KCblues

I’m running a C5 Z06 in autocross AS class and want a harness to hold me in place better than the stock belts.

I’ve installed a used BK harness bar and lap belt mounts.

A 4-point Crow harness came with the bar but doesn’t fit me properly in the stock seat. The minimum length on each side of the 3” Crow belt is a little over 12” (photo below) and it’s impossible to get the lap belts tight and keep the camlock centered on my body. I need an inboard belt with 9-10” between the snap hole and center of the cam.

I have read lots of posts about this subject in general but looking for current recommendations and any specific advice.

Bill Dearborn suggested Schroth in a recent thread, I called them yesterday and they are recommending the 4-point Profi II ASM for this application. They were to get back with me about the lap belt lengths but haven’t yet. I’m thinking 2” lap belts like these will be better.

I’ve also been looking at the TeamTech harnesses including the JetPilot but the lap belts are 3” and it looks like they might be a little slow to strap into between autocross runs.

Sox-Fan

https://www.schrothracing.com/produc...fi-ii-asm#1598 is what I ran in my C5 with a B-K bar and their belt mounts. It's what I am running in my C6. I can get you the part numbers when I get home this evening.

ipuig

I went down you current path for several years with very limited success. I finally ended up installing a racing seat along with a Simpson 6-pt harness.

danh52

I have the 4-point Profi II ASM harness with the BK harness bar. For the inside lap belt I removed the BK mount and directly bolted the belt to the stock location. Schroth installed a thinner mount on the belt which fits under the stock belt so you can use them on the street. You can also add a crotch belt if you later upgrade to a racing seat or add a belt slot to the stock seat.

KCblues

That sounds like a good idea! So it's a special thinner mount? I guess you can just tuck the belt and camlock behind the seat for street driving?

danh52

That's what I do, just tuck it behind the seat.

Schroth has several mounts to choose from and I believe it wasn't an extra cost when I bought the harness. You can also change it later if the mounting changes. I am now switching to C6 belts it get more room and I won't be using the BK mount but will bolt directly so I will be changing that belt end from clip to the thin version.

YYZ06

You didn't say if the Crow belts were still current or not. Crow offers belt re-certification (re-webbing) for around $60. You can ask them to make the minimum length of the lap belts whatever you want (as long is there is room for sufficient stitching. I purchased a pair of their "Corvette" five point harnesses which are made for the BK mounts. I found the lap belts were too long for my application and they shortened them, no problem. Give them a call, they are easy to work with.

Bill Dearborn

Just remember running the shoulder harnesses around the side of the seat will work in autocrosses but you don't want to do that on a track. On track they need to go through the seat and over the shoulders. When they go around the outside of the seat they tend to pull off the shoulders unless you have a sternum strap sewed into the shoulder belts. The problem with sternum straps is they place a lot of pressure on the sternum and if not adjusted properly height wise can engage the neck in incidents.

If you have a C5 with the stock sport seats you could run the shoulder straps through the slot in the seat back and if you have a C5 Z you can convert to sport seat back skins to get the slot. The C5 seat frames are basically all the same from 97 through 04 so the conversion is simple. I converted my C5Z seats by using Auto Custom Carpet seat skins. The only difference in C5 seat frames is for 03 and 04 the passenger side seat bottom had provisions for the LATCH Child Seat Mounting system installed in them and the seat bottom skins had slits that permitted the Child Seat Legs to engage the mounts.

Bill

Gordy M

Can you run the belts around the seats in AS, I thought you had to have the shoulder belts run thru the seats and the sport seats were not available in the Z06.

Bill Dearborn

Should be able to since they are being worn as a driving support Vs a safety thing. The C5 seats have such poor upper body lateral support that you can gain a lot by using cinch mode with the stock 3 point belts. That can get you pretty much equal or better support than using a race harness that runs around the outside of the seat without a sternum strap to keep the shoulder belts together. Without the sternum strap they will just fall off the shoulders after a few aggressive maneuvers.

To use cinch mode properly in a C5 run the seat all the way to the rear. Then pull the seat belt all the way out until the lap belt portion hits its stop. Fasten the belt and force all slack back into the retractor on the door sill. Once the lap belt is as tight as you can get it then run the seat forward to your normal seating position. When this is done properly the lap belt will cause some discomfort and force your butt down into the seat cushion. I always tell people if it didn't hurt then you didn't get it tight enough. The shoulder belt will lock with the first sudden forward motion of the car and sometimes if you use your hand to jerk it. When everything is adjusted properly the shoulder belt will lock on launch (a good time for it to do that since your body is pressed into the seat back and makes the belt tighter when it comes forward again) and the only thing you need to worry about is how hard you are pressing your knees into the door panel and the tunnel. Angel Pads will help there but if you get a panel of fire resistant foam from a race shop you can cut into pieces and put it into bags that Velcro to the door and tunnel. That will take up the side room around the legs and provide much better support. Angel Pads and adding removable foam pads on the door or tunnel are permissible. I used this setup a lot with both of my C5s and I found that after an intense 135 second run that I had trouble breathing because the shoulder belt was tight enough to restrict chest expansion. I had to take short quick breaths Vs large slower breaths.

Bill

KCblues

The Crow belts aren't current and I talked to them Friday. To go as short as I need they can leave out the adjuster and sew the inside belt at a fixed length. I'm leaning toward buying the Scroth with a bolt in attachment for the inside belt.

KCblues

Thanks Bill for your advice. In Solo AS or SSR classes you aren't allowed to modify the seats. Your info on the seat frames is very valuable though as I have some stitches tearing through on the drivers outside bolster. I'll only be doing 2 or 3 track days and probably just use the stock belts and Angel Wings.

Sox-Fan

I forgot to note that although the website says that the belts are only available in bolt in I called Schroth and got snap ins. I was able to take them out of the car and out of my way between autocrosses. With the B-K bar and B-K belt mounts it was a very convenient setup that kept me from moving around in the seat. I never had to jam my left knee against the cheese grater door speaker grille again. The setup was so convenient that I did the exact same setup on my current C6 Z06.

Bill Dearborn

However, if somebody is running a coupe with sport seats even if the car wasn't delivered with them (they were an option) there is nothing that prevents them from being used. Running the shoulder belts through the seat back slot isn't the best configuration since it may cause the belts to be too close together. If you look at race seats the belt pass throughs are over the shoulders while with the stock sport seat the belts would be more toward the center overlapping the back and the shoulder.

I didn't run SCCA from the standpoint of going to Nationals but from the standpoint of running the car. In fact I pretty much stopped running SCCA after they started charging for a temporary membership fee.

However, when I ran I walked up to the registration table and when asked for what class I said you decide, the car's over there if you want to look at it. Most of the time I was in the old SS Class but I got put in a modified class a couple of times although I don't know the rationale behind that. Whatever class I was in I was usually the only car in the class and my competition was everybody else so I was always shooting for FTD and could get it if two things didn't show up. One was any formula car and the other was a very fast 66 Roadster that ran the old BP class. He was capable of running faster than the formula cars. If you got close to him in time he would remove the convertible top, bumpers and passenger seat and knock off another half second.

Bill