Seat belts in a Tourer?

[Peter Arnold]

I would love to hear member’s thoughts on the pros and cons of fitting seat belts to my ‘36 Tourer. After so many years of feeling the comfort of a seat belt I am finding the lack of seat belts a trifle disturbing.
Cheers, PeterA.

[Mike Costigan]

If all you want is the comfort of being able to wear a seat belt, then I see no real problem; the trouble is they will not actually provide any serious protection! To do the job properly you will need to fix the belt mountings to the chassis, and there's not much chassis on a Seven. You will need to end up with a substantial framework braced well-forward which will probably weigh as much as the whole body.

[Dave Wortley]

Having turned my chummy over many years ago I am thankful I hadn’t seat belts. My passenger and I were both thrown clear of the car. The windscreen was flattened against the scuttle so we would both have suffered serious damage if we had been strapped in.

[Bob Culver]

As above the case for seatbelts in an open car without a hideous roll bar is debatable. Difficult to find a top mount for the belt so may not even protect from contact with the screen.
Closed cars are another matter. As a teenager I observed close up the driver fall slowly out of a diagonally cartwheeling A35 at the loacl race track and realised that he would have been quite safe contained. And a colleague of my fathers fell out of his car in a very low speed intersection prang. So my RP had a belt from the early 1960s
(not relevant, but when belts first appeared here adverts often included a photo of a Citroen 15 which hit a pole and broke in two held together only by the seat belt. The driver survived!!)

[Ian Williams]

As others have stated being strapped into an open topped and structurally weak car is not a good idea, I am only alive because I did not have seatbelts in my two seater when it rolled. I was very seriously injured but being thrown from the car without a shadow of doubt saved my life.

[circeonya@hotmail.com]

I was a early adoptor of seatbelts in my Austin A60 in 1961. My collegues thought I was mad and in some circumstances you will be worse off wearing them, but on balance it is very much in favour of the belts. I too feel uncomfortable without a belt in the RN, but I can't see any strong ponts for mounting, maybe the wheel arch for the sash like the MGB? but the floor is questionable for the lap?

[Charles P]

Fit them if you want a sense of security but don't kid yourself that they'll be of any benefit, indeed probably the opposite, as Ian and Dave indicated. And please don't re-engineer the car to create some sort of mini cage to attach them. The moment that you start seriously considering that route perhaps it's time to think about buying a different vehicle altogether.

Charles

[Bob Culver]

Not trying to protect from a 60 mph head on, primarily just to stop falling out of the giant door which catches on just 3/8 inch os so of very deformable panel. And avoid the imprint of the wiper motor in forehead.
Many belts in the 1960s bolted through the door pillar. The triangular gusset at lower corner of door is strong or a bolt head can be lost in the scallop of the equally heavy panel below and forward of.The drive tunnel is frail but can be reinfoced somewhat without a lot of weight. (A short sheet metal flanged liner top hat shape), Some sort of safety chain or pinned eyes on the door also seems a prudent precaution.
As you get older life seems more precious. And have been early on the scene of several major crashes over the decades. In crashes pre belts persons were strewn far from the vehicles (Newspapers reported night crashes where all the ex occupants were only found in daylight)

A problem in this country is belts have to be retrofitted of modern type and to an unattainable standard. For w.o.f often easier to remove and refit after (or offer to remove; often a clincher!)If been long off the road old style belts can be passed off as an old installation.
(Editted extensively)

[Tony Press]

With a very deformable car around you seat belts in an Austin 7 would give a very false sense of security .

Your modern has crumple zones and even though the 7 column is rather upright it  could still get you.

Early seat belts were found to be not much use in a crash and in a 7 you would be restricted to a poorly attached  lap belt.

Drive your unseatbelted Austin Seven as though your life depended on it 

[Hedd_Jones]

Agree with all of the above.

One other issue is kids less than 3. Law says must be in car seat, car seat must be mounted securley to the car using the manufacturer designed mounting points etc et .

We found a 1970's Brittax seat at the tip, probably the sort of thing my mum and dad strapped me in the 1303s Beetle we used to have back in thw day. Designed for a lap belt.

I took the rear squab out of the auatin. Made a sort of lift in plywood table to make the floor accept the seat, and then rat shit strapped the seat to the luggage rack mounting bolts in the back corner of the body.

There were no illusions that this gave any extra safety vs having the child rolling round the back seat. But it did I believe comply with the law. And we never got pulled