coolest Repa harness I've seen....ever. maybe ST?

[haycait911]

bought thru a friend back east from a fellow that worked in an old Porsche repair shop. story is, they were taken out of an ST in '72 and used in an S for a few years after, then handed around and used in a number of cars till they were stuck in a box some years later when event organizers started getting sticky about dates on restraints. everything on the harnesses looks correct, all original hardware and correct webbing, albeit a bit weathered. the only thing I see not correct is the red pulls on the adjusters. definitely not Repa, they look like someone changed them later. maybe the originals wore out, or they wanted something more visible. they're kinda mickey-mouse.

I've been searching for pics of ST restraints but not having much luck. anyone have any pics? or any thoughts/input? thanks, Don.

[stretch]

Hi Don, I think they are repro. The date labels are for rear belts, part number ending in, 20. I have just gone through the whole bunch of part numbers for the, 68- 73 years to reproduce these.
The correct 71 label will end in , 05. The stiching on the label to the webbing is also incorrect. Also. the , X pattern stiching is not a Repa sewn factory pattern. Repa stiching is just 6 horizontal threads.

All the original harness i have seen, have standard Repa seatbelt parts. The material would also be the Z weave in 71.

Tom's ," Olive Tart" has the Correct Repa harnness.

Just an opinion. Willing to be corrected.

Dave

[haycait911]

thanks for the input Dave. in looking closely at the date tags, they seem to have been added, I can see previous stitch holes. buckles are dated '71 though. I have seen the 6 row stitching on repa stuff. but as I recall always on pieces which used autoflug retractors, which made me think they were made by autoflug for repa. the 6 row stitching is very much an autoflug thing, kind of hokey. early repa with manual adjusters I've seen have used the X stitching.

[haycait911]

I looked at the 'olive tart' pics. they show a retractor type harness. it's not in the pic but it would have an autoflug retractor. no way would someone on a track or rallying ever use a retractor harness. wouldn't hold you in at all. although I have seen the odd one with a manually operated lock.

I imagine back in the day drivers used whatever they were most comfortable with. pinning mine to an ST obviously isn't possible, cool story but not confirmable and probably just that, a story.

[stretch]

Here's a couple of better pictures from Tom's " Olive Tart". Don, there are no retractors present in a Repa harness set up.
This early nylon webbing was offered as an option in a retractor, but, this was discontinued because this 49mm material would not retract smoothly. This was replaced by the, 5 Bar, smaller width pp material for the retractors.




Dave

[haycait911]

Here's a couple of better pictures from Tom's " Olive Tart". Don, there are no retractors present in a Repa harness set up.
This early nylon webbing was offered as an option in a retractor, but, this was discontinued because this 49mm material would not retract smoothly. This was replaced by the, 5 Bar, smaller width pp material for the retractors.




Dave

these pics show the buckle on the door side, normally the buckle is on the inboard side of the seat, for obvious reasons. were these mounted like this for a reason? the old pics above show the buckles inboard.

[stretch]

Don, the set in your pictures has the red release knob on the top. The other 2 pairs have this at the bottom ?

Maybe yours are looped through the recess incorrectly. If you switch these around, your release tab would be at the bottom, and the buckles would be ,"door side" like the sets in the pictures.

Raj, i think they were used some time in 1968. When this material was first introduced. It is visable in many period photos, Monte car, etc.

The BRITAX Harness was also used in 68, TR, etc. I think that when this Repa material went in the production cars, it was used for all factory raceware.

[haycait911]

I thought the orange thread was a euro thing. not on cars for the US market. like the blue edge thread you see on 5 bar autoflug webbing.

I've seen factory pics of the buckles with the red buttons up and down. one pic had it both ways in one car, in a factory option pic.

[stretch]

Sure is Don. It seems to be the fashion. If you are doing an ST, etc, then it seems everyone wants the Euro Repa setup.

Replicating the Factory race department Harness.