James:
I'm afraid that you have touched a pet peeve that I am going to let
myself react to.
I owned a 1970 MGB with the same type of seat belts that you refer to. They
were horrible!!!!!!!!. Obviously MG reacting to the Federal Safety
requirements for 3 point belts without a whole lot of time or budget to do
it well.
Any seat belt that has to be unattached every time you put the top up and
down, deserves to be left out of the history books. The plastic latch plug
on the rear mounting would harden and fail after a couple of years in the
sun allowing the clip to rattle and possibly fall off during an accident.
This design of belt was not a good idea, and quite possibly contributed to
fatalities or major injuries.
Pre 1968 British vehicles were typically supplied with mounting points, but
no seatbelts. The seatbelts were installed by the dealer per customer
request. In the UK retractable 3 point belts were readily available during
the 60s and were used by safety concious drivers. When their car was sold,
many times the belts would be transferred to the new car. In the US the
Federal Government implemented minimum belt requirements in 1968. The
standards were revised over the years with the requirement of fully
retractable 3 point belts in 1974. (please note, this is all off the top
of my head and therefore subject to error)
Ok, back to the point. Having the correct, original type belts installed on
your year of car is a laudible point. IF the car is going to be used as a
display, with limited mileage and exposure to danger. Or IF originality to
a specific Federally required ruling is something that you want to adhere to
and are willing to accept the risk.
Keep in mind that your passenger may not understand or agree to the
liabilities involved in your decision.
Me, I am guided by my father who installed grey Kangol retractable belts in
his 1964 Austin Cambridge the first weekend he got it home.
In my 1970 MGB I mounted retractable units to the roll bar, where the belts
were easy to reach and buckling up became automatic. I know that using
those belts every time I drove allowed me to avoid potential danger by
keeping my body in position during emergency maneuvers.
ps thanks for the RMVR information.
I do believe in originality, but I am not an advocate of adhering to
Federally mandated requirements on 68- cars. Take a look at a UK car of the
same vintage to see where the factory thought the car should have gone and
you realize that MG was reacting to legal issues rather than creating the
automotive essence.
regards
Kelvin.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: James Nazarian Jr [mailto:James.Nazarian@Colorado.EDU]
> Sent: Thursday, September 21, 2000 12:57 PM
> To: Dodd, Kelvin
> Subject: Re: Blatant Commercialism
>
>
> RMVR (Rocky Mountain Vintage Racing) says five years.
>
> BTW. I would replace my belts if the suppliers (Moss VB et al.) would
> admit they exist. The 71 belts (with plastic locktabs on
> shoulder belt
> attacment) are not shown in any catalog I have ever seen. I
> would buy two
> pairs belts and buckles (and plastic locktabs) if they are
> ever released.
>
> James Nazarian
> '71 B roadster
> '71 BGT ever so slowly turning into a V8
> '63 Buick 215
>
> "I sure wish I had a racer's budget, or are the racers just better at
> explaining expenses to the wife?"
> -Unknown
>
> On Thu, 21 Sep 2000, Dodd, Kelvin wrote:
>
> > Folks, I need a bit of help.
> >
> > For a long time I have been an advocate of seat belts.
> I am in the
> > process of a bit of a one man crusade to put good belts in
> people's LBCs. I
> > have a question of the list regarding the age of seat belts.
> >
> > In California, the Vintage Auto Racing Association
> (VARA) requires
> > dates on belts and strongly suggests that the belts be
> rewebbed every 5
> > years.
> >
> > In the listers experience. Have you run across any
> rules such as
> > these with groups you are familiar with?
> >
> >
> >
> > I would like to make the point that the belts in most
> of our cars
> > are now too old to be considered safe. That way I can sell
> lots of new
> > belts to people and make my bosses happy. See I told you
> that Blatent
> > Commercialism was involved.
> >
> > Kelvin. Who really does believe in what he is doing.
> >
>
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