Charley Hoyt

My car is currently in the shop having a custom roll bar installed and I have some questions about the best way to install a 5 or 6 point harness. There is a horizontal cross bar going behind the seats that is just below shoulder height…should I have them add restraining loops like on the harness bars? Or should I have them weld tabs to the bar to bolt the harness in? Also, Should I have them fabricate to attach the lap belt to? Or use the B.K. Parts?

One more question. What is the recommended spacing between the two shoulder harness straps?

This car is my daily driver (C6) and I am only planning on using the harness at track days….and possibly monthly autocrosses.

Thanks for the help.

Charley

JDIllon

These are all personal choices. If the cross bar is in the proper postion then I would use it for the shoulder belts, most belts are set up to just go around the cross bar, you may have them weld a small piece of light rod on to the cross piece to hold them so they don't move around. I think it would be less expensive to buy one of the ready made pieces that mount on the floor behind the seat for the lap and sub belts. Harbar, Vette works and BK all make parts for that purpose. Just my .02 Have a great time with the car. JD

stano

Charley,

You've been bit hard by the bug I see

I hope to see you out there on the track

Stan

Charley Hoyt

Yes, It is funny how this bug seems to always bite you right in the wallet

- Roll bar being installed now
- Front tow hook installed last weekend (Phoenix removable hook)
- Rear tow hook going on this weekend (if the car is really back from the shop.
- New rear sway bar going on this weekend.

And that is just the basics......

My goal is to be track ready by the November track event at California Speedway....I am looking forward to trying the Roval.

grantar2

Funny, I am trying to get my 1990 ready for an event at Auto Club Speedway a.k.a. California Speedway in November, although my event is an autocross. Where are you in OC? I am in Mission Viejo.

Charley Hoyt

I am in Fountain Valley. Are you going to the Speed ventures autocross or the SoCal Solo 2 autocross? SoCal has autocrosses there (or El Toro) every month.

Charley

grantar2

Haven't gotten the car finished so I haven't gone to any of the events. Was planning to go to Auto Club Speedway at month end to have my car got through Tech, but not run. First run is planned for the end of November. Didn't know about the events at El Toro, knew of some near there at Irvine but those are Porsche Club and not very welcoming.

Charley Hoyt

Check out www.socalsolo2.com. It has all of the information on upcoming events. There is usually one practice day and one race day per month. If you are new to autocross there is a Novice school/practice weekend in November that is very reasonably priced.

Charley

kentz06

Select the harness you will use and then follow the manufacturers directions EXACTLY!

I would also suggest getting a harness that is designed to work with a HANS (and get a HANS). I really like my Schroth harness but there are other good ones out there.

Dean

Wayne O

I'm no expert but IMO the shoulder strap guides (on the roll bar) are fine to have but not essential. Welded tabs to bolt the harness staps to would be unnecessary. I think the spacing of the shoulder straps (on the roll bar) will become obvious once you start to setup it all up. I use a Crow 6-point restraint (for the Corvette). When securing the shoulder straps onto the roll bar behind the seat, remember once you loop the strap(s) through the metal 'connector' to loop the ends of the strap(s) back around through the metal connector again (if that makes sense). Double them up. This will insure the strap(s) can't pull loose under pressure.

I use the Brey-Krause belt mounting hardware. Good luck and have a blast!

0C5stein

my recomendation is to add restraining loops like on the harness bars.
For proper HANS restraint, the shoulder belts should be anchored within 4" of each other and be routed through the seat back, not around the head rest.
We prefer the 6 point cam lock belt systems and any three inch belt or HANS friendly 3-2-3 belt will work well with a HANS. Just remember not to use a 3-2-3 belt like the Schroth without a HANS. Two inch wide shoulder harnesses by themselves are painful on a frontal impact.

We lso make clip in mounts for the lap belts that anchor to the same bolt locations of the stock seat. They are Stainless steel, TIG welded and in stock.

fatbillybob

Charlie and grant,

Like a drug dealer I'm always willing to help make new track junkies. I'm not a shop but have done many cars to get them track ready. I'm in torrance area. If you need some help of just some ideas look me up. In general the cool thing about vettes is that someone makes what you need with very little to no fabrication. BK comes to mind or if you are like me cheap and have a welder you can fab your own stuff. I've built my own cages and unfortunately tested them too. I'm still here with most of my braincells. I would not weld shoulder strap retension loops on the harness bar because they are not adjustable.


You need this to control your shoulder belt movement on the harness bar and they come in any size. HANS wants belts no more than 3" apart on the inner dimension and use a 3" belt if you have not bought your HANS yet and still want to track. Tech will fail you if you use a hans specific 323 shoulder harness w/o a hans. If you want to be a couple seconds faster on track use a dedicated race seat. Once you use one you will instantly see why. Stick to FIA legal seats less than 5 years old unless you want to use a back brace. Never use aluminum seats without a back brace.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#6436k152/=42kmar

grantar2

Bob, thanks for the input. I live in Mission Viejo, but I work in El Segundo so I am up your way frequently, though usually vanpooling. The harness bar I wanted was round, the one I am ending up with is square tube, so I may find it harder if I need to put stops on for the harness. My harness is going to be a Pyrotect 3" latch harness. I was looking at the info for track days and my problem watching the video is I am not sure I want to put my car out there with a bunch of others in passing situation and or around concrete walls. I have flagged long enough and done race photography long enough to know what can happen. I may limit to Autocross.

Having said that I might eventually consider a speedventures foray but I don't know who to solve the requirement to have tow connections. My car is stock body and predominantly a street and autocross machine. I don't really want to cut up my body work, and have no idea how else you secure a tow hook on a 1990 C4. That requirement is the one likely to keep me off the track. Can't imagine all those steet Mercedes and Ferrari's they show adding tow hooks? Maybe the imported cars use their tie down hooks.

Charley Hoyt

Thanks for the Great advice. I like the idea of adding rings better then welding on restraints. Thanks again...I will take you up on your offer for advice in the future.

Charley

AU N EGL

fatbillybob

Well to me bad things tend to happen in the middle groups where young guys with big testosterone try too hard to go fast and then break equipment. Just last sunday the blood bath was all in the middle with the only track stoppage that day. IMO the more experienced drivers in the highest group are more careful and know how hard they can push equipment and the entry white group guys are too scared to screw up and "stand out" so they take care too. If you did S ventures in the white group to start they have instructors too for pointers and you will likely be moving little more than freeway speeds learning the "line" not how to go fast your first days. SV also runs an autoX at ACS. So you can sign up for both and run mostly auto-x and have a taste of the big track. It is a really good way to hook people on HPDE. SV auto-x works great because all you do is run the track and you will have so many runs you will get tired of it eventually. They got staff to run it and you don't have to do anything but drive unlike SCCA solo2 where you have to be in a work party. However, the scca courses are about twice the size of an SV auto-x course and thus more like a mini hpde.

There are always ways to place a tow point and that's what you really need to know where to hook your car if you have to be pulled off track. It is best to have a hard tow hook clearly visible but mandatory that you have a known tow point or your car will be pulled off track as quickly as possible which may not necessarily be the best way. So to minimize damage to your car always have a tow hook or strap ideally front and rear. I do not know C4's but in the C5 for example there are many inconspicuous places to put tow points that do not require body damage to daily drivers.

When I first tracked my car I did not want a large visible tow hook and I fabricated this: Only one hole is drilled in a bumper support bar.



Then later I need something obvious and conspicuous so I made this: It just follows that same bar. I sewed a loop strap from 5000lb working load limit scrap tiedown strap and looped it around this bar behind the bumper and threaded the loop between the grill and the bumper. I like loop straps because I am also my own mechanic and I hate hitting those hard tow hooks with my knees! Some say loops are OK except in a fire. Sure...I still run the other yellow hard tow point too. Both those tow points together are lighter than any hard metal bolted all the way back to the bumper support.



This one is really simple on the back of my car just bent steel rod and flat homemade bolt-in tabs welded to the rod shaped as a "u" all bolted to the muffler support area of the bumper. No body holes drilled here either. I'm sure somewhere on the C4 we could come up with something clean.

AU N EGL

Look at a soft or hinged tow hook for the front.

Dont want to spear an other car by accident.

0C5stein

Great ideas. A word of caution, on the front of the car, make sure that the frame work that you are attached to is strong enough to take a good tug if the car is stuck in a sand trap.

Its funny to watch a tow truck yank the front bumper and radiator off of the front of someone elses car. Just not so funny when it is your car.

grantar2

Well the car is physically stock. My concern with the soft strap or any is that a lifting moment will rip body work. I am investigating if there is a place for a tow hook behind the front license plate cover. The euro vets have to have tow hooks by law. The part is V70 on the options list, just haven't figured out where it was mounted.

0C5stein

The V70 welds to the frame rail in the front. They poke out through the grill area. The hoop is pretty small as it was designed to tie a car down not pick it up or rapidly hook onto for a quick toe. SCCA has a minimum Eyelet ID for tow hoops in the GCR.