Morris Minor Owners Club

Does anyone know the correct upper fixing location for the front seat belts on a 1966 convertible. For those with Ray Newell's book "Original Morris Minor", page 84 shows a 1966 car with the top seatbelt fixing under the rear side windows, mid way along. There are some plugged holes (Black rubber plugs at 'top of the seat' height) on the B posts. I'm confused as to what those plugged holes would have been used for. Were original seat belt fixings ever mounted in that position?


Thanks for any help.

Looking at that photo I'd guess that the rubber bung in the B post is not original. It's probably there to cover up a 'non original' hole which was made previously to fix the seatbelt.

I suggest none of these fixings on a cnvertible are really strong enough to do any good in a hard shunt. The pictures shown recently of a seatbelt attached to a roll over bar on a convertible are an example of how it should be done. Otherwise - the rear fixing needs to be extended raerwards and down to a good 'strong point' low down where floorpan meets rear seat cross panel.

This is a grey area for me too.

According to the book,the introduction of seat belt anchorages on Cowley Minor's began at 905xxx, however on 1966 2/4dr and Travellers, the "BS1965 Seatbelt" logo is ON the chassis plate, whereas ON a contempory Convertables it isn't.

Don't know what the above proves, but check the chassis plate on your vehicle - body number should be 30621 70xxx(?)

Chris Stevens
MINOReg Hazard a guess Historian

A picture is worth a thousand words.[frame][/frame]

Thanks , thats perfect. Now I just have to find a set.

Thanks for the link.
The problem I have is that I find the modern belts just look out of keeping with the rest of the car.
My 2 door saloon has its original belts and I find they are comfortable and look good.
Admittedly I haven't tested them in an accident.

Are you sure this is a genuine M/AT, you have not pm'd the body number?

Hi.

No, I'm not at all sure if its an original factory convertible. For those interested, here is a link to the posts I wrote about finding the car and its possible originality.

http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=54404

How does the originality issue affect the seat belts? In most of the pictures of a 1966 car be it a factory convertible or 2 door saloon, the seat belt locations seem to be the same, so in terms of this subject, does its originality apply?

The location for fitting seat belts on a two door and a convertible are the same. See BMC wksp Manual Section R. (See my post above)
There are differences in the way the belts are attached to the body but the location remains the same.
Anchorage points were embodied in Minor 1000 convertible from Body No's 66338 to 66400 inclusive and 66467 onwards.
" " " " " " " 2 door saloon from body No's 362117 to 362200 inclusive and 362295 onwards.
Only on the four door (upper fitting 'B' post) body No's 204617 onwards and traveller (upper fitting behind wood capping) commencing body No: 90769 are the upper fitments embodied.
Kits for fitting seat belts to the 4 door saloon and traveller were available for the pre-embodied cars. There were differences in the way the belts are attached to the body but the location is the same.
There is plenty of additional info in Section 'R' which covers the fitment of seat belts in all non commercial Minor variants.

Many thanks for that philthehill, I'll refer to the workshop manual and see what I can discover.

I fitted new Securon retractable belts at the end of the restoration 16 years ago, and have been very pleased with them, but fortunately have never had to put them to the ultimate test. They are the lap/diagonal variety and during the restoration, I made provision for seat belt mountings.

For the centre/tunnel mount I have bolted a 'U' bracket just behind where the ash tray would be (did not refit it), and secured it through the transmission tunnel with a thick shaped backing plate on the underside of the tunnel to give a very strong mounting point (it has to take the load of 2 belts). The 'buckle connection' is rigid, and bolted to each side of the 'U' bracket, so that finding it to secure the belt is very quick and easy.

For the upper mounting, I drilled a hole in the BMC 'approved' position just behind the 'B' post and then directly below it a hole in the inner sill for the 'retractor' mounting. To reinforce the lower mounting, I welded a 7/16" UNF nut on a 3mm backing plate, which was in turn welded on to the inside of the inner sill to line up with the previously drilled hole. The upper mounting has a shaped reinforcing plate inside and the 'pillar loop' bracket secured with a bolt through it, the body and the backing plate - again good and strong.

The actual Securon retractor unit is very compact and tucked away behind the front seat.

These lap/diagonal belts seem to work very well, but obviously a full harness would be better for track times, but fitting them just isn't practical in combination with more 'normal' use of the car - we do need to use the rear seat!