replacement seat belt troubles

RileyR · Postby **RileyR** » Mon Jun 08, 2015 10:23 pm

Hi all,
I have a frayed seatbelt that I am replacing. My current belts are beige so im replacing them both with black. I have bought some 2nd hand belts which were cheap (3 infact lol) and 2 receivers or whatever you would call them. I own an NA8 and presumed that NA6 belts would be a direct fit, however none of them 'click' in with ease. They are slightly different buckles to the originals.
I also have the 2 receivers, but they are much longer than what I already have and they would be in the middle of my lap instead of to the side where they should be. (I will upload pictures tomorrow).

What I am wondering is if I should just file the buckles down a tad so they click in properly? Or whether I will need to just buy other seat belts or receivers?

I definitely want to know for sure that the seat belts are going to work if they are ever needed!

Thanks in advance

manga_blue · Postby **manga_blue** » Tue Jun 09, 2015 12:22 am

http://seatbeltsolutions.com.au/ if your original mechanisms are in good shape. Then you can keep the beige too.

RileyR · Postby **RileyR** » Tue Jun 09, 2015 12:32 pm

Thanks, I did look into them but thought that I would be able to take the much cheaper option of buying 2nd hand belts...

hks_kansei · Postby **hks_kansei** » Tue Jun 09, 2015 12:50 pm

You will be able to use the NA6 receiverrs ( the long ones)

Instead of attaching the reciever to the location of your current, NA8 "Short" ones, you will instead attach them to the trans tunnel.

Right at the back, about where the rear bulkhead meets the floor and trans tunnel there should be a pair of captive nuts (one on each side of the tunnel)
From memory the NA8 has a strange bracket thing bolted here. Remove the bolt in the bracket and bolt the long recievers there instead.

The bolts in this area are where the NA6 MX5s bolted them, so it's all safe and factory.
For the NA8 they moved the recievers to the seat rails so that they would move as the seat moved, but they didnt change the body stamping, so the old mounting system remained.

by the NB they had finally removed the nuts from that area.

RileyR · Postby **RileyR** » Tue Jun 09, 2015 1:29 pm

Fantastic! Thanks for the info!

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hks_kansei · Postby **hks_kansei** » Tue Jun 09, 2015 1:39 pm

No problem.

I actually have an NA6 stalk in my NB, which was a lot more work than yours would be (I had to drill holes and buy spreader plates etc before I could fit the stalk)

manga_blue · Postby **manga_blue** » Tue Jun 09, 2015 1:43 pm

The trouble is that the NA6 belts you bought are about 25 years old and the webbing will have weakened. We've seen a few accidents in NAs where old belts have streteched so much that the occupants have slammed hard into the top of the windscreen frame.

It is illegal, not to mention stupid, to salvage and re-use belts from accident damaged vehicles. You have to be totally certain that secondhand belts have never been in an accident, have always been properly cared for and come from cars that were always garaged out of sunlight. Think about how you're saving money.

RileyR · Postby **RileyR** » Tue Jun 09, 2015 4:23 pm

Yes I did consider all that and did check the laws. I know they were not involved in accidents. The replacement belts are in better condition than the ones I have now.

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RileyR · Postby **RileyR** » Tue Jun 09, 2015 4:25 pm

But yes, brand new ones would be ideal.

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RileyR · Postby **RileyR** » Tue Jun 09, 2015 5:22 pm

I checked the manufacture date on the replacement belts I bought. They were all made in 1989. That does make me nervous. But they do look to be in good condition.

However I am now thinking that I will get the drivers side one re webbed as it is the frayed one. And put the passenger side belt (which seems to be fine, and manufactured in 1997) on the drivers side so I can still drive my self around while the belt is being re webbed. And then put the new belt on the passenger side.

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hks_kansei · Postby **hks_kansei** » Tue Jun 09, 2015 5:27 pm

New belts are ideal, really.

But, as long as the secondhand ones are in better condition than your existing ones they should be fine.
Just use them until you've saved enough money for brand new ones.

Think of it like this, if you owned a 1989 car and the belts looked fine you wouldn't give them a second thought would you?

manga_blue · Postby **manga_blue** » Tue Jun 09, 2015 6:32 pm

RileyR wrote:However I am now thinking that I will get the drivers side one re webbed as it is the frayed one. And put the passenger side belt (which seems to be fine, and manufactured in 1997) on the drivers side so I can still drive my self around while the belt is being re webbed. And then put the new belt on the passenger side.

Sounds like a plan. :wink:

If peeps think I'm overstating this there's a reason.

We had a club motorkhana a few years ago at DECA. One part was a short tricky test where the driver took off from a standing start, drove 10m to a very sharp right-angled bend, then went 50m to a small slalom with a braking precision test at the end of it. No risk we thought. I was judging at the slalom alongside a mate who was 20 years an ambo. Somehow an NA6 lost it coming through the first bend, speared off the track and across the grass into a steel staunchion. No idea how he did it, it was all at half revs in 1st. We ran over and found the driver harnessed in and OK but the passenger was unconscious. She was wearing a standard lap/sash belt. You could see the damage to the windscreen frame where she hit. The ambo thought she was lucky to get out of it without a skull fracture. All from something at 20kmh and about 20m from launch.

Roadster belts degrade faster in the sun than sedan belts.

RileyR · Postby **RileyR** » Tue Jun 09, 2015 7:10 pm

Oh wow ok so the belt basically failed for the passenger and not the driver?

That is probably enough for me to get the bad one re webbed. The passenger side is fine but was going to replace to black to keep them the same. And also because beige gets too dirty...

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