Re: [alfa] GTV seat belts

[Highwoodalfa@xxxxxxx]

Biba is correct, the Securon 500/30 belts need a bit of "fine-tuning", as 
they will only operate properly with the reel in a vertical position.  The fact 
that the shoulder mounting is not directly above the reel (because of the 
design of the car rather than the design of the seat belt) means that they do have 
a tendency to "lean over" in use, and for this reason the bolt holding the 
reel needs to be tightened well.  

One customer of mine designed a very neat installation with the reel mounted 
behind the rear trim panel, so that the reel is directly below the shoulder 
mounting, but this is not an easy thing to do as a new strengthened mounting for 
the reel has to be made.

Another solution is to fit 514/30 belts with multi-directional reels.  These 
have to be mounted behind your shoulder, and they work very well, but the 
downside is that the reels, not the prettiest of things, are highly visible.  This 
type of belt has to be used in a Spider, because mounting the 500 reel on the 
sill/rocker restricts seat travel.

Regarding rear seat belts, Securon do a static lap only (2 point), and a 
static lap & diagonal (3-point).  I have these in my 1750GTV and I can confirm 
that they work well with all the baby seats/booster cushions that we've used over 
the years.  The only "problem" I remember was that the early rearward-facing 
baby seat had to be fitted behind the passenger as it restricted seat travel 
too much for it to go behind the driver.  Inertia reel rears (lap & diagonal) 
are available, but fitting these is not for the faint-hearted.  A customer of 
mine did fit them recently, so it is possible.  Depending on the year of the 
car, some kind of modification and strengthening is always necessary.  I am sure 
that no way would the rear belt mounting points meet any kind of modern 
safety standards, either US or European, but to my mind rear belts that don't meet 
safety standards are a lot better than no belts at all.

Chris Sweetapple
Highwood Motor Company
Swansea, U.K.
www.highwoodalfa.com



In a message dated 10/12/2004 03:48:40 GMT Standard Time, 
owner-alfa-digest@domain.elided writes:

> Vangelis Kokkevis: Get out a quarter and adjust your Securon belt reel 
> slightly first one way, if worse, then the other way. You should be able 
> to make them quite easy to pull out. Also tell your passenger not to 
> jerk them. They're designed to sense a jerk as a possible accident 
> coming up - imminently.
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