Seat belts and the UK M.O.T. test

If they where originally fitted they must be present and correct. All P6's had front seatbelts fitted from new.
 
pat180269 said:
If they where originally fitted they must be present and correct. All P6's had front seatbelts fitted from new.
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Not quite true. P6's may have had them from new, but you could remove them from anything before 1967 and it would pass, the law & MOT only requires them to be fitted and working in post 67 cars.
 
pat180269 said:
If they where originally fitted they must be present and correct. All P6's had front seatbelts fitted from new.
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Thanks for the information. The late Lil passed two MOTs under my ownership without seatbelts - I took the Irvine belts out because I genuinely believed they wouldn't be of any use.

As you know, I ended up wrecking the car in a head-on collision but the sight of the severely buckled steering wheel, now freely spinning in the wrecked car, really shocked me.

BPH had badly installed inertia belts that were removed last week and not replaced - perhaps I had better put the Irvines in pronto.
 
The following is not meant to have any real relevance to the ongoing topic or the people involved, it's just an observation.

I don't really give a t*ss about the law, but working in a garage that did Police recovery in the early 70's taught me that if you've got the chance to have seatbelts fitted, then they should work, and if they do, then you're an idiot if you don't use them. We used to have a little game we played when surveying the wrecks when they came back in, "who got out alive", and pretty much everytime the ones who didn't make it were the ones not wearing seatbelts, even if they were in the car with the lesser damage. Some of the cars were absolutely slaughtered, and yet because people were belted up, they made it out alive.

Just my 2 cents worth.
 
I stepped out unscathed from this - I guess it wasn't my turn that day. I wasn't hurt in the body but that was a life changing accident that affected me and the other driver, also thankfully not badly hurt, forever.

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ethelred said:
I took the Irvine belts out because I genuinely believed they wouldn't be of any use.
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Why on Earth would you think that? :?

I use mine daily & they feel very substantial & safe indeed. Possibly more so than inertia's as, however unlikely, there's always the chance that the inertia will fail to lock at the time you need it to.
 
The Rovering Member said:
Why on Earth would you think that? :?
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Ignorance and the feeling of disquiet that the belts could so easily be unclipped without the use of tools - it just didn't look or feel right.

Also, when I was showing off the car to my uncle at a big family gathering a few years ago, he was totally perplexed by the Irvines and needed help to buckle and remove the belt.

My uncle, now aged 67, has had many Rover P6 cars, the first long before I was born. When I pointed this out he replied, "We never used seat belts. Ever"
 
In my youth I was a front seat passenger not wearing a seat belt (my choice)The car left the road and I exited via the windscreen - I escaped with minor injuries but another passenger was not so fortunate.
Needless to say I always wear a seat belt no matter what type.

Mark.
 
ethelred said:
My uncle, now aged 67, has had many Rover P6 cars, the first long before I was born. When I pointed this out he replied, "We never used seat belts. Ever"
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100 Million smokers can't be wrong ;)

Seriously, use seatbelts. I work in vehicle testing, and frequently see crash testing and the results of crashes. It amazes me that anyone would ever choose to not wear one...
 
ethelred said:
Ignorance and the feeling of disquiet that the belts could so easily be unclipped without the use of tools - it just didn't look or feel right.
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That's just good design. :wink:

ethelred said:
Also, when I was showing off the car to my uncle at a big family gathering a few years ago, he was totally perplexed by the Irvines and needed help to buckle and remove the belt.
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As do most people who encounter them, but you soon get used to them. I can buckle mine one-handed now, though admittedly, not as easily as an inertia belt. :LOL:
 
The shaped clip should be sitting flush in the hole to fill it & stop the mount-plate moving off of the bolt-head:



There should be a spring behind the clip to keep it pushed out to the head of the bolt:



It looks as though you haven't got the spring.
 
You're welcome.

As a matter of interest, Harvey's description of himself wrestling with my Irvin's is, "like a cow with a f***ing gun". :LOL:

There speaks the voice of experience. :wink:
 
The Rovering Member said:
You're welcome.

As a matter of interest, Harvey's description of himself wrestling with my Irvin's is, "like a cow with a f***ing gun". :LOL:

There speaks the voice of experience. :wink:
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There just aren't enough of these :LOL: to describe me at the moment....
 
ethelred said:
No - the spring is there - I mustn't have got it right. I'll have another go tomorrow.

Thanks for the photos.
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It's very easy for the spring to "wind on" to the blanking clip when you're putting them together. That will hold the clip low, just like the picture. There should be a fibre washer too, but I think that goes under the big flat washer to keep the assembly together as it grips the bolt thread.

Yours
Vern
 
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