Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Norfolkandchance]

Guys

One thing that occured to me last night is if/when I buy myself a nice little classic most dont have seatbelts, certainly not rear ones and with kids who will albeit very occasionally come in the car - I need seat belts.

My plan is to use the car at weekends when my kids spend time with their dad, I don't want the car trashed in the way kids trash the insides of cars, but there will be occasions when my regular is off the road for routine work and I will need to use my classic to get to work.

Can most classic has seat belts retro fitted??

[Uncle Joe]

If you have a look in this section you will see a topic 'seatbelts in a classic' that may answer part of your question.

Theres another topic regarding safety also.

UJ

[Standardsteve]

There are kits to fit to classic cars and depending on which car you have a set of belts from maybe a later model found at a auto jumble could be fitted. some cars from the fifties on had seat belts as an option so might have mounting points hidden behind trim but many dont so if you do fit them seek advice from some one who could tell you where and how to mount the belts, its not just a case of drilling a hole in the floor and bolting them in - the area will need to be strong enough to with stand the stress of the force of stopping a body from moving forward if the car stops suddenly. Dont forget that the weight of a human body can be multiplied by several times under the sudden deceleration that can occure in an impact so the mounting area will need to be backed by a thick mounting plate, the metel used in car bodies is not thick enough on its own even if large flat washers are used, these could still pull through the steel of a body in an accident. Dont for get that when fitted even if not fitted when the car was made they must now meet British MOT standards. good luck. Steve, Norfolk, England

[gillberry]

Theres a place in middlesex called quickfit who make and fit seat belts to older cars ie you have a red interior they make red seatbelts .

[giggles]

We've got rear belts in the Super Snipe and they have never been checked at MOT.

Securon do seat belts for Classic Cars and we've got theirs in our Snipe.

www.securon.co.uk (Hopefully the link will work.)

[Standardsteve]

Your lucky, I've got a 67 Daimler V8 2 1/2 lt and when that comes back from mot all the belts front and rear have been clicked together so they must have been looked at. (note the rear belts were fitted by the last owner so he could take his kids out in it and are a set of original static Daimler front belts there is no centre lap belt) as an ex MOT tester I have checked the mounting and they are all reenforced with thick load spreading plates welded to the body) Steve

[Uncle Joe]

I thought that I would lift this topic back up by adding a new comment.

What surprises me is that everyone seems to think that the only safety improvement that can be made to a classic car is adding seat belts. Since WW2, there have been a lot of other safety improvements to cars, but these never seem to be given any thought.

Take brakes as an example. A lot of classics have front drums. Some of these can be converted to front discs. But why does nobody ever think of doing this? A conversion to discs on my 300 shortens the 60-0 distance from 230ft to 135ft (source: Hot Rod magazine June 2000). Is that not a change worth making?

Though there are probably others, I only remember seeing one other person on this forum consider a brake improvement to his classic, and he has discs....

Food for thought?

[pigtin]

There are some older classics that will not tolerate increased braking power to any great extent... My Austin seven for one. I would love to fit discs to it but even the Morris minor hydraulics I have at the moment tend to wind up the front axle, and extensive mod's would be nescessary.

The problem might not be as great on 60s cars, but it would be as well to check the front suspension and anchoring layout before any dramatic increase in braking power.
But then; perhaps I am being over-cautious

[Uncle Joe]

Yes, I agree that will be the case regarding some classics, but by no means all. I remember doing a disc conversion to a 105E Anglia many years ago as an example.

Pigtin, regarding your Austin special. Have you posted a topic about it on the forum? That car fascinates the **** out of me!

[pigtin]

Do you mean the one on the Avatar (Copelia) or (Pigtin) the special I built myself? Here are the various stages of Pigtin... starting with a pile of junk on my mate's pickup... I was then given a Reliant 750 engine gearbox by a guy in a pub and it was the start of a cunning plan.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t103/donthebat/pt1.jpg


http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t103/donthebat/pt2.jpg

[pigtin]

After tidying and modifying the chassis I spent three weeks taking measurements and making drawings before starting to put it together.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t103/donthebat/pt3.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t103/donthebat/pt4.jpg

[pigtin]

Engine started.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t103/donthebat/pt5.jpg

Before running boards and windscreen.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t103/donthebat/pt6.jpg

[pigtin]

Complete, well almost: I later fitted an 850 engine and grafted a remote gearlever off a mid-30s Triumph Gloria to the gearbox and had a hood and tonneau made.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t103/donthebat/pt7.jpg

[Uncle Joe]

Well, now you mention it, both in actual fact....

They fascinate me just because they are the exact opposite of the type of cars that I own. So quintessentially british... and I mean that in the most positve way.