RV-8 Rear Seatback Harness Routing

[pvalovich]

I have the rear seatback fitted, including the cusion. As I contemplate the Crow harness installation, it appears I have 2 options regarding the shoulder strap routing through or over the fiberglass seatback top.

1. Cut slots in the fiberglass and route the straps THROUGH the seatback top. Seems like the most elegant solution, but there would be no way of moving the harness straps out of the way when trying to load bulky items into the rear baggage compartment.

2. Cut away part of the fiberglass and route the straps OVER the seatback top. Won't look as nice, but offers more utility.

What have others done?

[cfiidon]

There are slots cut in the bulkhead on my quickbuild kit, don't know if you have a QB or not, but if not, the plans should show where the slots go.

See the pic
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/5946/dsc00033inf.jpg

Don

[scsmith]

The fiberglass seat back should be trimmed in a smooth arc to fit with a nice constant lap over the bulkhead. I think I have about 5/8" overlap. The fiberglass edge then rests below the shoulder harness slots.

Cutting slots in the fiberglass for the shoulder harness would be a terrible idea. Every time you want to tip the seat back forward for access to the baggage compartment, you would have to thread the harness through the slot, especially difficult if you have the padded straps. Then, even once you get the seatback tipped forward, the straps would be in the way of putting anything in the back.

If you don't trim the fiberglass, the other area you will have trouble is getting the seat forward with the canopy handle in the way. Even with the fiberglass trimmed, the canopy handle is still in the way. I took a tip from (Randy Lervold, I think, I forget) and shortened my canopy handle to make clearance. Here is what I mean by 'shortened': Cut the tubular handle off of the flat plate, cut 5/8--3/4" off each end of the tube, and re-weld or braze the handle back onto the plate. This still makes a very comfortable handle, and it moves the handle outboard enough that it does not interfere with the rear seatback when you want to tip it forward to access the baggage area.