Aha, now it's making sense. Thanks for the photos MiniKit. I don't think that item will be much use to me since I don't have the right seatbelts to plug into it, but it gives me a better idea of what was going on.

I'll get a couple of those mounts you suggested Dave - that was exactly what I needed to know. Will decide later on whether to get new Hemco statics or use my existing retractables - probably the former.

Thanks all for your comments.

Colin

I found a picture of the two hole style of attachments that was common on early Minis.



Yes, I know they have three holes, they went through a transitional stage where you had the choice of using the early two hole style or the later single hole, that has become the standard.

I had a look at the floor in my Traveller, it has several different holes, but none of them were where I would have put them. I have a couple of sets of NOS Britax belts, similar to the ones above but with BMC logos. I guess I'll be welding up existing holes and making some new ones.

Tim

_________________
1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian

Hmm, those belts might match my holes, not sure though. It's not that clear in my picture, but the two holes closer to the floor are larger than the other two, not the same size as the outer two on those Britax belts. Distance between hole centres is 30 mm. But I like those belts very much: will keep an eye out for black ones for a while. Guessing you must've been very lucky to find some.

Very interesting.

I've seen three cars with belts like Tims photo, except the bracket part with the three holes is was welded, not bolted, to the floor. There's also evidence on my car of someone grinding the bracket off.

Hence my belief that they all had that bracket wekded on.

Or maybe my memory is soggy?

_________________
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

Well, I can't provide any reliable opinion of my own, since I've seen inside hardly any Minis in my life. But here's a passage from the Somerford Mini catalogue:



This is obviously referring to British cars. Maybe some had welded brackets and others didn't. As far as I can establish, most had either the silver Britax belts, or Kangol belts - maybe Kangols were more common?

I searched eBay's completed listings, and only found two of interest.

A pair of Britax belts with single centre mount holes:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/BMC-BRITAX-MINI-COOPER-SEAT-BELTS-N-O-S-/180521293453

And a single Kangol belt with double centre mount holes:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMC-Austin-Morris-Mini-Cooper-S-MK1-seat-belt-NOS-/270585157138

They didn't go cheaply.

I've been watching seatbelts for early Minis on Ebay for a few years. I've only ever seen the two main styles, but there could have been other ways to mount the short end to the floor. They seem to have started off with two holes then standardised on a single hole. A lot of them have that horrible clip thing that has to hook into an eye.

I've bought a couple of sets in the last few years, but all were expensive. They are surprisingly common, two sellers in the UK seem to be slowly releasing them a pair at a time so as not to flood the market, they can sell for anything up to $400, but mine were less than that. The Britax ones usually have silver grey webbing and chrome clasps and the Kangol ones usually black with black clasps. The Kangol ones are a little cheaper. The ultimate ones are Irvin seatbelts, with a parachute logo, they were used in upmarket cars.

A possible cheaper option is to get old ones reconditioned, despite what people from NSW and Queensland think, there are places that can legally re-web them with modern webbing in multiple colours and even repair and replate the catches. You don't have to have black plastic and flourescent orange seatbelt buckles.

http://www.seatbeltsolutions.com.au/services.asp

Tim

_________________
1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian

Sweet. I'll be patient and watch.