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MG MGA - Top seat belt mount

My first post about my first classic car. Having just bought a restored 1600MK1 A I'm "going through" the car noting things I need to do or would like to improve upon. The shoulder belt fixing of the 3 point static harness fitted is rather too low and the belt insists on falling off my shoulder - a problem I see is common having trawled the archives of the forum. (see pic)
The archive has produced a variety of solutions and in particular I like the one suggested by John Francis - a 3 bolt fixing for a fabricated mount which puts the top mount in the highest possible position. John seemed to be on the verge of producing these brackets but the thread appeared to go cold.
Is John still on the group & if so could he update me on the position w.r.t the brackets? If manufacture has been decided against perhaps drawings are available?
Regards
Mike

m mcgarry

If the shoulder fixing point used is under the tonneau (factory fixing point) rather then on the guard, you can move the fixing point as far to the centre of the car as is comfortable. See details in WS manual and MGAGURU site
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/interior/pics/sbii_p2.gif
My understanding is that the guard fixing point was only used by the factory for coupes. Comments?
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

Its a '59 MK1 1600 so no factory mounts at all under the tonneau or anywhere else. The mount shown in the pic is a bit lower than the factory recommended "retro fit" instructions & of a different sort being an eye with single bolt when the mount they show is a double bolted bracket. Even if this eye was mounted higher up the arch I doubt it would be high enough to be as effective as the Mk2 tonneau mount.
m mcgarry

Mike,

Here is a picture of the recommended top anchorage positions for the roadster. You can see both left and right points - the right one is almost out of the picture at the bottom corner.

With the body upside down and unpainted it's a very straightforward job but even the right way up it shouldn't be too difficult!

The brackets are welded at the front and rear. You would just have to take care that the heat from the welds was quenched by having someone standing by with a pile of wet rags to avoid burning the paintwork. You can get the brackets from Todd Clarke..................Mike

m.j. moore

Mike,

Welcome to the world of MGAs. Your car looks to be in great condition.

I have a '58 coupe and mounted three point harnesses in it. For the top centre mount, I drilled through the shelf into the boot, and chose the portion of the shelf that is double thickness. My belts have triangular metal ends with no eyebolt. I put one bolt through the two belts, and made a spacer to keep them of the shelf.

If this helps you, I could include some photos in another posting.

Peter.
P. Tilbury

Any pictures most welcome Peter.

Much though the MK2 fitting would be the ideal Mike I think its not worth risking fitting it to a restored & painted car - all the wood & vinyl edge trim would have to come off & welding upside down isn't something I think could be guaranteed to result in undamaged paint or a good weld even with an assistant armed with soaked rags - which I'm sure the welder would enjoy being directly under!

I'm pursuing the "3 bolt" fixture suggested by John Francis & will report back on any success.

Regards
Mike
m mcgarry

Hi Mike - good luck with your anchorage problem. I find that mine is also in an awkward position with the belt falling off my shoulder - also on a 1600 Mk1. Whereabouts in Greater Manchester are you? - I am near Ormskirk - cheers Cam
Cam Cunningham

Hi Mike

I will email you directly to give you the drawings of the parts I designed. I have to say that even with the the very high mounting position there is still a very slight tendency for the belt to slip off my shoulder. However, I am 6'2" and have a very long back so it may be more about me than the fixing.
The fixings otherwise work very well with the quick release MGB clips for putting the roof up and down.

I did have a spare set of brackets which I let go but I don't think I have a set of the final version left. I didn't make any more because of the risk of liability on such a safety critical component.

My email is jh.francis@btinternet.com

John



John Francis

Hi John,

I understand your reluctance to go into production as I have had made several unobtainable parts for my Italian Moto Parilla motorcycles and began selling them (at cost) to “enthusiasts” in the USA whose cack-handed attempts to fit them resulted in complaints & threats of legal proceedings. What a world we now live in.

Thanks for the offer of the drawings, they will be most welcome, your solution is by far the most elegant I have seen.I have a set of US made "Beams" belts with eyebolt fixings on all ends which I think will be ideal with your bracket.

I believe the design incorporated 2 thin sheet components welded together - would a thicker single sheet be practical?

I'm just 6' and my wife is 6" shorter, tests with a mockup bracket from the two accessible front wing mounts show that its far better than the wheelarch fitting now in place. You can see the original fixing point in the attached pic. Offsetting the belt fixing nearer to the centre of the car helped too. Your bracket with more "lift" from the fixing points would seem ideal with the eyebolts fitted "upside down".

Cam - I'm near the dreaded Trafford Centre in Urmston.

Regards to all & thanks for the help so far.

Mike

m mcgarry

I have a high up mounting position similar to that depicted in John's photo. I find that I can reduce the tendency for the shoulder strap to slip off by altering the triangular geometry of the belts. I slide the male buckle as high up the diagonal as is comfortably possible so that the diagonal forms an almost straight line with the tunnel female strap.

Steve
Steve Gyles

I've tried different settings with the std lower rear fixing & the only way to get the belt to stay on at any time was to make the "female" strap as short as possible to pull the diagonal as far towards the tunnel as possible. Once I get a high mount sorted out I'll try readjusting as you suggest.

Mike
m mcgarry

Mike,
My top belt bracket is similar to yours. I am quite long bodied and my belt has to go up onto my shoulder. It has never slipped off when tensioned correctly depending on what clothing i'm wearing. I just can't help thinking that you are not putting enough tension into your belt for it to slip off your shoulders.

Colin

Colin Manley

Mike (Mcgarry) - I'm trying to make the rear panel that fits under the hood frame. I see from your pic that it is cut back at the front edge to allow for the door seal - how much is this (donr have the seal yet)
Also, what other fixing is there as I dont see any panel screws?
Last - what is the fastener for, located just in front of the hood hinge bracket - is it for a tonneau?
Thanks
Art Pearse

Art, I made my own trim panel as well and tried to arrange it so that the front vertical edge of the panel came as close as possible to the fur of the door seal so that you couldn't see any panel paint in the gap. But if you haven't got your seal yet take it to the start of the 1/2" seal flange.

The fastener you point out is a lift the dot stud and is one of three required for the edge of the sidescreen stowage bag. The second is about 6.5 inches vertically below the first and the third is fixed to the inside of the curved piece of cockpit trim about 2-2.5" from the front edge (seems to be missing in Mike's picture).

I only put one screw in to fix the panel and that is about half way between the first and second LTD studs. I'm not sure you even need this because I think my LTD stud screws were long enough to go through the body panel.
The top of the panel of course is well clamped to the body by the hood fixing plate. I also made the very rear piece of the panel long enough (by about an inch) to tuck in the gap between the body and the vertical firewall panel.....................Mike
m.j. moore

I mounted mine as per Todd Clarks drawing. It's fine most of the time but I wish I had mounted directly behind my shoulder blade. I believe that would help it form falling off my shoulder. If you keep it pretty snug you'll be alright.
Lmazoway

Fellow MGA driver, Skip Hahn, and I mounted a three point belt set using a fender bolt for the top shoulder belt. Remove a convenient rear fender bolt and replace it with one about 3/4" longer. Use a nut and washer to attatch the belt mount.
R. D. De Fauw

This thread was discussed between 04/03/2014 and 19/03/2014

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