7 replies to this topic

[nathdawg]

Hi I know it is a topic covered by many but i am going to mount two buckets with no rear seats, i want harnesses so can i simply screw mounting loops in the original seatbelt holes and clip the harness in for it to MOT worthy?

[holmesy]

the bottom two mounts either side of the seats should be fine but what about the top 1? or 2? depending on your harness, you wont be able to mount it to the b pillar as it would be taking the force on 1 side, the mounts should be directly behind the seat, you can buy a mounting point with a spreader plate that you could put on the floor behind the seat, you can buy weld in ones or bolt in ones, they would be your best bet for MOT as its all about safety

[jpw1275]

I had spreader plates welded into the rear bulkhead( back of the rear seat) which had threaded holes in and fitted loops , went through mot's with no problems

Cheers James

[donjarr]

Ideally for a racing harnesses to be effective in the event of an accident they need to be mounted as close to the top of the back of rear seat as possible. If you don't already have the harnesses the best ones to use in a mini are ones with eye bolts as it allows you to screw the eye bolts into the existing bolts in the floor and mount plates on the back of the seat for the shoulder ones to clip to.

:)

[jeebz]

For racing, the harness mounting should ideally be within 10 degrees of the horizontal. I'm not sure what the top of the rear seats will give, but its probably the best place if you do not have a roll cage. Avoid mounting them on the floor as all costs, as in a crash you could end up with a broken back as it could just end up compressing you. All cars I have rally prepped have been mounted on the cross beam on the roll cage behind the seats (some americans call it a roll bar). Hope this helps.

[mike174]

without serious reenforcing the rear seat back isnt up to the stress of harnesses, however most people generally mount to the rear seatbelt points or fit a harness bar.

Mike

[holmesy]

im with mike, the rear seat is not very strong, it would have to be a serious impact for the plates to shear through but i still wouldn't rule it out, it would be ideal to attach it to a harness bar welded onto a roll cage or welded maybe across the inner wheels arches, never take chances when it comes to safety, you may not be driving it hard but thats not to say the twit that rams into you isn't, ive recently lost 2 mates in a small crash because they wasnt wearing the seatbelts in the right place, makes me wonder about my shoulders being above the headrest and the seatbelt not being able to be raised

[jeebz]

In all honestly, if its not a roll cage, you should reinforce the seatbelt points, people drive faster and cars are heavier now than when the mini was designed. Not saying your car is, but it will be 'x' years old, and whose to say there hasn't been metal fatique. And as above, you could be Lewis Hamilton and some idiot could go into the back of you.