Racing harness

[Fruitcake]

I'm looking to track my Mk1 next year and plan for a few light mods over the winter.

Does anyone know of a good harness that I won't need to sell a kidney for?

Any help gratefully received.

Fanks.

[anonymous-user]

Do you have harness mounts? A cage or roll bar? Most harnesses are only a ton or so from GPR/DT etc.

[MX-5 Lazza]

Get a second hand set. PH Classified.

[GHW]

Willans make very good harnesses IME.

2 inch straps are enough to hold you in fairly comfortably, but 3 inch feel an awful lot better, if you can afford the premium...

[lord summerisle]

what about a CG Lock? a much cheaper option - £40 or 50, (and if you buy via the Marshal's club CG will give a donation to the Marshals club ) it just holds the lap strap tight, but allows the diagonal to move.

wouldnt go for a harness unless there was a roll bar behind me, then theres something to bolt the harness to (altho you can get a harness bar i believe that fits under the chassis brace behind the seats)

[MX-5 Lazza]

lord summerisle said:

what about a CG Lock? a much cheaper option - £40 or 50, (and if you buy via the Marshal's club CG will give a donation to the Marshals club ) it just holds the lap strap tight, but allows the diagonal to move.

I've used a CG lock.
They claim that it does half of the job of a harness but it doesn't. It stops your bum sliding around on the seat but it doesn't hold you in securely where you really need it (upper body) so it doesn't really help that much.
I certainly wouldn't pay full price for one.

[Fruitcake]

Cheers chaps.

I'm just looking for something that will hold me in in case I tip it over. I'm assuming that a seatbelt won't do that...?

[lord summerisle]

your assuming you want to be held in in a roll...when, without a rollbar theres no protection if it does end up on its top.

[MX-5 Lazza]

Without rollbars you don't want harnesses unless you want to be held in better on the track (never use them on the road, I think they'd be illegal anyway).
With rollbars harnesses become a better idea as they will stop you coming out of your seat and cracking your head open on the bars.

[Fruitcake]

It's just as well that I'm planning to buy a roll bar soon then.

I've seen the videos of what happens when a 5 rolls and it's not pretty. I'm buggered if I'm going out on track without one.

[Raify]

I found a 3" Willans on PH classifieds, very comfy and easy to fit (on a Mk1)

[anonymous-user]

Fruitcake said:

It's just as well that I'm planning to buy a roll bar soon then.

Right, well your choice of bar will also affect the choice of harness. I will be using a Willans or similar with the hooks from the upper straps removed and wrapped around the bar, the lowers mounted to eye bolts replacing the seat belt bolts.

One thing to think about is getting one that you tighten the lap belts by pulling towards the buckle. If you have to pull away from the buckle, this could be down to the sides of the seat where you won't be able to get your hands...

[GreenV8S]

Make sure you get a harness with a decent rotary release that separates both shoulder straps from the lap straps. The cheaper ones just split the lap strap and are a pita to use.

[skinny]

i got a 3" 4pt sparco harness with my bucket seat on ebay! (i later sold the seat for what i bought it for, so got it totally free! )

don't think harnesses work especially well with stock seats tho...

[Raify]

skinny said:

don't think harnesses work especially well with stock seats tho...

They work fine. I have normal MK1 seats + Willans harnesses, no problems at all

[anonymous-user]

Okay, to add to the questions, benefits of 5/6 points and where to fit the anti-sub (presuming that's what they are) belts in a 5? Just drill a hole in the floor? Or some sort of fixing fitted to the front bolt of the seat rails?

[GreenV8S]

5/6 point stop the lap strap riding up when you tighten the shoulder straps, so you can do them up tighter without losing your kidneys - they also stop the lapstrap riding up in an accident (and doing the same), and stop you sliding out under the lapstrap (submarining). They're usually designed to go down through the base of the seat and then backwards to the same mounting points as the lapstrap.

[Fruitcake]

I was thinking about a Hard Dog roll bar. What difference will this make, harness wise?

[MX-5 Lazza]

Fruitcake said:

I was thinking about a Hard Dog roll bar. What difference will this make, harness wise?

If you want to fit harnesses you will have to order roll-bars with harness points as they don't come that way as standard.

[skinny]

Raify said:

skinny said:

don't think harnesses work especially well with stock seats tho...

They work fine. I have normal MK1 seats + Willans harnesses, no problems at all

fair enough, i just thought i heard that it was difficult to get them to sit nicely on your shoulders with the seats where the headrest was all part of the seat, and that they worked much better where the headrests are seperate (which are stock seats still...)