Is everyone running harnesses using non-stock seats?

[TTA89]

I thought the price of a rollbar was expensive... Then saw the price of the 6 point Harnesses and now I'm realizing that I can't really use the stock seats because they don't have provisions to keep the shoulder harnesses in place.

I know a lot of you are running dedicated track cars but what about the guys with street cars? A Set of cloth Sparco/Recaro/Cobra Street seats are going to be 1500+ with brackets by the time I can bolt them in.

I like my stock seats and would love to keep them, I thought about taking them to an upholstry shop to see if they can put in shoulder harness pass throughs but I'm affriad they aren't tall enough. I'm basically spending 1500 bucks for shoulder guides. Booo....

What do you think about having the harness go over the stock seat? I don't think that works too well as they can just slide down the sides.

Anyone have a money tree I can borrow?

[Don P]

Mike -

Corbeau (Forza model I think) makes a relatively inexpensive seat that might be ok for double duty.

[Mick]

If you want to try sitting in a few to try them out, HMS Motorsport has a nice showroom with a good selection of seats.
http://www.hmsmotorsport.com/

Are you sure the belts won't work with stock seats? I ran 6 point harnesses with my stock seats for a season. Do you have a dual pole headrest, or single post?

[TTA89]

I sat in a Cobra today with a rollbar and Sparco Milano Prestige Seats which were awesome... I guess they better be for the insane $$$ they cost.

I'm thinking more along the lines of either:

Sparco Torino Seats Which are ~$599 plus Brackets Each in Black or maybe even the Grey/Black pictured.

OR

Cobra Daytona Seats About the same ~$599 plus brackets. Except in Cloth, but man the leather looks nice.


They look pretty much the same, I'd probably buy whatever I could get the better deal on.

Everything I have read about Corbeau says that you get what you pay for. Cheap material that will fall apart in a year, there are not many people that are big fans of these seats expect maybe in a budget all out track rat.

I think my headrests are single pole, I'll go take a picture. I'd love to use them if possible.

[TTA89]

Stock seats use a single pole headrest, I'm not sure how safe it would be to run the harnesses over the top of the seats.

I suppose I could have someone fab up something that would be held in place by the headrest the harness would go through but I'd hate to think thats what would be holding me in place in the event of a rollover.

[offcamber09]

Mike, I'd go right over the top of the seat back use a heavy duty zip tie at the harness bar around the 2 harnesses to keep them from separating. Make sure the harness bar is fabbed high enough to avoid spinal compression in a frontal impact. Even if you get "race" seats and the harness bar seems too high for them, it will be fine. Make sure the bar is high enough for your stock seats. I've used stock seats in many different cars. My Cobra seats were short $ ($225 ea. ? ) but offer much more support than stock. I have stock Mustang seat brackets reinforced and bolted to the Cobra seats. Your stock seats are surprisingly supportive- I wouldn't rush into a purchase.

[DanDarcy]

Hi Mike -- I have a 1997 Mustang Cobra with a roll cage , 5 pt. harness and the stock leather seats. They work fine, but my cross bar behind my shoulders has a welded on flange for the shoulder traps to bolt to. I run the straps under the stock head rest and they stay in place. You could also do like Scott says and tie the straps together, just make sure the straps come off of the bar level so as not to push down on you in a roll over. Be sure to tighten the lap belt first and make it real tight

[TTA89]

Awesome! I'm keeping the stock seats then, I'll just make sure I let them know what I'm doing so they can build the harness cross bar to the correct height.

Thanks!

[brucesallen]

Instead of zip ties to hold the shoulder straps together there are retainer straps made out of proper belt material. Also check the Schroth belt at http://www.hmsmotorsport.com/store/schr ... ck-fit-pro

[enjoythemusic]

Use the Sparco Roadster (15 lbs each) and Schroth Profi-IIasm 4-way belts. Could go 5 or 6-way and may do that during the summer.

FYI: if you drive the car on the street and you get a retentive officer, i believe only the Schroth's are DOT legal. Had one officer hassle me a bit about various things about the car as the car has many mods but IS street legal. Still... so pulled out the document that shows DOT compliance of the belts. He let me go with a warning.

[TTA89]

I'm keeping the stock seats and doing 6 point Schroth harnesses. I'll retain the factory seat belts for the street.

The stock seats are heavy but honestly... spending $1500 bucks to save 20-25lbs out of a 3900lb car does what? Not much... I'd rather spend the money on entry fees, brakes, and tires.

[offcamber09]

I'm keeping the stock seats and doing 6 point Schroth harnesses. I'll retain the factory seat belts for the street.

The stock seats are heavy but honestly... spending $1500 bucks to save 20-25lbs out of a 3900lb car does what? Not much... I'd rather spend the money on entry fees, brakes, and tires.

Mike the only problem I forsee with the factory seats will be the sub belts. The belts will have to extend over the front of the seat bottom. Unless you're John Holmes there will be quite a gap between the belts and the place that you pee. Given this you might want to consider a $60 set of G Force 5 point belts. The 6 points just won't be able to do as advertised. I'm sure the Schroths are $200+++.

[rajito]

If you just wanted to do the driver's side and you're willing to go with Corbeaus (I know people who have and like them), you can spend around $500-600 and get seats, hardware, and belts, especially if you decided to get the seat second hand.

I personally decided to go with a Sparco that fit me well. My reasons were:

1. The OEM seat did not provide enough bolstering (esp. for someone as skinny as myself)

2. I really did not like the idea of running the sub belt around the front of the seat. I think ideally, it should be a few inches in front of your junk.

3. Cinching harnesses over the OEM seats would mean squeezing the seat as well. With the race seats, the lap belts come in low, so they hold me much better.

4. The shoulder belt holes are ideally positioned, and there's no risk of the belt sliding off the shoulder. The picture you posted of your headrest makes it seem like the belt could slip over the sides, given enough stretch.

Just my opinion but I have far less experience than many others here
Raj
PS: Scott- it's disturbing that I know who John Holmes is