Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi All, having fitted Saab 9000 front seats I am now trying to sort out how to overcome the problem of fixing a shoulder hieght runner for the seat belt.
I guess some fixing arrangement will need to be done to the B post. Anybody done this? Any novel idea's. Any responses, possibly with a pic, would be much appreciated. Many thanks and a happy nwe Year to you all, Rich

Rich,
I have made up a set of brackets as seat belt runners but have not painted them or fitted them yet to my convertible. I also have no idea what the German TÜV (MOT) is going to say so I will make them removable rather than start any discussions. They are made up from 10mm x 1mm box section steel with one side cut off and the rest done with a hand file. The runner part was made from a garden gate hook bent to shape with a model aircraft undercarriage wire bender. It should work. Maybe someone out there has an better idea.
Declan<br><br><br><br>

On my Traveller, the seat belt upper point was far too high. I took the wood trim off and found the aperture for the old trafficator option was in just the area that I wanted my fixing point. After some thought, I made a plate from some heavy strip I had around, can't remember the size but it was 8mm thick and I cut it so it would slip through the cutout with a generous overlap (around 3") top and bottom. Drilled and welded a suitable nut to the inner side for the mount, and temporarily clamping it in place using that, drilled through for 4 m6 fixings through "b" post and plate. Then welded 4 m6 nuts on inner face of plate, screwed it into the inside of the"b" post and modified the timber finisher accordingly. Oh and fitted a couple of surface mount interior lights to cover the original high level holes!!

There has been concern expressed about the strength of the "b" post for this, but with the overlap I used I would be more concerned about the mount pulling through the transmission tunnel first!

Declan - just one thing worth thinking about: Make sure the new sticky out bit will not be able to come anywhere near you in the event of a crash!

A friends wife crashed his TVR in the wet (sidewards into a lamp post but not very fast) She spent a few days out of action with heavy concussion - from bumping her head on the roll cage. Something more pointy than a roll cage will give you more to worry about than just a sore head.

RVWP:
The B-post on a 2 door saloon goes to a very small section between the door and the window. If you really want a high mounting then you'll need to make up something more structurally sound to mount it to.
On a 4 door saloon it's easier to add amounting in the b post above shoulder height but will need a mounting plate to be made up and welded or bolted in.

Thanks Ray,
I agree with you totally and if I can find a better arrangement I will go for it. I just cannot see how to mount anything on the B post on a convertible that would work, look good and still withstand any real force in the event of a crash. My belt is mounted as given in the workshop manual but it's too low and is uncomfortable. I was, when I made up those brackets, thinking more of a belt guide and not really of something that was crash proof. I will have to give it some more thought.
Declan

when I made up those brackets, thinking more of a belt guide

to be honest - they look pretty good! I'm just being a bit of a worrier when it comes to things that can injure you in the event of a crash.
Even the Minor under dash shelf has a bad reputation - according to amulance folks from the 60's and 70's there were many broken legs caused by the steel strengthener!
They worried about this after seatbelts were introduced, because before then the driver often got a steering column through the chest so a broken leg wasn't so important then!

Thanks Ray,
Couldn't agree with you more. My parcel tray was pretty tatty so I recovered it and repadded it slightly thicker for exactly the same reason you mentioned. I used pipe insulation dense foam from the diy store.

Declan
(DEC 1964 H-formerly HMP 960B)<br><br><br><br>

It's a bit late to tell you this Rich but there are some modern convertibles (that could lend their seats to a Minor) that have seatbelt guides built into the side of the seats.
BMW comes to mind. they do some tasty looking red leather seats.