Rear lap belts for 107 380 SL

Isdyldan

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Hi, I've recently bought a 1981 38SL which has had half of the rear seat belts fitted (the straps which fix to the sides). I need to fit the stalk ends, but am unsure what to attach them to. Does anyone know if I need to cut holes in the transmission tunnel & fix to something underneath or whether the tunnel itself is strong enough to fix to please?
Thanks, Dylan
 

Myros

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they probably have blanking plugs in

and you might not have seen them,if you were just looking for the holes. Do you have the sculpted seats or the flat bench type? I'm just wondering why you only have half the belts, but these things do happen.
 
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Isdyldan

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Ah, great! I've just had more of a poke around and found two threaded holes further up and towards the rear than I was expecting. That diagram is very handy thanks - is there anywhere that says what tread the bolts are please so I can get a couple?
The reason that there is only half the belts is because the car originally came without belts. The previous owner told me that a dog had been left in the car and had ripped the interior to shreds, including chewing the gear select off! The interior had been replaced from a scrap yard, and the new interior included the rear belts. I imagine he didn't get round to fitting the center ends, and they've now been lost. The rear seat is the type with separate seat pads and a removable tunnel cover. I wonder - are the center ends of the belts the same as from an SLC please?
 

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Well they are metric, just remove one that you have, they will all be the same, probably 13mm
 
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Isdyldan

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That's brilliant - thanks very much for your help. The bolts are 13mm & I've ordered a pair of 'stalks' from Mercman for £20 + P&P. Now to find a child seat which works with a lap belt.....
 

Myros

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Isdyldan

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Ah, actually I was wrong, they seem to be 11mm holes - most odd! I haven't actually managed to find any yet as all the specialist nut & bolt shops seem to be shut on Saturdays. I bought two 12mm bolts from halfords just to see if they'd fit - can you believe they charge £5.25 each!!
 

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11mm does not seem very big for the seat belt anchorage
 
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Isdyldan

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Agreed, but the other seat belt anchor bolts from another old car were only 12mm metric fine, so maybe 11mm is ok for a lap belt. I'll know tomorrow so will post.
 

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Thread sizes are the outside diameter of the bolt,so what you'll need are M12 x 1.25 (I think).Pretty much standard across all modern cars.
 
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Isdyldan

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Wrong again - it's 7/16 UNF which is an industry standard for seat belt anchor bolts. I had a whole bag of them all the time hiding in the garage!
Hope this is of use to anyone in a similar situation. Probably the only non metric thread on the car.
 

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Thanks for that we live and learn, just amazing:D
 


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