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MG MGA - Seat belt anchor location

I am making the brackets to anchor the seat belts on the outside frame. The belt ends are the flat snap type connector, and my brackets will have a 3/8 dia pin welded between two plates. How far back should the pin be? My guess is almost as far as the rear upright floorboard.
Art Pearse

secondary question - the Todd Clarke style outer bracket is detachable - is this necessary? I was going to weld direct to the frame.
Art Pearse

Art, the belt needs to be detachable to feed through the top frame when raising/lowering.
Gary Lock

Art,
For location dimensions look on MGAguru
http://www.mgaguru.com/mgtech/interior/int124.htm
see also note to locate door side bracket an extra 2" further to the rear to avoid damage to the rear of the seat back.
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

Gary, I know the belt needs to be detachable, and I have the snap lock ends, but I meant the bracket itself, which bolts to a nut-plate which is welded to the frame - why does it need to be detachable?
Mike, thanks - I did look at mgaguru after I posted.
For the inside anchor, my tunnel is half fibreglass, so I'm thinking of a 7/16 eyebolt through the rear tunnel upright flange, just above the bottom floorboard screw. There is a frame member behind this location and it seems the easiest fix. The snap lock end matches the eyebolt which came with the Moss belts.
Art Pearse

Art,
The reason it is detachable is because the base brackets were welded in place in Mk11 1600 by the factory. If people wanted seatbelts the top bracket could be just screwed to the base bracket. Todd Clarke's brackets replicate the factory design.
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

You may want to look at this page on Barney's site. http://www.mgaguru.com/mgtech/interior/int121.htm

I have the shoulder belts with the snap ends and I mounted the eye bolts that came with them as shown on that page. I did weld the washer(actually used a metal plate) to the metal framework for the inner mount. It seems very strong and is easy to unhook when raising the top.
Jeff Schultz

Jeff, the inner mount, I will use the eyebolt, but there is room to drill through the vertical frame member, 5/8" from the tunnel. This will result in the eyebolt just touching the tunnel when arranged horizontally (belt end vertical). Just need a small slot in the carpet later. I will add the big washer also, with 1/8" packing to keep it flat. The 7/16 hole is still within the frame member.
Did you drill through the spring mount for the outer eyebolt?
Art Pearse

Here is my inside anchor...

Art Pearse

And behind it.....

Art Pearse

I did drill through the center of the spring mount for the outside ones. With the eye horizontal, mine ended up a little over 2 inches above the floor and maybe a half inch clearance from the frame rail.
Jeff Schultz

Here is my proposed outside anchor point. Ready to weld to the frame.

Art Pearse

Looks like it should work fine. Just make sure to test with your seats in to make sure it won't be rubbing and wearing against the seat back.

Don't have a picture of mine right now, but you can see where the spring mount is in your picture. It is the raised metal area in the notch cut in the plywood, just below where you show your mount. The hole I drilled is 2 1/4 inches above the floor and 5/8 inch from the frame rail.
Jeff Schultz

This thread was discussed between 15/03/2012 and 19/03/2012

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