Rear Bins

[Plotloss]

Apart from holding the front seat belt do the rear bins serve any useful purpose?

W&P used to cut them out for recliners and I am considering doing something similar.

They apparently replaced the bin with a modified plate (presumably to hold the seat belt).

Any obvious issues before I write it off?

[Paul V]

The mini Miglia’s I’ve seen don’t have them, also a friends Radford has them cut down, can’t see why you need them. Just fit harnesses then you can do away with the reel.

Putting some different seats in?

[Plotloss]

Yeah got some 90 spec RS Turbo Recaros that I will get trimmed in leather at some point.

I want a back seat though so harness are out

I cant see that they provide any structural rigidity, but then I thought that about the parcel shelf and cutting that is a bit of a dodgy thing to do by all accounts - well that and the fact that I cant be bother to take the glass out at the moment...

[Paul V]

My friend has Fiesta RS Turbo seats in his mini, it was in mini world a couple of years ago and is on the mini world website but I don’t think it shows the inside. It the old S reg one, black with yellow arches and a 1425, bloody quick!

[pdV6]

Plotloss said:

Apart from holding the front seat belt do the rear bins serve any useful purpose?

AFAIK they're just for putting 'stuff' in.

[Plotloss]

This one Paul?

[Paul V]

Yep, that’s the one.

It sounds great, straight cut box and drop gears, playmini, sounds like a touring car arriving

[minimax]

Plotloss said:

Yeah got some 90 spec RS Turbo Recaros that I will get trimmed in leather at some point. I want a back seat though so harness are out I cant see that they provide any structural rigidity, but then I thought that about the parcel shelf and cutting that is a bit of a dodgy thing to do by all accounts - well that and the fact that I cant be bother to take the glass out at the moment...

I have a back seat & 6 point 3" harnesses!

[Plotloss]

How does that work then?

Wheres your anchor points?

How do you use the back seats?

[minimax]

Plotloss said:

How does that work then? Wheres your anchor points? How do you use the back seats?

well....the anchor points are under the seat....I'm not really sure to be fair as I'm pretty much a gimp at practical stuff - I will be at CC if you're going you can have a poke about

[Plotloss]

You've sparked my interest thats for sure.

I am going to do my best to get there but it does all depend really. Will try though.

[pdV6]

minimax said:

Plotloss said: How does that work then? Wheres your anchor points? How do you use the back seats? well....the anchor points are under the seat....I'm not really sure to be fair as I'm pretty much a gimp at practical stuff - I will be at CC if you're going you can have a poke about

I thought that this was a real no-no as it can cause spinal injuries in a smash?

[Fatboy]

Those safety devices harnesses I've got can unclip easily to allow rear seat access...

Edited to add: And I cut out the rear bins with no ill effects...

>> Edited by Fatboy on Thursday 25th September 14:21

[Plotloss]

Do you then just use the inertia reels?

How hard was your flip front to fit?

[Fatboy]

The harnesses themselves have the inertia reels built in (bloody convinient they are too), and just bolt into the C pillar seatbelt mounts, in such a way you could keep the rear seatbelts if you wanted.

My flip front was a pain in the arse to fit, mainly because it didn't Actually fitting one is very easy as long as the flip front fits properly, about a days work all in. A bit more if you make a frame to have it open over the car roof like mine does, but I do have a refined design I hope to make before I leave.

A lot of people reccommend making a steel flip front from new A panels/front panels and maybe bonnet welded together, which is in my next design for strength and ease of getting it to bloody well line up...

[plotloss]

So how does one have rear seat passengers? I'm now.

Or cant you?

I was wondering if I could leave the reel where it is on the original seatbelts and just cut the bins down as opposed to out as they should only make a difference when reclining the front seats I think...

[Fatboy]

The harnesses are sort of off to the side of the cars, and have a quick release clip to disconnect the C pillar to allow access, so you can get people in the back, but they have to sit more in the centre than normal...

Hve to be careful you don't weaken the reel mounts too much by chopping away the tops of the bins - probably best to weld a bit more metal over the reel mounts to strengthen them after you chop the top off - would still give much more clearance for the seats...

>> Edited by Fatboy on Thursday 25th September 19:27