page=3

Did you consider the SYSpack from S111? Sounds like it would be a good idea since you don't mind drilling the necessary holes through the chassis. Mine should be arriving some time this week along with the new harness's. It seems like cheap insurance for the price.

...and install carriage bolts from the bottom up so the heads are underneath

[Lumn8r]

Conan,

Is your interior Magnolia? It looks pretty good with the LRG. How easy is it to keep clean? My biscuit seats are looking a bit dingy after 2 1/2 years.

It's funny how Lotus' parts change from year to year. The foam piece in my car is tan. I cut a few bits off so I could reinstall it after I put the 4tress bar in. I did manage to tear it while pulling it out in the first place.

[Conan]

Did you consider the SYSpack from S111?

Yes, but I believe that is intended for the Schroth 4-point harness which attaches to the stock seat belt location and isn't bolted into the floor. I felt the hardware and configuration I used for the GForce Pro 6-point harness provided enough reinforcement.

Is your interior Magnolia?

Yes. I haven't attempted to clean it yet, but I will soon as all this work has started to dirty them up pretty good.

Do you have any pics of the lap and crotch belt mounts without the seat in there?

No, but here are some pics with close ups of the lap belts attached to the eye bolts and what the 6-point looks like underneath. Sorry for the crappy angle.

[lancer360]

Just a quick observation, you should turn the eyebolts so that they are inline with the direction of the force (unless it was just the angle of the photo). Eyebolts are prone to unscrewing and possibly snapping if you load them sideways.

The SYS pack isn't just for the 4 point system, it is for any harness system that attaches to the seat frame instead of the chassis. Since you have connected the lap belt to the chassis, it would probably be overkill.

[Conan]

Does anyone know the bolt size for the seats? Specifically, the bolts that go into the front of the seat rails. I freakin' crossthreaded the passenger seat bolts trying to install my cutom made fire extinguisher bracket . Now I need to get a tap and die for the bolt and bolt hole.

[lancer360]

The bolts into the chassis for attaching the seats should be an M8x1.25. Depending on how much damage you have done cross threading, I would seriously consider the SYS pack from S111. Chasing it with a tap cuts out the damaged thread, but that weakens the thread. I am an engineering consultant and one of my specialties is bolted joints design and the first two threads hold about 80% of the load and these are also the threads that are damaged when you cross thread them. Either way good luck!

[Conan]

Originally Posted by lancer360

The bolts into the chassis for attaching the seats should be an M8x1.25. Depending on how much damage you have done cross threading, I would seriously consider the SYS pack from S111. Chasing it with a tap cuts out the damaged thread, but that weakens the thread. I am an engineering consultant and one of my specialties is bolted joints design and the first two threads hold about 80% of the load and these are also the threads that are damaged when you cross thread them. Either way good luck!

meh. it's not like it's the driver's seat. jk.

Any way, thanks for the info!

[lancer360]

I guess it could be a new design for a passenger ejector seat!

[esthi]

Conan, great thread. I'm doing the same type of install, and your pics are extremely helpful! Your install looks great too - wish I knew a seamstress to make the holes in the seat look tidy.

Quick question - how long are the eyebolts you used for the lap belts?

Thanks!

[Conan]

Originally Posted by esthi

Conan, great thread. I'm doing the same type of install, and your pics are extremely helpful! Your install looks great too - wish I knew a seamstress to make the holes in the seat look tidy.

Quick question - how long are the eyebolts you used for the lap belts?

Thanks!

Thanks, no problem. Glad you found some info you could use.

And anyone that wants to ask if my wife will sew their seat, too, it's a definite, "NO!" I was told to tell anyone that asks that there's no way in hell. She had to do it by hand and isn't used to sewing leather, so she wasn't thrilled about it.

I ended up using the long bolts (50 mm??) from GForce. I ordered them from saferacer ( http://www.saferacer.com/gf109l.html ). I was afraid the short ones would be too short. However, I did end up cutting the 50 mm bolts down. I still think the 20 mm bolts would be too short, though.

[buzzy]

Small tip: When you break off the upper seat belt anchor covers to get to the bolt, the replacements are $46 each from the dealer. You can replace them with the smaller Exige part which is smaller, looks nicer, and injection molded rather than a couple pieces of plastic glued together and only cost $10 each.

Luke

[tvacc]

I just to keep up on this.

[Conan]

anyone interested in a vid of how I did the 5th/6th point hole? It would include a brief overview of how I did it (tools, steps, whatever) and the actual cutting of the hole. Nothing that will win any academy award, but maybe someone would be interested.