Anyone out there has got a seat harness installed in their coop?
Mine has the carabiner style ends which needs to be hooked to an eye bolt..but where do you put the eyebolt on the N/S? Theres not much space between the handbrake tunnel and the existing seatbelt clip to have an eyebolt there.

Any suggestions welcomed

On mine, i used a spreader plate that has a nut welded to the end, which sits under the transmission tunnel, but is an under the car job to get that in place, then you simply screw the eye bolt through the bodywork and to the spreader plate. The plates can be bought from any motorsport shop or ebay for a couple of quid each

Thanks for that Begbie....but think that will be out of the question for me!

I still have my centre console though, it's a case of you need to mount it on the side of the tunnel, but i guess you're not overly keen on drilling holes in the car then?

You mean something like this right?
Plate

Yes not too keen on drilling through the car
Not to mention i still have my carpet.

That's the thing. I still have carpet too, that bit will sit on the outside of the car though

So did you just trim the carpet around where that plate is? Are you also using that plate for the other side?

Can it not be welded from the inside begbie?

I think there is a bit of confusion here, the plate is on the outside of the car, whilst the eye bolt is on the inside of the car. The other eye bolt i use, is screwed into the rail at the bottom that allows the seat belt to move about.

I don't think it would be wise to weld it inside the car, as if your in an accident, you could rip the spreader plate off, hence the hole in the carpet / tunnel

Thanks for clearing that up. It makes sense.

How did you manage to screw in the other eye bolt into the rail? Most eye bolts seem to be 7/16 UNF..which doesn't fit the existing hole. I compared it with the original fiat bolt and it does seem bigger.

No idea, it just screwed straight in, same with the rears

Kelv i also have a set of spreader plates in my toolbox

Do you have a big drill and a welder too

Yes but you'd be better with a ramp which i don't have.

Your trailer can be the ramp!
I'm going to think about this carefully and see if theres an alternative. Failing which, I might just abandon the idea

I tell you what i have a spare tunnel consol which is a bit tatty you could tidy it up a bit and hack away all you like keeping your own nice for future use. Problem solved.

How much do you want for it Marco?

cut out the carabiner on the inside and replace it with a seatbelt buckle. then u can use the existing seatbelt mounting and still have it quick release. u can source the buckle from a chop shop and get it sewed on at any upholsterer.

that's how they do it for some quick-release harness kits for minis, porsches, etc. they just dont make 'em for our car.

redd

If you are having the belt sewn, just be mindful of the thread being used and how it is sewn as there is a safety issue here.

Will this alteration to the seat belts meet future MOTs etc?

Kelv you can have it mate if you want it i don't want anything for it. Redd that is a very good idea indeed.

Redd, Thanks for the idea. Sounds excellent and would be ideal..but i would be a little concern on the stitching though. Don't think any upholstery would be able to stitch it to the same level as the original? If the buckle had double slots, I could easily make a double pass with the webbing ( like on climbing harnesses ) to make it secure. Unfortunately it doesn't.

Marco, turns out that the eye bolt does fit the rail side holes. I guess i wasn't trying hard enough earlier . With some persuation, it went in. I will have to test it on the buckle side now and see if its the same size.
Very kind of you for the offer and I shall take you up on that

Kelv, stitching is stitching. just get the approx same thread same size and follow the same stitch pattern as the original. make a couple more passes if ur worried.

good luck.

redd

Kelv, I totally disagree with Redd, stitching is not stitching, just like "Oils ain't oils".

It comes back to the size of the stitch and of course, most importantly, the type of thread used.

I suggest that you have it done my an authorised repairer of webbing (automotive or aircraft), or, at the very least, by a Sailmaker.

I would hate you to be in a situation where you are relying on the harness to do its job and the stitching fails and you are injured ,or worse!

Sorry Redd, but i disagree as well. Materials and stitching on safety equipments like seatbelts and harnesses are manufactured to stringent criterias. I would be hard pressed to find an authorised webbing manufacturer/repairer though..

However, all is not lost and I might still be able to use Redd's idea. I've just noticed that the harness has a double slot buckle. I might be able to make a double pass there without requiring any stitching to be done.