Seat belts TR3A

[RUBY131]

Any help would be appreciated about fitting seat belts to TR3A Many thanks Chris.

[cvtrian]

Hi Chris

what sort of seat belts are you fitting, fixed three point, or retractables, of harness type? Have your seats got headrests or are they standard?

Regards

Ian

[RUBY131]

Hi Ian, thanks for reply. Really looking for advice on which type is easiest to fit and wether there are any pitfalls I should avoid. I have no intention of using the car for competition and would like to keep things as simple as possible to retain the originality of the car so maybe 3 point fixed may be the best to fit. So if you have any info on positioning the fixings easily it wold be much appreciated. Cheers Chris.

[TomMull]

There are several posts on the topic on this forum, e.g. http://www.tr-register.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/21233-fitting-seatbelts-to-tr3a/

In my opinion, seat belts, particularly lap type, in the TR2, 3 are of very limited in function. I have a set in my car, more to satisfy the law than to protect the riders. They merely keep you tied to a very unprotected environment.

Tom

[RUBY131]

Good point Tom, need to give this some more serious thought. Because of the age of my car it is exemp tseat belts but I feel I do need something in place for safetys sake. Cheers Chris.

[classic225]

I think that seatbelts in a car like a TR won't do much good in case of an accident, so I decided against fitting seatbelts in my car.

Yves

[foster461]

Here's my seat belt story

 

http://www.tr-register.co.uk/rebuilders-diary/2015/09/0016/1960-TR3A-Restoration-Installing-modern-seatbelts

 

Stan

[RUBY131]

Thanks Stan exactly the information I wanted.....Chris

[billy l]

Sorry Yves, I must disagree with you regarding wearing of seat belts. I was in the fire service from mid 70's to 2006 and from the date compulsory seat belt wearing was introduced in the UK we noticed immediately a dramatic decrease of death and serious injuries to car occupants, in a hard frontal impact for instance there used to be frequent fatal casualties having been thrown through the windscreen or being impaled onto the steering column, this seemed to stop overnight. In a sidescreen car for instance seatbelts will not give protection from say a side impact but may well save you from being thrown out of the vehicle or save you from chest injuries from the steering column. In the end it's up to the individual but I always use my seatbelt in the TR. Cheers, Bill.

Edited April 8, 2017 by billy l

[Lebro]

+1 I fitted them in the '70s, & refitted new ones in 2013.

Only manual three point ones, but much better than nothing.

 

Bob.

[Dave Larnder]

Bob

Please can we see pics of your final installation to compare against Stans retractable set up ?

Thanks

 

Dave

[Lebro]

 

All mountings were steel plates about 5" by 4" heavy gauge (cant remember exactly what) with captive nuts attached.

all welded to underside during the re-build process.

Edited April 8, 2017 by Lebro

[Don Elliott]

I have had simple lap belts in my 1958 TR3A since 1959 when I started to rally it. I feel secure with them.

 

I drove TS2 for 2300 miles in 2011 and it had 3-way belts. The top belt would not stay up on my shoulder no matter what I did. It would fall down to my belly and it would roll down off my shoulder. It didn't feel secure. I was told that driving in UK with a 3-way belt like this down to my belly would mean I could get an infraction from the local constabulary.

 

Don Elliott, Original Owner, 1958 TR3A, TS 27489 LO

[jean]

I know from 2 cases where seatbelts in a TR3 could have avoided serious damage to passengers faces.

 

In one case a senior member of the Belgian club on his way to the IWE left a roundabout in the wrong lane and had a head on collision with a Range Rover.

his passenger hit the windscreen plate and cut his face open, but both were taken to hospital and survived.

 

In the other case the TR3 suffered a front suspension failure and hit rock at the side of the road. The drivers wife hit the grab handle and lost quite an amount of teeth, the good news her husband was a dentist.

[TR 2100]

I have 3-point seatbelts in my early 4 - very similar

to the layout of the TR3A.

 

As Don says, there is a tendency for the top belt to

slip off the shoulder but I haven't found it a problem.

I like the seatbelts to fit snugly around me.

 

I don't know where on the wheelarch the belts in TS2

are fitted. If they are on the top of the wheelarch, I

can understand why Don had such a problem.

 

Check out the factory location for TR4 seatbelts.

Rather than the top fixing being on the top of the

wheelarch, the TR4 had brackets fitted slightly lower

on the inside.

 

I was also lucky to have some original Stanpart 3-point

seatbelts, bought back in the 70s for my TR3A - but

never fitted. Perfect for my TR4.

 

AlanR

 

AlanR

[Don Elliott]

Alan - You can see how low the 3-point red seat belt is down at my elbow while I was driving at Harewood near Harrogate in 2011. The rear point of attachment for the upper belt is quite low as I remember.

 

I hope your health is good. I recall missing you because of events at Harrogate.

 

Cheers

 

Don

Edited April 9, 2017 by Don Elliott

[Andrew Smith]

Chris,

 

I scanned the Stanpart fitting instructions (incl measurements) for the 2 or 3-point seat belts to PDF - if send me a PM with your email address I'll email them to you if you wish.

 

Cheers

Andrew

[Willie Felger]

For what it's worth - I fitted a pair of Securon stalk type belts from TRGB to my TR3A. They worked perfectly although I did cross the stalks over the transmission tunnel between the seats. Fitting to the inter rear wing top and behind the seat just above the sill was pretty self- evident using the fittings supplied and heavy penny washers under the car. I did have a bit of an off and was held reassuringly tight in my seat.

 

For those who are anti belts - it's a free world but I hope you passenger never has to eat the grab handle.

 

Keep TRucking

 

 

Willie