They walk amongst us

[mrs.smith2012]

Yes they are safe if fitted correctly, with adequate fittings, by a competent person.

That’s good to know. Not a job I’m rushing to do, I’ll see if I can just avoid ever having back seat passengers haha, but if I do fit them I’ll make sure it’s done properly

[philthehill]

Bill
Joking apart - but relative to the point above made regarding anchorages on the parcel shelf below the rear window.
I am faced with the problem of fitting a Motorsport approved seat belt harness/set up for the drivers seat of my Minor.
The seat belt is a Willans (so not cheap) 6 point saloon harness. The fitting instructions give the minimum loadings on the mounting/anchor point and the fitted angles for the belts. The over the shoulder straps now have to be at a shallow angle from the seat which means that the anchor points end up on or near the shelf below the rear window which is going to be interesting as I do not think that the shelf area will accommodate the required anchor point loading even with large spreader plate mounting points.
I may have to provide additional anchorages/loading points in the boot floor to spread the loading. The floor links (qty 4) anchor points inside the car are considered adequate.
The seat belt fitted previously was fully motorsport compliant but was a 4 point set up with the over the shoulder straps mounting points on the floor behind the seat with large spreader plates. The rules have changed so I must change the seat belts to the latest compliance.
Phil

[Bill_qaz]

I have seen where they weld a cross tube to the roll cage and the over shoulder straps mount to it. Some of the race harnesses are made to wrap the cross tube for shoulder belts.
Great when they keep changing the regs but in the name of safety I suppose is excusable.

Screenshot_20260223-221007_Google.jpg (28.67 KiB) Viewed 33270 times

[kevin s]

Bill
Joking apart - but relative to the point above made regarding anchorages on the parcel shelf below the rear window.
I am faced with the problem of fitting a Motorsport approved seat belt harness/set up for the drivers seat of my Minor.
The seat belt is a Willans (so not cheap) 6 point saloon harness. The fitting instructions give the minimum loadings on the mounting/anchor point and the fitted angles for the belts. The over the shoulder straps now have to be at a shallow angle from the seat which means that the anchor points end up on or near the shelf below the rear window which is going to be interesting as I do not think that the shelf area will accommodate the required anchor point loading even with large spreader plate mounting points.
I may have to provide additional anchorages/loading points in the boot floor to spread the loading. The floor links (qty 4) anchor points inside the car are considered adequate.
The seat belt fitted previously was fully motorsport compliant but was a 4 point set up with the over the shoulder straps mounting points on the floor behind the seat with large spreader plates. The rules have changed so I must change the seat belts to the latest compliance.
Phil

The load you will be applying to the parcel shelf will be in shear, the square plates are really designed for tension perpendicular to their primary plane. What you would need is a beam or thick plate going across the parcel shelf from side to side bolted through in something like 10 places.

[mike1864]

"... part of the problem is that modern cars lull drivers into a comfort zone. There is no 'feel' to the driving; they are just in their protective comfortable box, isolated from all the outside sensory input."
Fifty years ago I fitted a padded cover to my SII's steering wheel, to make it feel/look more like modern car.
During its recent (2013!) restoration, the garage lost the cover.
But I now don't want it: the ongoing feel of the skinny wheel is a constant reminder to me that I don't have the braking and suspension characteristics of my modern car!

[jagnut66]

Hi,
Just to throw in my twopennethworth.....

Oh yes. It seems the seatbelt is bolted to a steel bracket which is screwed to the (probably rotted!) timber frame.

I wouldn't fix seatbelts to a wooden car frame, even if it was brand new and solid.

although Series V seats are different to Series II, the back of my driver's seat collapsed on me a few weeks ago when the car was stationary!

I have had it mentioned to me in the past that it's not uncommon for the welds on the later (non folding Morris 1000) seats to crack and for the back frame to separate from the seat base framework.
This was something that I found myself, (cracks / separation) when recovering the seats for my original Minor 1000 Abby.
If you have your seats out it may be worth owners checking the condition of the metal framework.
I had the frames rewelded in that area for peace of mind.
Best wishes,
Mike.

[Chief]

When I started my interior restoration I decided to remove the rear seatbelts. There's bolts that go from the buckle through the inner wing and through a metal plate before the nut is put on.

The metal plate was sheared through from rust, but the tightness of the bolts, plus all the underseal holding it in place meant you couldn't see this until the bolt was undone and half of the plate fell to the floor, the other half needed prising away because of the underseal.