Kevin,
I had a set of three point belts in my '64 when I bought it--probably a
fairly recent Moss or Victoria British part-- seemed good to me. The info
on the buckles says that they were American-made in Oklahoma. There should
be threaded bolt holes on the inner sill and tunnel (my '64 didn't have a
threaded hole on the tunnel-just a bolt and washers) for the lap part, and
just about all belts come with the bolts and washers. If not, SAE 7/16"
grade 8 bolts will do it. There should also be a couple of shoulder belt
studs on the wheel well. These are a little undersized for the 7/16" bolts
/ holes that are standard with the belts, but a good grade 8 washer should
take care of the difference.
I just installed retractable belts, by popular request of the family. A
little more involved. Since there were no large theaded places to attach
the retractor reel / shoulder belt, I bought the weld-in pieces from Moss,
cut round holes in the lower fender wells with an electrician's knockout
punch, and welded them in place. A little tricky, as a good weld is
important for safety, and it is an awkward position. B-GTs have good
mounting points on the top of the fender wells, I believe.
Also bought the bolt-on angled mounting plates that were used on later MGBs
for the factory belts. These plates put the retractor reel pretty much
horizontal, so the retractor works properly. These plates seem a little
flimsy--you can make them deflect vertically with your hand--but they must
work(?) For belts, I bought the British aftermarket Securon belts that
both Moss and Victoria sell. Their virtues over the OEM ones sold by Moss
are that they are less expensive (don't say cheap!) and can be mounted in
several different attitudes. The stock ones must be mounted horizontally
to release. The downside of the Securon is that it is a little wider on
the right side because of the attitude adjustment mechanism, and in my
case, the passenger side reel is mounted a little more inboard with the aid
of an offset bracket that comes with the kit.
The complication on mine was that I have a street type rollbar, and the
reel really wants to pay out the belt right through the bar. You can cheat
it by rotating the reel on the mount plate either inboard or outboard a
little. Inboard makes the belt ride a little close to the neck! The one
observation I had on first use is that the retractor action is fairly
strong. This is probably a good thing in operation. When I set the belts
up inboard of the rollbar, it was a little uncomfortable on the shoulder.
Went to the more outboard position--still noticeable but not bad. Bought a
couple of sheepskin belt covers as insurance for long trips. Safety fast...
Chris Attias
'64 MGB
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