Can someone tell me definitively what year Australian sold or produced bugs started coming out with seat belts? The official rule in Qld says 1969 however the inspector also told me that some cars were brought out with them sooner and if that is the case, they need to have them by law. The earlier cars seem to have fitting points but what was the actual year they started factory fitting them to all vehicles? Not as an optional accessory.

1/1/69 all front seats must have belts
1/1/71 all rear seats must have seatbelts

If the fitting points are there, which most manufacturers had from early 60's, then just put them in

1962 was when the mounts were installed in the factory for sash seat belts.

These are the current regulations in South Australia which I am pretty sure is now a nationalised system.

Under the Road Traffic Act and Regulations seat belts are required in the driver's and front outboard seating positions from 1 July 1967.
Seat belts for all front seating positions became mandatory from the 1 January 1969 and for all seating positions from 1 January 1971.
Cheers Dave

My quibble is that there appear to be the upper mounts in the front, just above the front seat backrest height, however on the floor they appear to have been mounted through holes. Quite safe if done right but as it is not "factory" would need to be mod plated and in the case of seatbelts, engineered as well in Qld, particularly where they were not previously fitted from new. Where should the lower mounting point be for front belts?

It's a resto project but I may decide to keep it, obviously if it is being done up to sell on, the extra expense of buying and fitting and engineering seatbelts is one I can do without. If they never came out with them, at least you can sell the car without someone asking why it has none, I've seen a lot of 60s bugs and busses which don't have them. I'm no fool though, if it is to be kept it will definitely have them.

a general rule if the car was a Australia model and it didn't come with seat belts , you don't need them for rego.
If you wanted to put some seat belts in you would most likely need it done proper and approved

If the car is modified it must have seatbelts for all seats. It's on the RTA website.

From what they told me (this is Qld of course) if it didn't come out with them, you can leave them out, you can fit them if the points are there without any mod plate or engineering because the points are already approved and there is no requirement for an inspection. If it originally came out without belts, and someone has installed them and registered it, you can also remove the belts to return it to it's correct state of having no belts. If you want to change the number ie from 4 to 5 then that requires a mod plate.

So there are no bottom mounts for seatbelts anywhere on the body. Why would there be factory points on the tunnel for the stalks and above the shoulder on both sides for the upper mounting, but nothing proper for the lower mount?

There is a hole through the pan in the right spot but that doesn't cut it as far as inspection standards go, just wondered why they would make factory points in only half the required spots? Same in the back, there are mid points for the stalks and upper points but no lower points.

Any ideas?

That was because Sash belts were common in the 60s.

They didn't have the lap part, just a belt from the pillar down to the clip on the tunnel.

A mates original granny spec bug still had them, they felt like they would do nothing in an accident.

If you fit lap sash belts and use the factory mounting points, it will pass. The hole that you speak of in the floor would have had a seat belt nut plate. When you buy new seat belts the nut plates come with them usually. The original nut plate often was like a big 50mm round washer, but they are different now, being 75 x 50 mm instead of round. They must have no sharp edges or corners etc.

So buy the belts and nut plates and fit them is an easy way to do it.

But my understanding of the modification rules is that if you use factory points, no mod plate or inspection is needed, if you intend to fit anywhere else ie with a plate through the floorpan, you need it engineered in Qld. As there is no factory point down there for a lap sash it is either use no seatbelts (suicide) or use sash only (almost as bad) or potentially spend a lot getting a plate which is probably 100 times safer than either of the first options inspected and certified.

Or does that rule not apply if fitting to a car that was made before belts were mandatory?

If you used the sash points and a plate for the lap mounting, would anyone ever notice?

Of the thousands of 6V Beetles running around how many would have had their seat belt mountings checked by an engineer?

Normally very rarely, but its the people that have just finished a restoration and the blueslip/RWC to get the bug reregistered is when they get checked

Blueslips tend to be a lot more thorough than the average apprentice mechanic taking it around the block for a brake test and making sure the tyres arent on the wear blocks for a pinkslip.

January 1st 1965

I've got a '62 and taken them out. The mounting points were factory, but Australian imports didn't come with them