Moss Motors, Ltd

This has had me puzzled for the 41 years I have owned this car.

 Inside the cockpit on each rear wheel well and about two inches above the battery compartment platform there is a fitting. It is covered by a black plastic cover. It is a black metal cylinder about one inch in diameter and bored with a female threaded area about 1/2 inch inside diameter. It is firmly attached to the car body. I suspected it might be an attachment point for a 3-point seatbelt, but this is much beefier than the attachment for the lap belt.

 Anybody know what these two fittings are used for?

 

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1967 MGB Roadster
GHNL3/107668

Without a picture, I can't confirm this, but it sounds exactly like the mounting point  for the lap seatbelts with which my car is fitted. She is also a 67 roadster.

Do you have similar fittings on the transmission tunnel, behind the seats?

Ed

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I want my MGB

Hi Ed,

My original lap seatbelts are mounted to the tranny tunnel inboard and to the sills at floor level outboard.

These mystery fittings are about two inches above the level of the battery compartment cover.  I will include digital image when it stops raining here and I can peel back the tonneau.

 

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1967 MGB Roadster
GHNL3/107668

I think you are correct and it is the factory attachment for a three point belt. If your car had come with the three point belts the inertia reel would have attached there and the mount on the tunnel would have had the female belt latch affixed there. You would have pulled the belt from the upper rear mount over your shoulder and down to the tunnel buckle. They're mounted pretty low on the inner fender in order that the belt would clear the top when folded.

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'73 Midget (V6)
'59 MGA (I6) under construction

"There is a fine line between a hobby and mental illness"

Ahhh, now then, perhaps I'm not playing on a level field here.... you see, the floor pans were replaced on my car, before I first saw it. Any trace of a mounting point at the sills has been obliterated by the body shop that did the work.

It also explains why my "lap" belts are such a curious fit... being secured at the remaining wheel arch anchor point. This sounds like something I should definitely investigate further, for safety's sake.

 Thanks for bringing this up

Ed

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I want my MGB

Lap belts are to be attached as low as possible, at the far rear of the floor pans.  The factory attachment points as stated above are on the transmission tunnel and sills.  Mounting lap belts higher than your legs can result in serious injury in the event of a collision.

'67 MGs never came with inertia reels.  The had standard non-retractable shoulder belts.  The attachment point is the two (per side) studs on the rear wheel arches, just above the battery cover.  This isn't the safest position for them, anatomically-speaking, but it isn't too bad.  The factory later moved the belts up high onto the rear deck, but unfortunately this was a very unattractive place to mount them.

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