Aaah, I fitted mine but without the separate bracket. The unit was at an angle and no matter what I did with the settings, I couldn't get it to retract smoothly. They're back on the shelf. Best buy some brackets and try again, thanks for the link. On a separate note, I bought my 72 after watching you 1st test drive. Best thing I ever did, although it is taking over my life.
Matthew out of interest did you ever manage to get your belts fitted nicely? I’m in the same boat as you mention in your comment and rather frustrated. I’ve ordered the brackets Andy uses in this video and hoping they will miraculously make the belts work properly but I can’t see how, because even when I lay the reel on the floor out of the car, it still won’t pull out or feed in without catching. Wish I bought some cheap and cheerful ones!
Great stuff. I have almost finished restoring Beryl, my 1967 Sprite. Been in my garage since 1989. Seat belts last on my to do list so great to see your advice. Seatbelts and brackets on order, Thank
Nice to see you back! Ive been looking for a Midget for months within a 500 km radius of me and dang they are hard to find, rubber bumper cars are more readily available but my wife was pretty suck on a chrome bumper car. We looked at a couple MGB's and they were priced quite fair but just didn't suit my lovely wife. I did come across a car she did like, too much honestly and after seeing it in person we purchased the car. I did alot of research on this particular type of car and tried my best to talk her out of it to no avail. I sold my '74 Dodge Dart Sport and we are now the owners of an 1974 Jensen Healey...and Im nervous as shit about it! Great video again Andy!
Well done video as usual, this one is critical to me, my inertial retractors were orientated wrong and the retractor wasn't working! So frustrating. Went out, adjusted the angle of the dangle and bingo bango, retractor works.
Just for the benefit of anybody in future having trouble with these belts not retracting, or extending as they should. I had this problem straight from taking them out the box and no amount of adjustment on the bits that spin, or tapping, or slowly pulling the belt, or tugging hard on it would make them function properly. I had scratched them in the process of trial fitting, and was not confident that I’d be able to send them back for a refund so with nothing to lose, I took one apart to see what was wrong. I wouldn’t recommend you try this unless you feel very competent, and are willing to run the risk of damaging them rending them unsafe to use. I was on both counts so here’s what I did, and how it fixed it for me… The plastic cover on the side without the spinners covers only the spring. Don’t remove the cover on this side because the belt will spin wildly out of control whipping around the room and possibly injuring you. Plus it’s a pain to put back on. So leave well alone. The plastic cover on the side with the spinners is easily removable and is held on with 1 small torx screw which can be accessed by pulling off a few feet of belt to expose the head. Once the screw is out, just two small plastic tabs on either side of the reel need levering out with a small screwdriver. Then hey presto the spinner housing, comes away from the belt reel. Now, to understand things a bit better you should know that the way the belt works is by two mechanisms. The strongest is the secondary mechanism attached to the belt reel. There is a specifically shaped metal plate which spins with the belt. The metal plate acts like a cam, and when the belt spins at a certain pace the cam locks. This is the strongest mechanism and by itself is perfectly safe, in fact some cheaper belts just have this cam system only, so technically you could run the belt without the spinny bits removed and it would still be safe and work. But please don’t do that!! You bought these belts because they also have the extra locking mechanism, which is contained within the spinny bits. Once you remove the housing and look inside you will see it’s very basic. There is a barrel inside the housing which spins. Contained within the barrel, is a small paddle and a ball bearing. Again this ball bearing acts like a cam and when the reel spins at a certain speed the force pushing the ball bearing against the paddle and the locking mechanism triggers via a small white gear on the end of the barrel, which then meshes with the gear on the belt reel. Remove the barrel from the housing by prying it out with a small screwdriver, but be careful not to lose the ball bearing which will escape as you remove the barrel. Okay so now you’ve got your belt apart, it’s time to fix the cause of it not being able to retract or pull out. Attached to the aforementioned barrel take a look at the small white cog. This cog is held in place by 3 small tabs and the cog can freely turn only about one 10th of a turn. There is a small spring which SHOULD make the cog spring back when it is turned, and you can test it with your fingers just turning the cog, releasing it and seeing if it springs back. In my case it did not, and in fact the little spring was visibly misplaced. Rather than sitting where it should it was bunched up as if it has become jarred or been placed incorrectly at the factory. Effectively the spring was stuck and constantly compressed meaning the little white cog was never bouncing back to its original position and therefore my reel was constantly locked. Using some tweezers, and a small flathead screwdriver I removed the spring and then set it back in as it should be, before putting the whole belt back together (total time maybe 5 minutes). I refitted the belt in the car and to my sheer joy and relief, the belts work perfectly. They retract beautifully, but when yanked a little they lock up nicely. In my case BOTH my belts had this little spring issue, which seems a little odd but who knows why or how. I’m just relieved I fixed it and didn’t waste 150 quit on useless belts and brackets👌 Ps. Apologies for the wall of text. I’m only making this comment in the hope that some poor soul having trouble with these belts finds this comment one day and fixes their own!
Hi Andy. JT from Norway here. Just got a 1970 Midget and want to install the same seatbelt that you have in the video. Where did you get the angled bracket to get it from the side to the top om the weelarch? JT
I'm also looking at changing to these belts and this video has some great advice - i notice that there is also a seat belt guide available which attaches to the seat headrest - is this of any benefit ?
Hey Mike. It depends really. I don't have them but I do spend half my life reaching backwards trying to find the belt when I'm sat in. So might be worth it !!!
I own a 1971 1275cc Midget in old English white called Sybil and she’s virtually identical to Margo infact you could mistake them for sisters 😎 I have static seat belts that are the bane of my life so inertia seat belts are on my ‘to do’ list so thanks for the heads up,
Just be aware that the position of the mounting point on the wheel arch varies on some years. Some have the point on top of the arch so you don't need the angled bracket. OTOH, the retractor unit can foul on the closed down later model hood frame and it can be difficult to access the levelling adjusters. That said, it is still a fairly straightforward installation as Andy's video shows.
Please consider a 3 point seatbelt with inertia wheel video to be fitted to 1952 MG TD. As you know there are no predrilled threads. Lap belts alone provide poor protection compared to those with shoulder restraint.
Well I bought these belts and tried to mount them without the bracket. Ie. Sideways on the side of wheel arch using the existing hole (1969 midget). Unfortunately the belts will not pull out at all and I’ve followed the instructions to a T regarding the arrow directions. I’ve just ordered the brackets that you are using so will see if the belts let me pull them out when mounted horizontally instead of vertically but so far really disappointed as the whole point of the 514/30 is that you can mount them in any which direction and in my case, no you cannot! lol Currently I have £90 worth of belts that are completely wound up and without a tortoise whisperer I have not idea how im going to be able to coax them back out again lol.
Oh man! This is not good. I was recommended these ! I had some pretty tough fiddly stuff trying to get the arrows to work for me. And mine were horizontal. Did you manage to get them moving when not mounted?
Great video Andy. You may find with the inertia reels that the seatbelt is cutting into your neck as you drive along. If so, it's worth fitting a couple of seat belt guides which stops the problem. Also prevents the seatbelt clasp flying back behind the seat evert time you unclip it. They're not expensive and fitting in seconds. They slot onto the centre post on the headrest. Just a thought.
Aaah, I fitted mine but without the separate bracket.
The unit was at an angle and no matter what I did with the settings, I couldn't get it to retract smoothly.
They're back on the shelf. Best buy some brackets and try again, thanks for the link.
On a separate note, I bought my 72 after watching you 1st test drive.
Best thing I ever did, although it is taking over my life.
Hahaha they have a habit of doing that I won't lie to you ! So kind of you with those comments ! Have another crack at the belts with those puppies!!
Matthew out of interest did you ever manage to get your belts fitted nicely? I’m in the same boat as you mention in your comment and rather frustrated. I’ve ordered the brackets Andy uses in this video and hoping they will miraculously make the belts work properly but I can’t see how, because even when I lay the reel on the floor out of the car, it still won’t pull out or feed in without catching. Wish I bought some cheap and cheerful ones!
Great stuff. I have almost finished restoring Beryl, my 1967 Sprite. Been in my garage since 1989. Seat belts last on my to do list so great to see your advice. Seatbelts and brackets on order, Thank
Good work hope it all comes together OK!
Nice to see you back! Ive been looking for a Midget for months within a 500 km radius of me and dang they are hard to find, rubber bumper cars are more readily available but my wife was pretty suck on a chrome bumper car. We looked at a couple MGB's and they were priced quite fair but just didn't suit my lovely wife. I did come across a car she did like, too much honestly and after seeing it in person we purchased the car. I did alot of research on this particular type of car and tried my best to talk her out of it to no avail. I sold my '74 Dodge Dart Sport and we are now the owners of an 1974 Jensen Healey...and Im nervous as shit about it!
Great video again Andy!
Blimey Kevin that is a rare car sir ! Don't see many over here at all! I know absolutely zero about them... you better start your own channel haha !
Well done video as usual, this one is critical to me, my inertial retractors were orientated wrong and the retractor wasn't working! So frustrating. Went out, adjusted the angle of the dangle and bingo bango, retractor works.
You get points for saying bingo bango haha
Just for the benefit of anybody in future having trouble with these belts not retracting, or extending as they should. I had this problem straight from taking them out the box and no amount of adjustment on the bits that spin, or tapping, or slowly pulling the belt, or tugging hard on it would make them function properly. I had scratched them in the process of trial fitting, and was not confident that I’d be able to send them back for a refund so with nothing to lose, I took one apart to see what was wrong. I wouldn’t recommend you try this unless you feel very competent, and are willing to run the risk of damaging them rending them unsafe to use. I was on both counts so here’s what I did, and how it fixed it for me…
The plastic cover on the side without the spinners covers only the spring. Don’t remove the cover on this side because the belt will spin wildly out of control whipping around the room and possibly injuring you. Plus it’s a pain to put back on. So leave well alone. The plastic cover on the side with the spinners is easily removable and is held on with 1 small torx screw which can be accessed by pulling off a few feet of belt to expose the head. Once the screw is out, just two small plastic tabs on either side of the reel need levering out with a small screwdriver. Then hey presto the spinner housing, comes away from the belt reel. Now, to understand things a bit better you should know that the way the belt works is by two mechanisms. The strongest is the secondary mechanism attached to the belt reel. There is a specifically shaped metal plate which spins with the belt. The metal plate acts like a cam, and when the belt spins at a certain pace the cam locks. This is the strongest mechanism and by itself is perfectly safe, in fact some cheaper belts just have this cam system only, so technically you could run the belt without the spinny bits removed and it would still be safe and work. But please don’t do that!! You bought these belts because they also have the extra locking mechanism, which is contained within the spinny bits. Once you remove the housing and look inside you will see it’s very basic. There is a barrel inside the housing which spins. Contained within the barrel, is a small paddle and a ball bearing. Again this ball bearing acts like a cam and when the reel spins at a certain speed the force pushing the ball bearing against the paddle and the locking mechanism triggers via a small white gear on the end of the barrel, which then meshes with the gear on the belt reel. Remove the barrel from the housing by prying it out with a small screwdriver, but be careful not to lose the ball bearing which will escape as you remove the barrel.
Okay so now you’ve got your belt apart, it’s time to fix the cause of it not being able to retract or pull out. Attached to the aforementioned barrel take a look at the small white cog. This cog is held in place by 3 small tabs and the cog can freely turn only about one 10th of a turn. There is a small spring which SHOULD make the cog spring back when it is turned, and you can test it with your fingers just turning the cog, releasing it and seeing if it springs back. In my case it did not, and in fact the little spring was visibly misplaced. Rather than sitting where it should it was bunched up as if it has become jarred or been placed incorrectly at the factory. Effectively the spring was stuck and constantly compressed meaning the little white cog was never bouncing back to its original position and therefore my reel was constantly locked.
Using some tweezers, and a small flathead screwdriver I removed the spring and then set it back in as it should be, before putting the whole belt back together (total time maybe 5 minutes). I refitted the belt in the car and to my sheer joy and relief, the belts work perfectly. They retract beautifully, but when yanked a little they lock up nicely. In my case BOTH my belts had this little spring issue, which seems a little odd but who knows why or how. I’m just relieved I fixed it and didn’t waste 150 quit on useless belts and brackets👌
Ps. Apologies for the wall of text. I’m only making this comment in the hope that some poor soul having trouble with these belts finds this comment one day and fixes their own!
John Smith is now just going to be called "the legend"
@@AndysMGAdventures The credit must go to you Andy, and this video for putting me onto the belts in the first place. Enjoy your Sunday afternoon 🚘
Ah you're most welcome. They've been a game changer for me really. You too!
Hi Andy. JT from Norway here. Just got a 1970 Midget and want to install the same seatbelt that you have in the video. Where did you get the angled bracket to get it from the side to the top om the weelarch?
JT
Word JT.
I got mine from Sussex car parts or mgb hive I think!!
I'm also looking at changing to these belts and this video has some great advice - i notice that there is also a seat belt guide available which attaches to the seat headrest - is this of any benefit ?
Hey Mike.
It depends really. I don't have them but I do spend half my life reaching backwards trying to find the belt when I'm sat in. So might be worth it !!!
I own a 1971 1275cc Midget in old English white called Sybil and she’s virtually identical to Margo infact you could mistake them for sisters 😎
I have static seat belts that are the bane of my life so inertia seat belts are on my ‘to do’ list so thanks for the heads up,
Awww I knew she had a sibling somewhere! Let me know how you get on with the belts sir
Just be aware that the position of the mounting point on the wheel arch varies on some years. Some have the point on top of the arch so you don't need the angled bracket. OTOH, the retractor unit can foul on the closed down later model hood frame and it can be difficult to access the levelling adjusters. That said, it is still a fairly straightforward installation as Andy's video shows.
Great info thanks Guy!
Hello where did you get the mounting bracket’s from ? Thanks
All in the description my good mam
Please consider a 3 point seatbelt with inertia wheel video to be fitted to 1952 MG TD. As you know there are no predrilled threads.
Lap belts alone provide poor protection compared to those with shoulder restraint.
My uncle just bought a TD so I might ask him! Good shout
Would love to see it!
Well I bought these belts and tried to mount them without the bracket. Ie. Sideways on the side of wheel arch using the existing hole (1969 midget). Unfortunately the belts will not pull out at all and I’ve followed the instructions to a T regarding the arrow directions.
I’ve just ordered the brackets that you are using so will see if the belts let me pull them out when mounted horizontally instead of vertically but so far really disappointed as the whole point of the 514/30 is that you can mount them in any which direction and in my case, no you cannot! lol
Currently I have £90 worth of belts that are completely wound up and without a tortoise whisperer I have not idea how im going to be able to coax them back out again lol.
Oh man! This is not good. I was recommended these ! I had some pretty tough fiddly stuff trying to get the arrows to work for me. And mine were horizontal.
Did you manage to get them moving when not mounted?
Cracking I've asked santa for some of them belts
They're brilliant they really are
Great video Andy. You may find with the inertia reels that the seatbelt is cutting into your neck as you drive along. If so, it's worth fitting a couple of seat belt guides which stops the problem. Also prevents the seatbelt clasp flying back behind the seat evert time you unclip it.
They're not expensive and fitting in seconds. They slot onto the centre post on the headrest.
Just a thought.
@@carstenmoore5760 first off. Great name! Second off, that's a great tip mate thanks so much
'Live' Andy sounds friendly. 'Voice over' Andy, on the other hand sounds creepy. Good useful video, though.
I had tonsillitis when doing the VO 🤣 well spotted !