tcolt

I'm trying to figure out what belts to put into my 1972 Vista Cruiser where I added a front bench seat with a center arm rest, but from these pictures I can't even figure out how many belts and what style the front bench should have. It looks like two different buckle sizes on the latch side (female/ receiver side), even different receiver styles? Then, there are 5 latches, but only one male end visible. (The two on the outer, far left and right seats are invisible, attached to the floor-mounted retractors). Does anyone know what an A-body Cutlass or Vista Cruiser would have had, especially on the front bench, but also on the factory split second row bench with the one seat / two seat split bench on my Vista Cruiser?

Also, did the lower seat belt anchors have any type of covers or sleeves that covered the screw and / or the hardware?...

rcorrigan5

Looks like separate shoulder and seat belts for the driver and passenger, with a seat belt only for the rider between the driver and the passenger. It was in the days before the shoulder and seat belts were combined into one latch.

Randy C.

tcolt

Hi Randy

I guess that could be an explanation, but these pictures are from Olds brochures for various models between 1970 and 1972 (I think, mostly mid-size). Does it seem likely that they would have pictures of detail showing the correct seat fabrics that were offered that year(s), but then have a seat belt arrangement that I didn't even know existed in the Oldsmobile line-up? All the shoulder belts I've seen latch straight into the male buckle coming of the retractor for the lap belt. I appreciate the reasonable explanation, but can you make sense of that?... Also why do the receiver buckles have a different size? Are there any owners of cars out there with the factory seat belt set-up who can confirm what their cars came with? (Comments about full bench seats are great and bench seats with a center arm rest would be even greater) ....

Thanks, Tom

Greg Rogers

I think the blue interior pic shows all the belts and the beige pic the center belts are covered by the lowered arm rest. My 71 Convertible uses the smaller belts which have retractors for the driver and outer passenger, and only one set of larger belt is for the center passenger, of course that car has no shoulder belts. I am not positively sure (cuz I no longer have it) how my 70 Vista was, but I think it also was the same as my 'vert but also had another set of large female belts that the shoulder belts go into.

2blu442

Tom, I used to have a 1972 Cutlass S and it had a different seat belt setup than my 1970, not sure about 71. In 1972 there was a seat belt buzzer so your retractor should have the wiring for that. Then the shoulder strap of that year had a round pin that fit into the male end of the seatbelt. When the female buckle was clipped on this kept the shoulder strap in place. Here's pictures of some odds and ends seatbelts showing what I'm trying to describe. I believe Allan R has a 1972 Cutlass S that's fully restored. You might reach out to him and maybe look for others who have a 1972 Vista Cruiser that's completed to confirm this. John

2blu442

Yes, there were covers over the bolt. Here's a few photos of what that looks like. It has a loop that the seat belt mounting bolt goes through. Then it wraps around the belts and has a snap that holds it on.

Fun71

I agree with the above. My knowledge is that "keyhole" shoulder belt came into use in the 1972 model year. The earlier years used a separate buckle for the shoulder belt, and it was the larger buckle, even if the lap belts had the smaller buckle. The lap belts used a retractor so they did not need the slide adjuster type buckle (large buckle) but the shoulder belts did not have a retractor, so they had to use the larger slide adjuster type buckle.

Allan R

What John said and shows is fundamentally correct. The shoulder anchor he's showing was stored above the wind-lace on both sides inside a plastic 'open ended' cover, and has a small opening at the front to clip that latch anchor in place when not in use. It should be available on sedans and VC's as well to comply with the seat belt legislation that was passed for 1972 cars.

I can appreciate the confusion arising out of those pictures. I double checked my car and it has 2 receivers on the passenger side, and only one on the drivers. There's an additional latch (male end) in the middle and is used by the inboard second female receiver on the passenger side. So, not 6 appliances as shown in the pictures of the seats, just 4 (not counting the retractors)

The warning buzzer is actually located in the upper dash around the middle below the AC vent. It's wired to the pressure sensor pad located in the drivers/passengers seat. It will only activate if the car is running (or acc) in gear, not in park. I found this interesting because our first 72 Cutlass S was a very early production and didn't have that feature, whereas the second one, which I still have, rolled off Lansing final production April 10, 1972 and does have that feature.

All this information is contained in the 1972 Owners manual if you need references.

Keep in mind also that the pictures in the brochure show only one of the 2 versions of seatbelts offered that year. The ones with bright work will not work with the optional seat belt holders. The ones shown below will work with those holders

Koda

Shoulder belts came in in 66 and some cars were welded for them. The originals were buckle on the top part side, I believe and buckled at around your sternum. 67s were all welded for them, but were an option. This is hard roof cars.

68 shoulder belts were mandatory in hard roof cars, not trucks or convertibles. By then they had swapped to the buckle on the seat. In the pictures in the first post, the buckles were different sized in 70/71 to keep them straight. Two belts for the outboard seats, and one for the middle.

In 72, the belts were redesigned into the plug in one buckle thing shown above. The warning light was federal legislation, and like all laws, comes in in January of that year. Thus, some 68s have no shoulder belts, and some 72s have no warning lights, because the change to comply
with the law's date of going into effect had not occurred. The OEMs would do this a short time before new year to balance expense of more parts versus getting implemented in time.

For additional info, convertibles and other things like trucks and vans did not require shoulder belts until later, and I don't know when that was.

tcolt

Thanks for all the great answers and the helpful pictures too John. Randy was correct from the start, but I was so clueless about the 1971 to 1972 change that I didn't understand that.

To summarize it, let me see if I got this straight. On my 1972 Vista Cruiser with the roof mounted shoulder belts for the front bench I should see the two regular size (small) female receivers that accept the male buckles with the extra hole for the shoulder belt. Between those two I should have one set of male and female regular size (small) buckles for the third passenger.

Would my split second row bench be equipped with seat belts for three passengers too? In other words one male and female lp belt for the singles right-hand side seat. Two sets of lap belts for the left-hand side?

Also, since I am having my upholsterer make up the belts from set belt hardware that I got from Scott (Oldspackrat), I'm trying to figure out the length of the belts from the holes in the transmission tunnel to the seat cushions. From the factory pictures it appears that they were long enough to just show the buckles laying on the bottom seat cushion, close to the seat back rest without much of the actual seat belt webbing visible. Mostly just the buckle itself. Does that go together with how you did your 1972 Allan? I am torn between going with one of three different colors of blue webbing which would mean a lot more work and expense, or sticking with my original retractors and shoulder belts with all properly date coded black webbing (everything else was missing on my VC.) I'm leaning towards sticking to black for now, especially if the seat belt webbing wasn't really that visible with the belts laid out on top of the bench seats. (This is a minor issue only for sticklers and concours judges like me ;-)...

Would anybody mind measuring an approximate length from mounting point to the seat? I calculated about 25 to 27 inches for each piece from floor to bench seat....

John. Thanks for the information about the floor mounted sleeves. I think I can easily get those from the same company that supplies the correct three segment seat belt webbing. (www.seatbeltplanet.com)

Thanks! Tom

VC455

Hi Tom.

My 1970 Vista was equipped that way. The outer belts had chrome bolts at the floor and simple, single-bail retractors. Let me know if you need retractors--I have some of my style that appear to be bright cad instead of the original-style chrome.

Gary

tcolt

Hi Gary

I didn't even know that the rear bench had lap belt retractors but it makes sense. I definitely need a set. Would your set be correct for my 1972? (setting aside the correct date coding...) I'm assuming the retractor lap belts were only on the two outer second row/ split bench seats and the center seat just used a standard belt with some kind of adjuster on either the male or female buckle end?...

Thanks, Tom

VC455

Tom.

Oops I didn't think about your belts being absent and how you would not have that information... Yes, rears are standard buckle/tang manual belt with adjustment on the buckle side.

I'm not sure if my retractors are correct for your 1972, someone else will have to speak up on that point. Perhaps the people redoing your belts would know.

Here's better information: I took out my package with the second row bench retractors and compared them to my originals. Originals had chrome end caps over the retracting springs and had double bails. The spares have black plastic end caps over the springs and have single bails. The spares are chrome, my comment about silver cad was not correct.

And to answer your question about belt lengths--here is the list for my 1970 Vista. As posted, your 1972 has a different arrangement for shoulder belts.

Front seat belts
Shoulder belts (at roof), about 41”, male end
outers (spooled in floor-mounted retractors), about 28", male end
center position
Shoulder belt, about 24”, female end – small buckle
Lap belt, about 37”, female end – large buckle
Lap belt, about 20", male end

Second seat belts
Lap belt, about 22”, male, with chromed double-bail-type, belt-mounted retractors
Lap belt, about 37”, female – large buckle
Lap belt, about 20” male
Lap belt, about 31” female – large buckle

Third seat belts (belts for three occupants)
Lap belt, about 20”, male
Lap belt, about 31” female – large buckle

Gary