Installing Racecar Harnesses into the Spec Racer Ford
At the end of the 2018 race season the safety belts in the Spec Racer Ford expired. It was time to install some new belts. I always had a great experience using Schroth belts so we decided to go with new 2 x 2 FLEXI harnesses, a 6-point harness with 2 inch webbing allowing the ends to be outfitted with either bolt in, clip in or free end for use with ladder or roll bars. Big thanks to Wine Country Motor Sports for helping to source them quickly.
Tools and Equipment
Tape Measure
3/4 inch Wrenches / Spanners
3/4 inch Sockets
Ratchet
Allan Head Wrench
Impact Driver (Optional)
Outfitting the Harnesses
The Spec Racer Ford has ladder bars for the Shoulder Harnesses, Bolt-Ins for the lap belts and a few different ways to mount the submarine belts. With the ButlerBuilt seat we had the bolt in bar for the lower submarine belts. Always follow the manufacturers directions for mounting the harnesses. Another advantage of the FLEXI harnesses is that the lap belts can be changed to be either pull up or pull down depending on your own preference.
The 2x2 FLEXI harness came with clip in mounts so we needed to remove the shoulder clip in mounts and re-web the lap and submarine belt ends with the optional B24 bolt in mounts. Follow the manufacturers instructions for re-webbing the harness.
Undo the clip-in end and position the bolt-in end in place. Note the bolt-in end has a bend so make sure the orientation and direction of the belt adjuster works with your cars mounting point.
Make sure there is enough free length of the belt. Leave space between the adjuster and the bolt-in fitting so they are not banging together.
Fold the belt over and feed it back through the inline adjuster.
Pull the belt down tight through the adjuster and check the position of the bolt-in end.
Fold the loose belt end back on itself and feed the belt through the rear of the inline adjuster.
Push the belt down smooth and tight. Pull on the belt to make sure all the slack is taken up and it doesn’t move around or come loose.
Repeat for the other three belt ends.
Shoulder Harnesses
In order to mount the Shoulder belts in the Spec Racer Ford with a ButlerBuilt seat you will need to remove the seat, see our seat installation guide.
The shoulder belts are mounted to the ladder bars on the rear bulkhead or seat belt bar. Feed through the inline adjuster and the ladder bar. Then follow the steps for re-webbing the bolt-in fittings except with the ladder bar in place of the bolt-in end.
For Schroth belts 16-17 inches of free length measured from the inline adjuster to the belt tighteners should provide enough adjustment length for the driver when seated to belt themselves in and sinch down.
Repeat the steps for both shoulder belts.
Lap Belts
The Spec Racer Ford has two bolted mounts on the side of the frame rails.
Make sure to align the belts, insert the 1/2 inch bolts and nut.
Make sure to position the belt at the correct angle before tightening down with the 3/4 inch wrench, socket and ratchet.
Submarine Belts
The B24 bolt in fittings came with a 1/2 inch hole but the ButlerBuilt seat mounting points were sized for a 5/16th inch bolt. You do not want any free play in your seat belt mounts.
Huge thank you to Emmett Quigley for machining me up a couple of fantastic bushings that fit perfectly.
The bushings slotted perfectly into the 1/2 inch holes and reduced their size to match the 5/16th bolts with a step to allow rotational movement when the bolts were tightened in place. No more free play.
The bolts fasten to the 6 point harness bar in the bottom of the seat. Torque the bolts to spec and adjust the belt length as needed.
Mount the seat back into the racecar, following our ButlerBuilt seat mounting guide.
Test Fit and Adjustment
With the belts now mounted in the car. Give the belts a test fit and check to see that you have enough adjustment to be able to sinch down and tighten the belts when seated.
If not you will need to go back and adjust the end fittings to either lengthen or shorten the belts.
With the belts now adjusted, double check all mount points are tight and secure. Enjoy the next day at the track.
More Tech Tips
We decided to replace the old bent and misshaped suspension rockers with the new lighter and stiffer tubular rockers. The step by step guide should make it easier for those attempting the work themselves.