Morris Minor Owners Club

I need to know how much it costs to get seatbelts fitted (both front and rear) to a 4-door 1959 saloon. I guess this is a professional job. Has anyone had this done? If so, where would be a good place to go (i'm in Rugby, Warks/Midlands) and what should I expect to pay? I'd really appreciate a bit of advice on this one.

LucyC

Rugby / Warks is almost no-mans land for specialists.
There is JLH in Leamington Spa but they are pricey (and ppl have mixed opinions on them)

I once had a new seatbelt point fitted at the sill as the bolt had sheared off in the old one! This was by Morris Services in Colchester and he made it into a small, quick and neat job. Therefore you want someone who knows what they are doing (ie use a Minor specialist who does a fair bit of restoration work). A random garage could make a mess of it and charge you a lot for the privilidge!

Places like the Minor centre in Bath may be able to give you a price straight off, and may even have a standard price for it.
I would recommend to phone half a dozen places listed in the MMOC magazine.

You may be able to save money by going for second hand static belts for the front. I wouldn't recommend second hand inertia belts as they are not always so good, but maybe I'm just picky.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 27381&rd=1

Don't know if these are any use to you. I've replaced with later inertia belts with a conventional (by modern standards) clip which my girlfriend can work!

Minorrite would probably be your nearest they are at Houghton on the hill near Leicester, but I dont have their contact details to hand.

Lucyc Check to see if the holes are there to fix the belts on. if they are then the job should only be an hours labor +cost of seat belts. this is for the front seats. 2 in floor just along hand brake cables area. if its a 2 door there will be 2 holes for a chrome bracket under rear side window there will also be a hole directly below on the side near the floor. I think all of the cars left factory with these holes.There are no holes for the rear seat. but it should only take an hour to do them too. I have many bolts and brackets if you meed them.

If its a 4 door. the holes will be under the trim where your ear is

i had some front belts fitted to my 4-door splitscreen. Since im pretty tall they drilled out the top hole from the trafficator assembly, and fitted the nut behind it, they constructed a C shaped metal section with a nut welded to it, fed it inside and screwed the seatbelt fitting to it.

They also drilled holes in the rear floor section for the clips, and they bend up and cross over so they aren't rubbing on the seats, and feel a bit stronger. Although people tend to use the wrong one.

winger300,
Where were yours done and were you happy with the price? If it was during term time, then it should be local for Lucy?

I am afraid that you will not have the seat belt mounting points
already installed as they were not fitted until late 1961 so it will
be the full job required. This involves removing the under door
bolt on panels to gain access to the inner sills so that the lower
mounting points can be installed. I would suggest you use a
Minor specialist.

i had them installed at Phil Vincents near Nottingham, I bought the seat belt units, and they fitted them for £50

Thanks for all this info. I am still debating whether to buy this moggy or not, and trying to weigh up the eventual costs to make it safe. The guy wants £1000 for it but its only got four months MOT left and I think thats a bit steep. I'd rather pay about £800 tops, but it seems that price guides vary wildly in what they reckon cars are worth, especially of this age where condition can be either really good or really poor. I had a 1098cc before and don't know if I should look for this again, as the 948cc might be a bit slow? Well, I'm ten years out of date when it comes to the value of minors.

Anyway, I phoned Charles Ware's at Bath today and spoke to a really helpful chap. He quoted £116 plus VAT for the back seatbelts and I can't remeber what he said for the front. Pricey, huh? Thing is, it's something I don't want to skimp on as my daughters life could depend on it-you just never know do you...

Thanks for your advice. This site is a mine of information. You really know your stuff!

LucyC

Hmmm you have a lot to think about not least the seat belts. I dont see that you should be tied down to a 948 if you want a moggie there are plenty of 1098 cars. I went from a 1098 to 948, the only thing I missed was it was bit slower to pull out at roundabouts apart from that it was fine. Although we did local milage and few long trips as opposed to a long commute. I would have thought you stand a good chance of finding a car with the work already done to be honest too. Keep looking there are lots of cars out there.

winger300 wrote:i had some front belts fitted to my 4-door splitscreen. Since im pretty tall they drilled out the top hole from the trafficator assembly, and fitted the nut behind it, they constructed a C shaped metal section with a nut welded to it, fed it inside and screwed the seatbelt fitting to it.

They also drilled holes in the rear floor section for the clips, and they bend up and cross over so they aren't rubbing on the seats, and feel a bit stronger. Although people tend to use the wrong one.

I am having front seat inertias reel belts fitted to my '55 splitscreen. I do however still use the trafficators. Are yours working after having the belts' points fitted in the trafficator sites?