Electrical attention, too, plus some unicorn-rare parts
I wrote my open-top Gazelle's last Saga in the waiting room of Quickfit SBS while a fine pair of period-looking but inertia-reel seatbelts was being fitted. This company, based for many years in Middlesex but recently relocated to a smart unit in Loudwater, Bucks just off the M40, is famous for equipping classic cars with effective belts even when the car is too old to have built-in anchorage points.
Such was the case with the Singer. The previous owner had attempted to fit, or have fitted, a pair of inertia belts that were dangerous as well as disastrous. The reels were mounted just behind the bases of the front seats, but with no centre pillar to house a belt guide the belt simply went vertically to the top of the seat back, over the shoulder, across the chest and down to the buckle. So, in a frontal impact, that shoulder would have been unconstrained from forward movement as the seat backrest tipped, but subjected to a potentially shoulder-breaking, and even spine-crushing, downward pull. Besides which, the belts' webbing was a fine trip hazard for anyone attempting to get in the back.
SBS has installed belts in many an old convertible and knew just what to do for this one. With the trim panels either side of the back seat removed, SBS installed the new reels to a stout section of steel just above the sill structure. They would be hidden from view once the trim panels were reinstated, but the belt would emerge through a horizontal slot neatly cut in the panel just above rear seat-cushion level. From there it would continue to a pivoting belt guide attached to the waist rail, this anchorage reinforced, like the lower one, with a thick steel strip. The other two anchorages on each side were ones used in the previous 'installation', suitably strengthened.
I chose a blue-grey belt webbing to tone in with the car's blues and greys, finished off with chrome buckles. The result is an ultra-neat installation of correctly-routed inertia seatbelts, and a clear entry path for rear passengers. I am thrilled, frankly.
Further improved
Next came some reverse engineering of the Gazelle's design details. The rear reflectors had some years ago been replaced with round reversing lights, a neat idea in a way but also illegal unless
