Seat belt adaptors on ebay

[clarenceboddiger]

Just saw these, I made a pair of these, to do it yourself costs about £40 for steel and machining. Someoneat S club was asking about them in stainless as on mine.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TVR-S-S2-S3-SEAT-BELT-90-DEG...

[Jed-S]

Are there any engineers on this site that would like to comment on these adapters and the way that the orientation of the seatbelt guide has been changed?
To my mind it doesn't look a very clever solution having the seatbelt guide vertical rather than horizontal. It'll bend in an accident allowing that extra bit of unwanted movement plus you're relying on the small surface area of the head of the bolt to hold it in place against a heavy force. I'd have thought it was better to mill a flat on the top of the bar and then drill/tap a hole and still retain the seatbelt guide in the horizontal position. I'm no engineer but that seems most logical way to do this.

Jed

[Gerald-TVR]

I went to a couple of local engineering companies with the design and both refused to even quote me a price - they both belived the design at fault and a major risk in the case of an accident. I was persuaded not to progress the idea.

Please be careful guys you are worth more than a little fiddling with the seat belt

[GreenV8S]

I'd be cautious about relying on them, but the original setup is pretty fragile too. But are they actually any better than the original arrangement? I never had any problems with the original, but if your seatbelts are getting snagged I don't see how this is really going to help.

[Roy C]

I never got on with the original belts - always snagging and the lock (female) end was too long. I had them replaced by a seatbelt specialist many years ago and never had any further problems.

[Gerald-TVR]

Hi Roy
What did he do please. Just new belts or did he change the design at all? Do you have any photos?

[Gentleman Geoff]

Roy C said:

the lock (female) end was too long.

I still remember the bruised ribs. The alternative parts list recommends Peugeot alternative stalks to get around this.

[Barkychoc]

I'd say the issue with the seatbelt adaptor apart from those mentioned above is that it would be classed as a modification to your car which could compromise your insurance if something nasty happened.

I can't imagine an insurance company would be receptive to you informing them of a change to the seatbelt arrangement from the manufacturers original spec, well apart from a roll bar and full harnesses.

[pringli]

Jed-S said:

Are there any engineers on this site that would like to comment on these adapters and the way that the orientation of the seatbelt guide has been changed?
To my mind it doesn't look a very clever solution having the seatbelt guide vertical rather than horizontal. It'll bend in an accident allowing that extra bit of unwanted movement plus you're relying on the small surface area of the head of the bolt to hold it in place against a heavy force. I'd have thought it was better to mill a flat on the top of the bar and then drill/tap a hole and still retain the seatbelt guide in the horizontal position. I'm no engineer but that seems most logical way to do this.

Jed

I agree with Jed - the problem with these is due to a lever effect in the case of an accident - if they were designed as Jed says then they are purely an extension of the top mount and if manufactured in the correct grade materials then they would be fine. The main problem in my opinion is the length of the stalks, they are far too long and as has already been said would contribute to severe lower rib cage damage.
Can someone unequivocably state exactly which donor car (ie have you used them yourself)should be used for the best possible solution.

Edited by pringli on Friday 31st October 10:46

[Roy C]

Gerald-TVR said:

Hi Roy
What did he do please. Just new belts or did he change the design at all? Do you have any photos?

Swapped the original reels with better quality items and the stalks replaced with a short solid lock.
http://quickfitsbs.com/

Sorry no pics, but reels similar to originals (probably wouldn't show up as its black reels and belts against black seats and carpets!).

[Gerald-TVR]

Roy C said:

Gerald-TVR said:

Hi Roy
What did he do please. Just new belts or did he change the design at all? Do you have any photos?

Swapped the original reels with better quality items and the stalks replaced with a short solid lock.
http://quickfitsbs.com/

Sorry no pics, but reels similar to originals (probably wouldn't show up as its black reels and belts against black seats and carpets!).

Thanks Roy

[spludge]

I replaced the belts on mine with Securon model 500/15 and they seem to work much better than the originals. I still get the occasional snag or the buckle flipped on the belt but nowhere near as often as before. I'm also a lot happier with the shorter stalks, the belts lay as they should across the lap and it all feels a lot more secure.

When I took the old belts out I found that the mounting on the reel itself on one side had corroded quite a bit. The result of 15 years sitting on a bit of soggy carpet I guess and something definitely worth checking for. Oh and getting the bolts out was a bit of a challenge, they get pretty well rusted in and after shearing one of the reel fixings I borrowed an impact wrench to see to the rest.

K

[Jed-S]

One thing I noticed when I replaced the carpet in my car was that the seat belts retracted far better than before. The thick Wilton carpet was replaced with thin lightweight synthetic stuff which had a very short pile. It might be worth sticking some parcel tape on the carpet under the seatbelt between the inertia reel and the upper mounting and see if it retracts better without the carpet pile causing drag on the seatbelt. If that makes a difference then you could always shave the carpet.

Jed

[SteveOS3]

I had some adjustors made out of mild steel at my local garage and painted black as per the link below:

http://www.tvrsseries.com/seatbelt.htm

Does anyone know what ECE regulation 14 means and should I tell my insurance company?

SteveO

[pies]

I think clivef is your man

[clarenceboddiger]

Whilst I agree with the concerns over the designs of these and whether they would be less stronger than the originals, I would imagine that if an S series car was to hit anything hard enough for this to be an issue there would be many more concerns to worry about ie no side protection other than a fibreglass panel, no crumple Zone on the front end other than the chassis which is low enough for most vehicles to ride up and over unless hit head on etc.As I say I respect the concerns, moreover the ones re insurance issues.However the issue of fitting a differently rated fuel regulator could also be classed as a modification when an Insurance company wants to get out of a claim.

Edited by clarenceboddiger on Saturday 1st November 07:55

[steve j]

pies said:

I think clivef is your man

He sure is, you`ll find him on the Griff forum, incidentally I fitted peugeot stalks to my car a few years ago and it is much more comfortable.

[GreenV8S]

clarenceboddiger said:

However the issue of fitting a differently rated fuel regulator could also be classed as a modification when an Insurance company wants to get out of a claim.

Happily that's not a problem for those of us with completely standard cars.

[pies]

GreenV8S said:

clarenceboddiger said:

However the issue of fitting a differently rated fuel regulator could also be classed as a modification when an Insurance company wants to get out of a claim.

Happily that's not a problem for those of us with completely standard cars.

:cough: nearly choked reading that....standard my ar.......