[Boo]

vpr asked me to take some shots of the fittings that secure my racing harness.
Thought i may as well share it with the rest of you nutters....
Peak Performance attached the front D loops under the seat using the existing fittings. The rear shoulder belts are clamped into the child restraint fittings.

Here are some pics.

 

[alan earnshaw]

Boo would you know what the load bearing limit on the child restraint fitting is ? I thought I read somewhere it only had a safe load limt of 28Kg. I could well be mistaken, or the person who's posted it could have been wrong.

http://www.mini2.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41209&highlight=Child+restraint+fitting

 

[kenhenry]

Boo would you know what the load bearing limit on the child restraint fitting is ? I thought I read somewhere it only had a safe load limt of 28Kg. I could well be mistaken, or the person who's posted it could have been wrong.

http://www.mini2.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41209&highlight=Child+restraint+fitting

I can't remember exactly what the figure was for the child restraint either, but I remember it wasn't much.

Last year, I took a close look at M1N130’s harness bar, and redesigned it so no holes needed to be drilled in the car. I then took the design back to the place where he had his done and asked them to build mine. It’s still not CAMS approved, but it does a fantastic job, and it only takes about 10 minutes to fit or remove.​

The following photos show the bar and the how it was done. It may take a few posts to get all the photos in, so I will split the text up to match.​

​

• You can see where the “D” fitting where the rear seat back normally locks into. Even though I don't have back seats, M1N130 just leaves his folded forward.
• With the rubber cover removed you can see the original bolts that hold the “D” in place.
• The rear plastic cover where the hatch latches into.
• This cover is removable.​
  
  
  

​

​

 

[kenhenry]

• With the cover removed, you can see the 4 yellow locating pins that hold it in place.
• Close up of the pins.
• With cover completely removed.
• The 3 components to the harness bar. 1 Horizontal with the harness eye bolts and 2 oblique struts.

 

[kenhenry]

• The horizontal bolts into the C pillar using the original bolts from the rear seat “D” fitting.
• Close up of the oblique brace where it joins the horizontal.
• Close up of the bottom end of the oblique brace showing how it sandwiches the existing metal work at the bottom of the rear hatch opening. The 2 bolts go through the existing holes where the yellow pins shown earlier, have been removed. That is, no holes need be drilled. Note, the bottom plate has the nuts welded to the plate for ease of fitment.
• Shot to the rear, showing existing cutouts and holes in rear bulkhead for inserting the lower plates of the oblique braces.

 

[kenhenry]

• The fitted harness bar.
• Rear of harness attached to eye bolts.
• Front of harness attached to eye bolts. The plate the eyes are attached to is mounted under the seat runners using the original mounting holes.
• 4-point harness from front.

I have found that the horizontal bar is so strong and without any flex, that it actually stiffens up the rear end, a bit like a rear strut brace. In fact it is so strong, that most of the time I don't use the oblique braces anymore, and leave the horizontal in almost permanently. Who says MINIs don't have hooks for grocery bags

 

[Todd!]

IS there any reason why I couldnt make a similar style bar out of cromoly that attached all 4 points off this one bar? Then cross the shoulder straps over like what I read Robbo did to stop them from sliding down (pre racing seats)?

I have been thinking about doing this for a little while... What does the man whos name starts with 'T' and ends in 'relo' do?

 

[kenhenry]

IS there any reason why I couldnt make a similar style bar out of cromoly that attached all 4 points off this one bar? Then cross the shoulder straps over like what I read Robbo did to stop them from sliding down (pre racing seats)?

My only concern with that idea would be braking from 200kph may put an awful lot of stress on the 2 bolts that hold the seat runners to the floor. Strip those under intense pressure and you'll still be strapped in, but you my end up with a seat that tilts forward like the classic MINIs and a broken nose.

Might end up like one of those fighter jet ejection seats - yep, still strapped in, but hope you've got a parachute

I pesonally wanted to spread the stress points around the car.

Personally, I have had no problems with the shoulder straps sliding down. Could be 2 things - short enough that the head rest is at its lowest and secondly, having the mounting points for the shoulder straps that far back and that close together.

Anyway, thanks to a little seat airbag incident, I have a Works Seat on the way, so will eliminate that concern.

Did you know, the cost of rebuilding an ordinary seat with a new airbag is only just short of the price of a Works seat?

 

[enzothemaddog]

I have been thinking about doing this for a little while... What does the man whos name starts with 'T' and ends in 'relo' do?

When I saw him at Oran Park about 6?? months ago, he had them at the child harness points, but its probably changed now.

I had to buy a Sparco harness yesterday for the Elite, only realised once at Track that it did'nt have seatbelts...oops, . Thank god garys parts were there. Was falling off the sides but.

 

[robbo mcs]

Hi,

I had a look at my stripped out car, and compared 3 points

1) The point where the centre dual seat belt mechanism is bolted down
2) The points where the child-restraint points are bolted down
3) The point Ken Henry is using, which is the original point that fixes the rear seats upright.

Points 2) and 3) look identical. Both use two bolts of the same size, with a similar depth of thread and similar base plate

Point 1) uses a single, thicker bolt, with a longer thread. However, this one bolt is holding down 2 seat belt inserts, potentially up to a 200kg load with 2 large adults. Interestingly, a standard insert point from a Sabelt harness will go straight into this thread, and I use this to restrain some gear in my car.

My 2 cents worth about these various insert points.

From a load point of view, I suspect Ken's insert point is similar to the child restraint points, in each, the two harnesses are held by 4 bolts in total of a similar size and insertion. Ken's method is much better in terms of angles, reducing the risk of a seat and spine crush under load I don't know the true load rating for either point. However, knowing BMW I suspect they are very over-engineered.

My advice would be to get proper CAMS approved insert points, with appropriate backing plates. It would not be overly hard to do to get these fitted to either the child restraint or seat restraint points. However, If you do use the standard points then wear the seat belt on top of the harness. That way, in the worst case scenario that one or both mounting points fail, you still have the original belt to save your upper body.

Cheers

Robbo

 

[StuJones]

The child seat restraints are a fine upgrade from the standard seatbelt with of course a few limitations. If i was going to need restraint at 200km/h I would prefer a harness to the ISO points than standard seatbelt!!!

Many other NSW BMW club members (including he who shall not be named) use this system and is more than suitable. Main advantage is that the harness while possibly being not much better a restraint than standard belts at least gives some better stability in the seat.

 

[enzothemaddog]

The child seat restraints are a fine upgrade from the standard seatbelt with of course a few limitations. If i was going to need restraint at 200km/h I would prefer a harness to the ISO points than standard seatbelt!!!

Many other NSW BMW club members (including he who shall not be named) use this system and is more than suitable. Main advantage is that the harness while possibly being not much better a restraint than standard belts at least gives some better stability in the seat.

Stu, where are the harness points with the JCW cage? Are they on the horizontal cross bar?

......for future information.

Ta

 

[robbo mcs]

If i was going to need restraint at 200km/h I would prefer a harness to the ISO points than standard seatbelt!!!

I certainly hope none of us ever get to test that out

Robbo

 

[enzothemaddog]

I certainly hope none of us ever get to test that out

Robbo

ah....amen.

 

[alan earnshaw]

Thanks guys for all you imput, I think , never having had my MINI on the track I will see Peak early next year to fit a harness " Boo Style" to the child restraints. If tracking my MINI "floats my boat" I'll do the whole nutter thing "Stu style" and get a cage fitted.

 

[enzothemaddog]

Thanks guys for all you imput, I think , never having had my MINI on the track I will see Peak early next year to fit a harness " Boo Style" to the child restraints. If tracking my MINI "floats my boat" I'll do the whole nutter thing "Stu style" and get a cage fitted.

funny...I heard you were a nutter already!
Harnesses are fairly easy to fit. Any decent mechanic can do it. Dont bother going all the way to Parra for it!

 

[alan earnshaw]

funny...I heard you were a nutter already!

FECK ! news travels fast in a small Town

Harnesses are fairly easy to fit. Any decent mechanic can do it. Dont bother going all the way to Parra for it!

Cool

*GoGadget pulls on overalls and get's out trusty Swiss Army knife*

 

[StuJones]

Stu, where are the harness points with the JCW cage? Are they on the horizontal cross bar?

......for future information.

Ta

The following pictures in my gallery show the bar and top harness points pretty well
http://www.mini2.com/gallery/personal/13951/46837.jpg
http://www.mini2.com/gallery/personal/13951/46839.jpg

The attach to the taxi bar that is part of the A frame.

Bottom ones are more instrusive and require holes in the floor with 75mm square mount plates


Stu

 

[enzothemaddog]

The following pictures in my gallery show the bar and top harness points pretty well
Stu

Cheers, much appreciated