tcolt

When I bought my VC the only seat belts left were the roof-mounted shoulder belts and they were black. The manufacturer was Hamill and the model number is 1200, which would match their 1201 retractable lap belts. I've had a couple people tell me the belts normally were keyed to the interior color which is blue, but I'm fairly certain that those black lap belts have always been in my car.

Also, which belt buckles would be correct, the all metal buckles or those with the wrinkle finish? What about the length of the receiver buckle belts.Were the different lengths of a Hamill 1201 in different cars and seat types or was that model number used for belts used on bucket set, bench seats, different car models, etc?

Does my interior trim code TR 993 tell me anything about my seat belts or would that information only be found on the build sheet? This is the complete info on my data plate:

ST72 34866LAN413654 BDY
TR 993 26 26 PNT
3C A52 V55

What was the most common seat belt version found on Vista Cruisers? Mine didn't come with any options, so I would guess the belts it came with were the bottom of the barrel stock belts, although I'm not sure if 3-point belts (shoulder and retractable lap belt) maybe were standard in 1972.

Below are pics of my black shoulder belt...

stevengerard

Those are a 5th week of may 1972 seat belt so if your car was built in June of 72 then the seat belts maybe original. Your sequence number of 413654 certainly is a high number and would correlate to a late '72 build. I just don't know enough about 72's (or Vista Cruisers) to tell you and can't find my 72 assembly manual. In '70 the blue interiors received blue seat belts, yet pearl/white interiors had black.

tcolt

Thanks Steve

5th week of May or fifth week of the year? I saw some seat belts with an 18, so the latter might make more sense? I guess E could stand for May though... Do you know where in the assembly manual I would find anything about seat belt numbers?

Rocketbrian

Standard belts for all those era cars were black with black buckles unless the deluxe belts were ordered, option AK1. The deluxe belts were colour coordinated to the interior and in 71on they had brushed stainless buckles. I believe in 70 and back, on some models, the buckles were also colour matched. As well, there were subtle differences in the retractable housings on the floor mounted piece. On some models the deluxe front lap belt buckles had smaller brushed buckles than the rest. In 72 the belts in the front were three point, as in 71 there were separate lap and shoulder female belts. There were other changes as well to the belt systems made in 72. A lot of variations as you can see during those years. The deluxe belts enhanced the interior without question.

tcolt

Thanks Rocket. I agree that the deluxe belts with the stainless receiver buckles look nicer, especially when you consider that it could be harder to find the plastic buckles in a condition that looks presentable.

So, would the black Hamill 1200 / 1201 belts indicate that these were the standard black only version and didn't come with the deluxe buckles or color-coordinated belts? In other words, wouldn't they have used a different model number if these were deluxe belts with stainless buckles? Also, my 1972 front belts do have separate lap belts and a shoulder belt that latches into the buckle of the lap belt.

Thanks, Tom

The only thing that I would add is that my

Rocketbrian

In 71 and older, the shoulder belt uses a separate belt and does not attach to the door retractable piece as yours does in 72. When they went to the 72 system, the retractable floor piece was moved further to the rear of the car. Also, the adjustable portion of the belt was moved to the male portion of the belt from the female section in 71 and older.
I would assume there would be different numbers for deluxe belts. The only way you received black deluxe belts with the brushed buckles was in a black or white interior. I've attached pictures of my 71 white interior belts. If you had deluxe in yours, it would have blue belts with brushed buckles.
Note with the deluxe you also received storage clips on the lower seat bottoms.
Hope this helps. You almost have to be a mad scientist to keep track of these differences. 😥

tcolt

Perfect. It sounds like you've done plenty of research. So, I think I must have the standard belts for 1972. I don't have the storage holders for the lap belts, only the roof pockets for the shoulder belt. It looks then, like the black was standard for the Vista Cruiser although I have a few people telling me they've seen mostly deluxe color coded belts on these cars. Maybe they mean Cutlasses and not so much Vista Cruisers where owners might not have chosen the deluxe version as frequently....

Did those 1972 black buckles have wrinkle finish paint or plastic covers? Gm emblem on the push button? And would the male and female portions of the standard and deluxe buckles fit together if I wanted to keep my original shoulder belts and mix them with the nicer brushed stainless buckles?

Is the correct black webbing still available if I found a set of belts in the wrong color and wanted to replace the webbing?

stevengerard

you can get them re-webbed but I'd leave that to someone who has the right equipment to make sure its not correctly, after all its a safety issue.

You can also buy reproductions. You can of course mix standard and deluxe (provided they are matching size) but they did not come that way. either all the belts were standard or deluxe but not mixed.

You can also find used and NOS little by little - here is a good choice to start

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1972-Oldsmo...FZJKGH&vxp=mtr

Here is the female buckle holders
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1965-1972-C...dYEjzo&vxp=mtr

tcolt

Thanks Steve

Those are nice, but probably more than I want to spend. I didn't know that there were rear seat retractors. I thought they were probably just lap belts going through the bench seats and laying on the seats. Maybe those were an option. Also, I'm surprised to see the non-slanted retractor unit in 1972. I wish I could understand more of the logic between all these variations. I also need to make sure the female belt lengths are long enough to reach through the wagon's bench seats. Not sure if other cars had quite similar benches.

It looks like a couple of weeks of time might have been okay between the manufacturing week of seat belt sets. Like the 12 E 72 and 15 E 72 in this set?...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1972-Oldsmo...FZJKGH&vxp=mtr

tcolt

I just bought the NOS rear seat shoulder belt. I'm surprised that there even were three point belts for the rear seat and honestly, I haven't even checked to see if my VC even has the mounting points for a rear retractor and the roof mounted shoulder belt...

Jamesbo

FWIW My 69 Vista has blue Deluxe with the should belts that have clips to hold them out of the way when not in use

VC455

My 1970 VC has the mounting points, so yours should as well. You'll see them when you remove upper side trim pieces. I don't think Fisher would make different bodies for those who chose optional rear shoulder belts.

Koda

I believe all the cars came with all the shoulder mounts with the exception of some 66 cars when they were an option and the cowl tag has a punch in it for front shoulder mounts. 67 cars all have front shoulder mounts regardless of whether you got the option. Not sure when rears came along, but I read they were the same thinking, mounts regardless of options.

tcolt

Thanks for the pointers. James, I would love to see pictures of your rear seat belts and place holders. Gary, are you saying that the upper mounting points aren't visible until you take the plastic cover panels off? Does that mean there were different versions of cover panels an I have to drill holes if my VC didn't come with rear should belts?

VC455

Tom, you are correct, you can't see the mounting points until you take the panels off. I have not seen a VC with rear shoulder belts, so I am not certain what changes to the panels existed. I've always suspected that there were different panels for shoulder belt cars. If you find a picture, we can both be educated.

tcolt

The rear shoulder seat belt I bought does say that is was for a Cutlass Cruiser and I guess it's possible that those had different mounting points than a VC. I just took a picture of the roof on my VC. It shows the front seat mounting bolt at the top left of the photo, but I can't see where the rear mounting point would be. Am I looking in the right place where you said it should be under the panels?

Thanks, Tom

VC455

Tom, you are looking in the right place. My car isn't here for me to look, but I reviewed pictures of that area and they don't show obvious attachment points for either the second or third row shoulder belts.

Perhaps I was recalling something from my first 1970 Vista Cruiser, which was a very early model. But it's been 35 years since I had that one.

However seeing that the mounting for the front shoulder belt is different on my car than yours makes me wonder if there were variations from Fisher. But that's really not logical.

Sorry for the foggy recollection. We'll have to wait for someone who has actually seen an installation.

rocketraider

Std vs Deluxe belts weirdness department:

I've had several cars over the years with supposedly standard black belts but often found that when the plastic shrouds deteriorated, they'd reveal a set of Deluxe colored belts in a color completely incompatible with rest of interior. as in 76 Custom Cruiser blue interior with red belts, 74 H/O black interior with a blue driver side buckle end, and on and on. So you have to wonder about the extra cost for the Deluxe color-coordinated belts.

I've seen this on other GM carlines too so you have to assume the line workers grabbed whatever was in the bin as long as the plastic shroud matched the interior.

tcolt

Gary. Well, here is the installation diagram that came with the seat belts. The drawing almost looks like the seat belt is for the third row bench?...

That's wild about the seat belt colors. Maybe the seat belt manufacturers put the wrong color retractor cover on the belts and the inspectors didn't catch it?...