Hello and a few questions

Hi,

Im new and have just bought a 1981 series 3 88, I drove it back 140 miles from Leicester to Newport last weekend.

I have a few questions,

If i was to fit a 4 point harness to the middle seat along with a booster seat for the suitable age of my child, would this be legal?. Its a bit of a squeeze with my me, my wife and the nipper in the front at the moment as the wife has to sit in the middle.

The second question is towards the end of the journey home and since getting it home i have noticed that it crunches a bit whilst going into 3rd and then i have to double clutch it sometimes for it to shift out. Is this normal or is there something amiss with the gearbox/clutch.

Thanks in advance

Rhodri

Hi and welcome, please go to the introduce your self section (some people on here get grumpy if you don't)
I'm not totally sure about the seats situation, however, I do use my middle seat occasionally, I got a lap belt from the scrappy, and checked my insurance to see what they thought there words were 'if it's professionally fitted then they will insure it and it also won't affect the premium' ( your insurance may not be the same)
One good point is that the holes are (or were in mine anyway) already there, and you literally had to put 2 bolts in (I asked the garage and they did it for free, as I Give them reasonable ammount of business and my family uses them) so that sorts out the bottom holes, but for the top....
I'm 99% sure that the point at which the belt attaches must be higher than the shoulder, because if you have a head on crash it will bend your spine and keep your shoulder still (I've not explained that brilliantly) but I'm pretty sure that's the law.
I think exmoor trim ( try looking on paddocks, I can't remember the make) do a bar that bolts on top of the bulkhead behind the seats so that you can mount safety belts to it.

Hope that helps!
Ben Waine

If the child is out of car seats you need to be careful and as suggested exmoor trim can advise best.
If using a childs car seat then a lap belt can be fine. But you car seat must be lap belt compatible. My Britax prince seat is ok for lap belts but most arent so do check.
Crunching in gears, worn synchro hubs. Try changing the gbox oil for fresh ep90 it may help. Otherwise its a rebuild or live with it and double clutch as you say. Part of the charm init!

Hi,

Thanks for the replies,

Do you find it ok changing gears with your britax prince car seat in the middle?.

I adjusted the height of the pedal earlier and i did a short drive and it seems like it may have helped but who knows.

Regards

Rhodri