Price for seat belts!

[360gts]

Someone sure cashed in this morning......just plain silly prices now!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191773962034? ... 1435.l2649

[Andrew1967]

Someone sure cashed in this morning......just plain silly prices now!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191773962034? ... 1435.l2649

Just how many pairs of seatbelts has this seller got...he's sold dozens of pairs over the last few years !!

Good luck to him though, wished I had some !

[Ernie]

Look at the prices they are asking for sea belts on EBay in the USA. OK they are Mercs etc, but out of this world.

[dodge44]

At the shows Peter Copestick seems to specialise in seatbelts though prices are more usually £160-250 when I last looked at his stand at Beaulieu in September. Fair to say then that the tidy servicable Kangol set (Albeit in black not grey) for a Mk1 I picked up at a more rural show last July for £10 was a bit of bargain then. Nobody ever seems to offer the chrome bolts and flanges / washers for sale though...

At Beaulieu MCR show in May a Fella was selling a lovely NOS BMC set with fixing kit for £450. This had the earlier two bolt mounting holes (3/8" diameter spaced 1 3/16" apart) for the centre tunnel which would of made life easier for me as the Kangol belts use the standard single 7/16" mounting. That said - and out of interest - does anyone know at what point in factory production the four 3/8" tunnel holes were replaced by a pair of re-inforced 7/16" UNF tunnel seat belt mountings. I know the MK2's have this as standard but were any MK1's? Doesn't seem to be covered in James Taylors 'Factory original' book.

[360gts]

Both of my 67 S's have the dual mount on the tunnel the single mount....
My 64 970 and the 1071 have the dual mount
The Nov 65 S I have here (US car)...has the dual mounts as well.

[Gareth Brandt]

Swedish 1965 dual mount Klippan belts

[dodge44]

Thanks for the replies folks. So unless there was a difference on Export models it's looking like the change to two 7/16" UNF mountings was when the Mk2 arrived. Had wondered if the change occurred when the new regulations came in 1965. Just for reference here are a couple of images of the sectionised Mk2 Mini at Sparkford Museum.

[dklawson]

That is an amazing price for the eBay belts, one that I could never afford. At least they are NOS belts.

The ones in my car are also magnetic latch Kangols. I rewebbed mine rather than trust the 40+ year old nylon, however, I wish the chrome had been a little better. From now on I'll just think of the 830 GBP I saved by using my original belts.

[Ernie]

Having read that Peter Copstick was selling his seat belts at £160-250 at Beaulieu wondered why somebody would pay £820 from the same seller on EBay. I think I have found the reason why and the danger of making unrealistic maximum bids. The auction progressed normally until about 10 minutes before the auction was due to end when the highest bid was £360(high but not out of this world) the eventual winner then entered with a bid of £370 and found he had been outbid at £380 then bid £390 with a max bid of £820 ( probably never thinking it would ever get that high and go for around £400) he was the highest bidder at £390. Then with about 5 minutes to go a completely new bidder entered with presumably a bid of about £400 and had a maximum of £800, I guess much to their shock and possibly relief had found that they had been outbid at £820. This is only a theory but knowing how easy it is to put in unrealistic max bids it could have happened.

[dodge44]

Having read that Peter Copstick was selling his seat belts at £160-250 at Beaulieu wondered why somebody would pay £820 from the same seller on EBay. I think I have found the reason why and the danger of making unrealistic maximum bids. The auction progressed normally until about 10 minutes before the auction was due to end when the highest bid was £360(high but not out of this world) the eventual winner then entered with a bid of £370 and found he had been outbid at £380 then bid £390 with a max bid of £820 ( probably never thinking it would ever get that high and go for around £400) he was the highest bidder at £390. Then with about 5 minutes to go a completely new bidder entered with presumably a bid of about £400 and had a maximum of £800, I guess much to their shock and possibly relief had found that they had been outbid at £820. This is only a theory but knowing how easy it is to put in unrealistic max bids it could have happened.

Think you are probably about right there. Moral of the story for the winner - any unrealistic high bid must at least be something you are able to stomach if you get pushed to it! At that price, wouldn't be surprised to see them relisted due to 'time waster'.

[mab01uk]

Nobody ever seems to offer the chrome bolts and flanges / washers for sale though...

Some new chrome fittings here that may work?
http://www.quickfitsbs.com/components_colours.php

The reproduction classic belts with chrome buckles they also do are good enough for my desire for period detail!
Seat Belts for Classic Cars - Pre 1972
All seat belts are manufactured under European standard R16 and under ISO9002 quality control procedures and are either tested to European standard R16 for Modern seat belts or to British standard BS3254 for period style seat belts for vehicles up to 1973:
http://www.quickfitsbs.com/classic_cars_seatbelts.php

[360gts]

Thanks for the replies folks. So unless there was a difference on Export models it's looking like the change to two 7/16" UNF mountings was when the Mk2 arrived. Had wondered if the change occurred when the new regulations came in 1965. Just for reference here are a couple of images of the sectionised Mk2 Mini at Sparkford Museum.

No, the single bolt came in sometime around 66...
My NOV 65 has the dual bolt tunnel but my Jan 67 and June 67 S's have the single bolt tunnel....
Maybe someone with 66 cars could verify what they have.

[Pete]

Someone sure cashed in this morning......just plain silly prices now!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191773962034? ... 1435.l2649

Just how many pairs of seatbelts has this seller got...he's sold dozens of pairs over the last few years !!

Good luck to him though, wished I had some !

I think someone's making them.

[360gts]

Perhaps Pete is right. Here are some pics of a NOS I purchased some years ago...still have the original labels and package of bolts/clips with the set. They look different to the set that sold on E Bay. Slightly different stitching and not all of the hardware is chrome on my set.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/191773962034?_tr ... EBIDX%3AIT

[dodge44]

Thanks for the replies folks. So unless there was a difference on Export models it's looking like the change to two 7/16" UNF mountings was when the Mk2 arrived. Had wondered if the change occurred when the new regulations came in 1965. Just for reference here are a couple of images of the sectionised Mk2 Mini at Sparkford Museum.

No, the single bolt came in sometime around 66...
My NOV 65 has the dual bolt tunnel but my Jan 67 and June 67 S's have the single bolt tunnel....
Maybe someone with 66 cars could verify what they have.

Apologies Dermott - misread your earlier message. Looks like the introduction of BS.AU.48 of 1965 did have an impact then, but presumably not until the following year. In the case of my '63, single bolt mount 'Dynasafe' seatbelts were already fitted when I got the car in 1987 but were mounted off a central hole made in the top of the tunnel. This certainly worked but eventually led to chaffing on the seat piping. For some time now there have been no belts but clearly when the replacements do go in they need to be mounted on the sides of the tunnel to avoid this. After welding up the 'extra' hole I'm reluctant to butcher the other holes so it was either try and find a set that mounts with two bolts on either side or engineer a 'get round' to mount a pair of single bolts, which is what I'm working on at the mo. Clearly this was an issue back in the 60's but I can't decide if the steel extensions on this 1965 Mini for sale of Ebay last year are from one of the two pairs of holes or are from a pair of single holes. Either way it would appear the holes in the tunnel were deemed to far back to mount the belts...

Roger

[Nick W]

saw some very expensive Ervin belts recently ,carefully worded, but were not nos..probably built up from nos single lap belts....be carefull!!!!

[mk1]

I think someone's making them.

I have always assumed that Pete Copestick (The seller) made his sets up from bits & bobs.

M

[Gareth Brandt]

Klippan 1965

[Ernie]

I think someone's making them.

I have always assumed that Pete Copestick (The seller) made his sets up from bits & bobs.

M

If he is using bits and bobs should not be listing them as N.O.S. Frankly N.O.S should be taken with a pinch of salt, undoubtedly there are some genuine finds but rare. Another trap is photos with original box, the box is genuine but nothing else is and invariably the part arrives without the box that gets recycled. With high demand for original parts its easy to be caught I have. It's the old saying buyer beware.

[Andrew1967]

If they are being newly made, I presume they have been tested to the relevant safety standards

Seat belts aren't there just to look 'correct' and pretty, are they ?