so you have attached 2 tons to it? cos thats what driver and passenger would weigh in a 10g accident?

Jase - if you think that an angle grinder is fun and easy - try MIG welding - it is amazing, and most people pick it up in about 10 mins no kidding. Takes practice to do a lovely job though.....

Jase - if you think that an angle grinder is fun and easy - try MIG welding - it is amazing, and most people pick it up in about 10 mins no kidding. Takes practice to do a lovely job though.....

This is where the problems usually start though..........

ANYONE can weld two pieces of metal together yes, but its a different story to get a nice clean weld with proper penetration. *

If a weld looks good, then it MIGHT be.

But if it looks crap then it will be.

Like most things preparation is the key, even more so with thin metal (bodywork), the surfaces need to be clean and touching. Too much heat penetration is as bad as not enough (pigeon 5h1t) as the metal right next to the weld can then be brittle and weaker.

*this is not to say skudmissile's welding is crap though as we have not seen it.

ANYONE can weld two pieces of metal together yes, but its a different story to get a nice clean weld with proper penetration. *

very true, especially difficult to get it right when the two pieces of metal you are welding are different thickness or different materials, the amount of heat needed to weld a thick piece of angle section with good penetration would blow a hole through a thin piece of body work....

i must say that although it looks like a nice tidy job you've done there, but...... i doubt it would hold out in a crash situation, that piece of angle section will bend like a drinking straw when a heavy lateral load is applied to it, besides which i doubt very much it will pass an MOT test like that (if it's the only seat restraint), if it were there to supplement the original seat belts you might 'get away' with it as a purely cosmetic addition, FWIW i think you'd be better off using the original rear seat belt fixing points on the floor for strength

learning welding has stages -

chicken ****( wow! the swear filter caught "sh" and a "1" and a "t" - clever!)

Gorilla ****

looking good but weak

looking good and strong

Unless you have a high-tech ultrasound, best to practice and then cut the weld open with an angle grinder (Jase?) and check....

A setting a tad under blowing holes through has been my objective in order to ensure strong welds...

It is fun, but with anything critical, I would leave it to a professional....

A setting a tad under blowing holes through has been my objective in order to ensure strong welds...

there is some wisdom in that, a way around this is to use a heaat sink diectly around the weld area to dissapate the heat and thus reduce the heat affected area... alternatively a slightly different welding technique could be used where you hold the torch further away which would reduce the voltage of the arc and make the seam(bead) wider, but it would still have good penetration becasue the amperage is set nice and high the generate the required heat

Thanks for the tips Tom - will remember them for next time I play with metal...

Harness belts and no rollcage is bad news, if you had a severe roll over and the roof was to come down you can't get you head out of the way. Having rolled a car without a cage you would be amazed how far the roof comes down, if I was wearing harness belts I would be dead now.

Simon

Thanks for everyones concerns.

The orginal seat belts are still in the car and they are what i will be using.

The harnesses are purely to hold me in place on the next bylton track day. Nothing else. I wont be rolling the car and i wont be crashing there. (theres nothing to crash into )