Hi, On the Esky vans why are the belt mounts stepped back? There are blank holes in the pillar and there are new mounts a few inches back. I am looking at trimming the back. Also the diagonal brace across the side window is a pain.  

I have just had a look at a Mk1 and a Mk2 van sides I removed.
in the mk1 van there the prior owners put a anchor plate and nut on the seat belt at the hole you are talking about.
In the mk2 it has a factory seat belt anchor with nut but is not lined up with the hole properly and is just below that blank hole you mention.
if you elongate the blank in a mk2 you should find the thread. this is a 1980 mk2 body
 

The blank hole/s in the pillar next to the door seal (mine are misaligned too) are not intended as seat belt anchor points. The top anchor point is located on the top of the diagonal brace immediately behind the pillar. There may be an ADR on the angle of the seat belt across the drivers and passengers shoulder which has forced the relocation (in Australia) a few inches to the rear. But only guessing. (if you study the escorts hard, you will find there are a lot of ADR related modifications on the Aussie cars that were not included on the European cars).
 
Beware; if you relocate the seat belt anchor point the vehicle may fail ADR requirements. If the vehicle is in an accident and someone is injured the person who conducted the modifications may be held responsible.
 

The Mk1 Escort van Has "NO" Reinforcement or anchor plate for seat belt safety (images show)
 
The Mk2 Escort van does have Reinforcement anchor plate with seat belt nut and the pillar is boxed and strengthen plated
(images show)

Thanks for all the input, just seems odd there is seat belt locations on the pillar and then have a bodgy set up tacked on.