SEAT BELTS

It is likely that the usual incumbent of the rear seat of the Stag will only be our dog, Duggie a Miniature Schnauzer, so I decided that I should find some way of attaching his harness, that in the event of heavy braking, or God forbid, an accident, he would be restrained to the back seat.

I originally was just going to screw in a large ring bolt, I knew that there was provision for fitting rear lap belts so thought I would be able to use one of the welded nuts for doing so, but when I saw in Rimmer Bros sale that lap belts were reduced I thought I might as well do the job properly. I know that they are not nearly as safe as a three point belt for human occupants, but a lap belt is definitely better than no belt at all. I also know that a three point belt fitting kit is available, but I could not see how that could be truly effective, come a crash.

 

Out came the back seat followed by the side panels and the plastic caps were flipped off exposing the nuts welded to the underside of the floor pan and the wheel arches. A couple of the nuts were a bit rusty internally and took a bit of effort screwing in the 7/16 bolts, but all eventually were tightened down leaving enough movement so that attachments could swivel.

 

Somebody on the Stag Forum had pointed out the the side panels were precut to allow the belts to come through. I had to cut through the vinyl covering on both sides of the card and sure enough there were the slots. I initially folded back and stapled the overlap of vinyl to the back of the card, but I was not really happy with the look. A quick Google search turned up escutcheon plates from Rimmers at £3.50. They arrived next day and with a little trimming of the cards they finished of the job neatly.

A last little job before I start removing the differential and rear suspension, was to fit my new black and silver number plates. As Stella Stag (Trans gender being the thing these days) is registered as a Historic Vehicle she is allowed to sport these old style plates, which I think suits her well.