Seat belts were standard fitment in all aussie Minis from the release of the De Luxe in 1965, (the HR Holden was the first Holden to have seatbelts as srandard fitment, and only from six months after start of production, in October 1966 - another first for BMC) so your Mini would have had them if it is a 66 model.

Therefore it must have seatbelts to be legal in any australian state.

Cheers,
Watto.

Hemco sell the belts and spreader plates mail order.

To do belts for my whole car was under $400. They did a beautiful job.

Front ones were custom made to tilt back at 30 degrees and have a drop link from the roof. This replicates the factory setup.



Rear were off the shelf lap centre and lap sash outer. Centre belt has spreader plate mounts, as the factory did not provide for a centre belt.



The engineer passed all this for compliance with no worries.

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Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2

Definately, if your car had seats beats when sold it must have them now. Sounds like it probably did. You would have to be a mug to drive without seatbelts anyway. Some of those stories my father told me don't bare repeating.

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Noli Illegitimi Carborundum

What about rebuilding a car and having to go over the "pits", ie Regency in SA. What are the rules for seat belts then?.
My Mini is nearly finished I have belts in the front and none in the back as yet (I can't see any mounting points fitted to the back).
Its a '64 model. Did these come fitted with belts, if so what was the configuration for the back?
I was planning to fit lap seat belts in the back.
Will these need to be engineered?

White_Min_Man

is it illegal to play russian roulette with an automatic pistol?

_________________
the world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page
66 Mini Minor sponsored by http://www.lifeonthehedge.com.au/ The Dog Harness Specialists
It was a pleasure ausmini. I'll miss all you misfits and reprobates

To add fuel to the argument, when I first got my 65 Deluxe registered, I put it through the pits without seat belts and it passed. It also had no mirrors. And it was missing a wheel nut off the back, but I was required to fit one (since four wheel nuts were originally fitted to the car, and if you remove one of the wheel nuts, then you legally must replace it with another of the same type )
Suffice to say, first thing I did once I'd screwed the number plates on, was go and buy some seat belts and a mirror!

I struggle with the concept that anyone would even want to drive a car without seat belts.

NSW alone used to average 3,000 road deaths a year just over forty years ago and now we are horrfied when 1,100 people die on NSW roads each year. I am not going analyse why the road toll has decreased but I clearly recongnise that seat belts are a major contributing factor in preserving life in a motor vehicle accident.

I think the various state police are justified in removing six points from the drivers licence for each person in the car not wearing a seat belt.

It always staggers me when I see motorists (including those with unrestrained children in the cars) not wearing seat belts after forty years of it being mandatory. Of course, every day you see a couple.

I'll add my bits to it , I've been on an SES rescue squad and seen people wearing and not wearing them , there's a hell of a difference . Also I've been in a head on where both cars were doing 80 and apart from aches the only injurie I got was a 50 cent piece sized bruise from the seat belt buckle . Without it I would have made a face shaped impression on the steering wheel and dash at the least .

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thanks for all the reponce !

& yes it is stupid to drive without them ! agreed ,

just not about to through something in that dont suit .

yes i have seen the hemco website prior tl posting this topic --UGLY !!!

think i'll go for some original late60's britax belts with the oversized buckle .


amazing how expensive seat belts are when you start looking , already spent over 12k in 11 months on the beast , why stop now !

if anyone knows a source for new old stock britax belts please let me know ....

Last year, in year 11 Physics we had a bunch on problems to work out in 'motion in two dimensions' (very easy topic/chapter, got an A in it this year and last! ) we did some basical force calculations on the difference with or without seatbelts.

The belts reduce the force placed upon you byt lengthening your time of decelleration. And yes, it makes a HUGE difference. Difference between life and death. Also they stop you from cutting your sefl on the dash too.

All of this is basic and known stuff, what I'm getting at is...put the seatbelts in and use 'em!

_________________
1964 Morris 850, 1330 Supercharged - 81.8hp atws.
1975 Leyland Mini S 1100S powered - Nice and reliable.
1977 Leyland Mini LS - Project LS-T

I think you will find that the seat belt are in fact cheaper than the ambulance trip to the hospital.

Now I am going to get angry. Wake up to yourself! Fit new belts. You don't know the history of the new old stock belts. They may have been sitting on a shelf in the sun for forty years and the webbing is ready to fall apart from the UV exposure.

what is your life worth if you can spend 12k just on a car?

what is the life of your passenger worth?

seat belts are incredibly cheap for what they do for you. in terms of return on investment, even if you never use it in a smash, they are probably one of the best things you will ever spend money on. if you do have a smash, then you will be laughing all the way to the next day of your life.

bloody tight arse mini owners.

seriously, if you are keen to get it on the road, just get some that meet australian standards and are new from repco, supercrap or whatever. then save up for the expensive custom looking ones that also meet the australian standards.

morry is right - new old stock are just as bad as second hand.

pm Steve.E and ask him how he feels about the seatbelts in his elf.

anyone here who has used a seatbelt for real will tell you their real value. I am one of them. A bruise accross the chest was far better than being dead, which i would have been without it.

cheers
michael

_________________
the world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page
66 Mini Minor sponsored by http://www.lifeonthehedge.com.au/ The Dog Harness Specialists
It was a pleasure ausmini. I'll miss all you misfits and reprobates

Id be fitting brand new seatbelts, regardless of whethere the car was produced with them or not.

A life is a lot more precious then the price paid for a seatbelt!

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1978 Leyland Mini 998LS All Original *Sally*
2002 Mini Cooper *Coopa*

Thay have saved my life too, the fractured sternum they caused was the most painful thing I have ever encounted (when they asked me to take a deep breath for the X ray I passed out from pain)

Without a seat belt I would not be here!

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Noli Illegitimi Carborundum