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Anyone have BDR with harness thru rear wall and not use eye bolts?
BDR uses eye bolts mounted in the rear wall to atatch the harness. Has any one customized it to have the harness straps go through the rear wall and use bezels where they go through the wall. If so then could you please exsplain how it is acomplished.
CobraK |
Cobrak
If I am not mistaken, I think I might have been the first to do that. At the TCC meeting in Austin this year, BDR like my idea so well that they took alot of pictures and was going to incorporate it in their cars. I ordered my car with the top harnesses not mounted, would mount them myself. Their design just looked like crap with those big eyebolts at your back. I just cut holes big enough that the plates from finishline would cover in the back firewall, mounted them. Then take the eyebolts ane drill and tap 7/16 fine thread holes on the flat bar that the rollbar mounts too. Should be four holes. mount the eyebolts, be sure to use a nut and lockwasher against the big flat washer for lockdown. The only thing is that if REG and BDR mounted your seatbelts for you they might have trimmed the excess strapping off and the will be to short to use thru the firewall. I would car REG then and see if couldn,t get some neww belts and some new carpet for the rear firewall to cover up the holes for the eyebolts, I promise tou wiil be very pleased with end product. DON |
After seeing Don’s car, I changed mine from the rear wall to the trunk mount as well. I cut the holes for the harness in the rear wall where the bolts were. The bezels cover great and looks like it came that way. The rest of the steps were as Don describes. I did have to order new shoulder harness from Finish Line because someone who had good intentions (not Reg or Backdraft), trimmed off the excess strap and they would not reach. You should be fine. I ordered the bezels from Finish Line - in fact I ordered a second set of bezels to trim out the inside of the trunk. Not necessary, but it cleaned it up very nice.
Rod |
You guys got pics of this? I'm having a hard time picturing what it is you've done.
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I got pics. Mine was the first done by Reg.
Don, he saw yours and loved it. I asked him to do it on my cobra as a test run. We bolted the seatbelts to the roll bar mounts in the trunk. Works great and looks awsome! I think they should do this from now on! Check out my gallery for the pic Sid |
New BDR
Sorry don't have any current pictures loaded with the seat belt mounting thru the wall. got snake Thanks for the compliment. I had talked to Reg and Tony and I think they were going to incorporate that system in all the new cars from then on, I also think it was going to save them some money on materials cost, Looks alot better and cheaper who would of thought??? DON |
New BDR
I should have some pictures loaded in my gallery this weekend. Rod |
CobraK,
I have some pictures in my gallery of the pass through seat belts. Rod |
Rod,
Very clean installation...I'll be adding this to my to do list. Does the other fabricated bracket support the straps where they are mounted? I assume the eye bolts go thru the frame? Drill from the bottom up? Thanks for sharring. John |
The brackets do support the belts. I removed the brackets and used the bezels to mark the holes for the belts to pass through. I centered the bezels where the eye bolts were. Due to the new wider pass-through holes, you will need to relocate and re-drill holes that mount the bracket to the rear wall. The trunk mounted eye bolts are drilled from the top through the same flat bar that the roll bar is mounted to. Use a 7/16 – 20 tap. Hope this helps.
Rod |
Don,
I just took delivery of BDR 278 yesterday, and asked Reg not to mount the upper harnesses for this reason. Under the rear wall carpet, where the eye bolts are normally mounted, there is a steel backing plate bolted in place for the eye bolt mounting. Did you remove this, is the F/G rear wall stiff enough without it? , or did you just cut the seat belt "slits" through the steel. Thanks, Richard |
Bailey
My car and the ones I have seen so far did not have a bolt in brace you are talking about. So I would assume it would not be needed since the eyebolts will mount to the frame instead. The firewall was stiff enough also in the other cars I looked at. So I think you could probably lose the brace and proceed on without any problems. DON |
Don,
Thanks, I'll see how much of a schlepp it is to remove the rear wall carpet to access the plate. If it's a real pain, I may leave it in place. Thanks again, Richard |
Richard,
I did the same conversion. My carpet pulled back pretty easy. Once finished with cutting holes, I sprayed the carpet and rear wall with adhesive and put it back together. Pretty simple project. Rod |
Rod,
Thanks for the pics but I got a question. Why did you leave the old rear firewall brackets in place? Do they serve any purpose? I am speeking of the ones that go from the bottom of the roll bar to the rear of the rear firewall. I can only assume from the pics that you did remove the flat plate, bracket that the eyebolts formaly were connected to. Thanks, David |
David,
I did leave the rear firewall support brackets on. I am not sure if it is necessary; I just thought more support wouldn’t hurt anything. I basically disassembled the brackets and braces, cut holes through the rear firewall brackets where the eye bolts were mounted, centered and drilled for the bezels, cut holes through the rear firewall, reassembled the bracket and braces, reattached the carpet and installed the bezels. Might be over kill, but the entire assembly is still there. Rod |
Rod ,
Thanks for the reply. Your finished job looks great. I think that will be my next project. Backdraft should install all their belts that way. It looks a lot cleaner and more professional. David |
David,
I just wrapped up puting the car back together..I removed everything that was bolted to the rear firewall, it's plenty sturdy, but having those backing plates would certainly strengthen things. We'' see how she does on the track, they may go back in. Measure twice, cut once. I found it a little tricky getting all the trim plates lined up, but patience is your best friend. Cheers, Richard |
I just complete the seat belt bezel project on my BDR. I kept the backing plates and struts to the trunk deck for extra support. Cutting the slots in the backing plates was a little tough. Even though the shoulder belts aren't use often, just getting those eyebolts out cleaned up the look. The project was a bit of a challenge due to the cramp trunk area. Needed to purchase a 90 degree attachment for my drill. I used the existing holes from the struts, enlarged to 25/64, tapped to 7/16-20 and done.
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Where the anchor bolts attach thru the trunk floor, are they drilled and tapped into the 2" box frame or bolted thru the 2" box frame. Does anybody have a clearer pic of how the old bracket is still attached to the wall? The ones I found have the seat belt covering them up so I can't see. Since the eyebolts are no longer there I don't understand whats holding this plate up.
Thanks |
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