Is there anyone on the forum in NZ, or with experience of NZ compliance laws that can tell me about fitting rear seat belts on a 500F?

I've just been told it can open a can of worms getting them passed.

Can they be fitted and if so, is there a standard way to fit them? My panelbeater thinks that just a welded bolt on the underside won't comply. And there's no real strength in the window posts for attaching higher up.
Tim

timgarman said:

Can they be fitted and if so, is there a standard way to fit them? My panelbeater thinks that just a welded bolt on the underside won't comply. And there's no real strength in the window posts for attaching higher up.
Tim

Click to expand...

Can't help with NZ legislation, but if it helps this is what I've done in the UK when converting Land Rover truck cabs to station wagons. On the older vehicles, the easiest way to comply was to fit lap belts and copy the way that the factory mounts for the front seat belts fitted to bulkheads or to the chassis. This gives the inspector a reference point as here in the UK the specifications are vague when it comes to retro fitting seat belts. .

For safer 3 point belts, or when fitting to newer Land Rovers , it was necessary to make up hidden brackets like this...

to take the seat belt mounting point back down to a crossmember.

You may have enough room to make up a custom bracket behind the rear seats to take it down where the rear suspension mounts fix. Using similar gauge metal and bracing for angles along with the same type of mounting points here satisfies the inspectors here.

cheers, Steve

Hi - has anyone fitted rear seatbelts?
I'm in email contact with a specialist regarding rear belts for my 500....anyones pictures / experiences would be great

New fiat 500 owner and wondering the same thing for italy. Wondering how I can mount rear seatbelts. I have found pictures of it being done but not sure of how to go about it and if it passes all necessary laws[/ATTACH]

At a guess, I would say that picture shows rear seat-belts in a Giardiniera, where you have a lot more body at the back quarters.