What are these for?

[robedney]

Wish I'd snapped a photo, but didn't so I'll have to describe: There are two eye-bolt like things mounted in my car -- a 1967 MM1000 2 door. They are at floor level, just forward (by a few inches) of the bottom of the back seat, sticking out of the lower side area. The only thing I've been able to think of is some sort of seat belt anchoring point -- but eye-bolts? What other reason might they be there? They appear to be original -- not added on. As I'm planning on adding seat belts, I'm curious as to what use these might be.

[Matt Tomkins]

maybe someone's fitted a race harness at some point???

[irmscher]

Maybe a baby seat anchorage

[les]

I seem to recall a type of belt that 'clicked' round such eye bolts. Similar to the way a dog lead fits the collar.

[robedney]

Well then, it would seem to make sense to use these as seat belt anchors. I've heard tell that seat belt anchors were standard on certain cars, but I'm not finding any on mine. Am I looking in the right places? This was (is) a 1967 left wheel drive import into the US.

[Neil MG]

They are seat belt anchor bolts and the part they screw into is the seat belt anchor (nut). Without seeing the fixing and its position, I cannot say if it is the factory anchorage or not.

[charlie_morris_minor]

one of the seat belt hole is on the "Inner Sill Step" ..

http://morrisminorspares.co.uk/shop/pop ... c8d7fa9d95

[welshrat]

They sound very simular to the belt fittings that were on my MK2 cooper. If I remember rightly there were two types, one had the belt fitted directly to the eye bolt and the other type fitted to the bolt with a 'dog lead' clasp as described above. The bolt holes on my mini were a standard seat belt bolt size.

[les]

That's it!! That's where I have seen them, cooper belt fixings.

[bmcecosse]

They are seat belt fixings - but not standard factory ones.

[welshrat]

Pretty sure they were factory ones on my 68 cooper, still have them in the shed, agree not factory for minor.

[bmcecosse]

They may have been 'Dealer' fitted - but not factory.

[ian.mcdougall]

I think they were for the seat belts that had a buckle similar to aircraft seats , aluminium buckle

[Neil MG]

Not to confuse the anchorage point with the eye-bolt. There should be factory anchorage points on all later cars. Of course these may have been rotted/removed or replaced over the years. The eye bolt was a factory fitting for some cars and belt types, but maybe not the Minor. They were used with the quick fit system used by Britax and others on some belt installations. They are not normally compatible with the cheap (Securon) replacement belts, but they can just be unscrewed and the bolts supplied with the new belt used in the same anchorage, provided it is in the right position.

[robedney]

Thanks for all the responses! It makes some sense to me now, particularly having to do with the "quick-fit" part.

[mike.perry]

Maybe the USA had different seat belt specs to the UK, lap only not lap and diagonal.

[les]

These eye bolts were not made of mild steel rod, they were forged.

[welshrat]

Seat belts and fixings from my 1968 Mini Cooper.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

[welshrat]

They are lap and diagonal, the same as other belts from this time, the only difference is how they were secured to the car. Note that the belt is fixed to the eye bolt on the buckle end, the other lower fixing attaches to the eye with a dog lead type clip, the shoulder fixing is bolted as normal.

[les]

Your pictures say it all!