Nearly finished

[mcramsay]

So I've been working on the interior for a few weeks now! And I am pretty much finished it now, few jobs here and there and then I can concentrate on doing the last few jobs on the car, one big set back is marlin have put the top seat belt anchorages too low and they will not pass iva, ( the 5 series based kit used a different seat belt mount location) so the car is going back to the factory at the end of the build to have them moved , so it's nothing that will stop me at the moment , here are some pics of the interior










As you will be able to tell I have done all the panels and door cards my self so they are by no means perfect but for a first attempt I think it all came out pretty well!

I still need to finish the dash surround, handbrake gaiter, tidy the wiring and trim the carpet edges in places but the car is starting to come together now!

[Patrick]

Looks really good which seats are those?

[mcramsay]

They are Suzuki cappuccino seats, they fit perfectly in the sportster , and have runners attached and can tilt toward and back! Not bad for 100 quid!

[morris]

coming along nicely.

Is it the cross piece on the roll over bar that is too low? I'm guessing so as I can't see it in the photos so assume the welded it in below where you have your boot covering.

I was very, very close on my IVA even with it level with the top of the tub. I had to help the examiner steady the measuring device and may (though my memory's not very good) have leaned on it just a tad to help the right outcome. We're talking millimetres. If they are welding in a new tube, I'd take the opportunity to get it placed a good two cm higher than normal so you know you're ok.

[mcramsay]

Marlin have gone away from running the harness over the roll over bar into the boot and went for this option


As you can see there is a welded but just under the cross brace of the roll bar, I think Marlin measured from the base of the floor to set the top height, they didn't realise iva took the measurement from the top of the seat base. I spoke to Kevin and they are going to move this top anchorage up much higher on the roll bar. I think they are going to weld in a threaded inset into the roll bar. Which will work better as currently the top hanger for the seatbelt is just under my armpit when sitting in the car ! It needs moving at least 200mm higher!!

[morris]

To be honest, not having the anchorage in the back of the boot is a good thing as you have to take the tub off to fit the belts which is very annoying if the harness was down the list on the parts you purchase.

I'm not convinced that the current arrangement, even if moved up will keep the IVA man happy either though as those brackets don't look very strong. Take a look at section 19 of the manual, particularly the bit about causes for concern.

Are you fitting a harness or standard belts? If a harness you may struggle using the roll over bar as you'll not be able to centralise it behind the seat.

If fitting belts, you can probably get away with a threaded insert in the roll over bar for the feeder over your outside shoulder but I would still not be that happy about the reel bolted to the bottom bracket. It may be better to also get an insert welded down into the chassis cross member that runs behind the lumber area of the seat.

[mcramsay]

Thanks for the advice, however I don't think the pictures show the brackets very well, they are 5mm thick steel with nuts fully welded on the other side I'm pretty sure they are up to the job, my lady kit went through iva with much less well thought out seatbelt mounts. But I will speak to Kevin and see if there is a better solution that would keep the iva man happy.