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MGA Seat Belts - INERTIA REEL #3 -- INT-125C

The following letter is from Brendan Leach.

I wanted to install modern 3-point inertia belts with push-button stalks, as the most effective and user-friendly restraint system available. The challenge with this installation in an early MGA is that the inertia reels must sit in a horizontal position on the rear wheel arch in the boot area, and the belts then thread through the bulkhead into the cabin over the drivers shoulder, going over the folded hood en-route. So the sill fixing in the cabin must be an eye bolt to allow the belt to be released in order to put the hood up. Further, if, like me, you are in the habit of tucking the tonneau down behind the seats when driving (rather than taking it off completely) the tonneau needs some surgery to thread the belt through it when it is in that folded and driving position. In other words, - achieving a neat and usable installation takes a lot of fiddling about and imagination.

Nevertheless, with the excellent help of Mike and Graham at Mike Entwisles MG Workshop (www.mgworkshop.net), I feel that the finished job is first class and I am very pleased with it. I purchased the belts and the fittings from Quickfit Seat Belt services (www.quickfitsbs.com). The product supplied is first class, and came complete with all the required fixings and bracketry. Quickfit offer all types of belts and buckles for most classic cars, in a wide variety of colors. His photos illustrate that (1) you can just about see the gap between the tonneau panel and the top of the bulkhead panel, (2) the belt comes through the tonneau rather than under it and (3) there is a small slot in the tonneau about the width of the belt webbing with a flap to cover that slot when the tonneau is "closed" and the belt is in the car. The extra strip of leatherette is to clip the buckle to when not in use so it cannot get pulled back into the boot.

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