flatoz

I have a hardtop that I have to by law put seat belts into. I would prefer to put lap/sash belts and am just wondering if/how this can be done. I can put lap belts in easily enough.

Also need to do so in the back for child restraint.
anyone done this that can point me in the right direction?

thanks.

Bluevista

What kind of car and year? I would guess they weren't available so there are no mounting points, I think after '62 they all had front mounting provisions for lap belts but not totally sure. I read on another site that Wesco has a kit to retrofit their 3 point belts to hardtops but the mounting plates go on the sides below the back windows. Retrobelt has kits also, a little pricey but really nice, probably a few others around too.

Allan

http://wescoperformance.stores.yahoo...elts-help.html

http://www.retrobeltusa.com/

flatoz

Thanks, 55 holiday.

I have heard of belts that are mounted on the body just behind the door opening. But wanted to do something else, as I need to get a child seat in the back and dont want to be tripping over a belt as I'm trying to fight with a kid to get them in a seat.

will check out the websites.

Jamesbo

What color interior?

I've got a blue set I'll give ya but no plastic roller covers.

If this is a 2 door you're going to have a mess on the post next to the front seat.

The ones I have use a retractor on the floor and on the post with only a loop on the roof [door top] that the shoulder belt passed through.

Candily, I hated the set up so bad I went back to the 69 2 piece lap belt with the seperate shoulder belt folded up with clips to the headliner.

joe_padavano

"By law" where? Here in the US, only cars that came factory with belts are required to have them. If the belts were factory, the mounting points are already there. Note that seat belt mounting requires some engineering to ensure that the attach points can handle the load in a crash. At a minimum, use the reinforcing plates that street rod vendors sell. Shoulder belts are particularly difficult to retrofit due to the need to provide a roof attachment point on a car that was not designed for it. I would press on the "by law" part, as many bureaucrats today were not alive during the time that cars did not have seat belts.

flatoz

Hi Joe,

this is in Australia, we have had belts fitted since the 60's and have hefty penalties for not wearing them. I can probably get away with lap belts in the front. And feel that , that is what I will end up doing now. But will need to fit lap sash belts in the rear for kids seats.

do you have any photos of the set up you are talking about on your car?

thanks.

Jamesbo

I know this is going to sound funky, but please give it some thought. My 69's uses a seperate lap/shoulder belt with two male and female ends. It's a little cumbersome if you hop in and out of the car doing errands all day. But for kids in the rear, I think it could work fine AND they are relatively cheep and avaliable.

The 2 female ends are attached to one bolt in the floor [R side of seat]while the lap belts bolt to the other side of the seat floor. [Driver front has a retractor]

The shoulder belt [male end], bolts into the roof and is held out of the way [when not in use] with 2 clips on the headliner.

Zo to strap in you have to make two buckles lap then shoulder.

I really can't picture your cars interior but the lap/shoulder combo I had [that I hated] had 2 giant retractors and looked like S&%t on a white rabbit [or Kangaroo]

Bluevista

Hey flatoz,
Do you have to wear motorcycle helmets in Australia too? We have the right to kill and injure ourselves in many different ways here in the USA.

I didn't realize you were in Australia, the catalogs only show driver's side seat belts for the left side,
that may be a problem if you have right hand drive.

Allan

joe_padavano

Let me reiterate that the roof on the 68-72 cars is reinforced to take the loads from the shoulder belts. Installing them on an earlier car that wasn't designed for it is not a good idea without some mechanical engineering analysis. Even lap belts, though easier, MUST be installed with the anchor points located in a position that puts the belts at the correct angle and height on the passenger's body. In addition, the attachment location must be chosen to ensure that this angle is correct for all possible seat locations and driver heights and weights. This is why I'm amazed if the law really requires belts to be retrofit to older cars without specifying the details of the installation. Here in the US, the product liability lawyers would be all over this.

Olds64

Like a rat on a Cheeto!

Seiously though. I do know that the late 60s B bodies also had the 3 point harness like the one used in the Cutlii.

flatoz

Joe,

believe you me, we are much more regulated that you lot are on these things. so much so that your seat belts get thrown out as inferior products and we have to fit others made to ADR ( Australian Design rules). And yes we have to wear helmets on motor bikes AND push bikes.

The states mandate how the belts are fitted, but I was wanting to know how they may have been done, so as to have an idea on how to tackle this issue. I can argue that the car is pre the requirement of seatbelts due to its age, but having seen many an accident and the consequences and now having kids that I need to teach that they need to wear their seatbelts I want to put them in this car.

I know cars look better without them but I have had to wear them my whole life so its not something I miss,I actually feel unsecure when I don't have a belt on. At this point I'm thinking I will put 3 lap belts across the front seat and a centre lap belt in the rear and lap sash belts on both outside rear seating positions. as I will be using the rear for baby seats the lapsash is what is required for the baby capsules. It may look funny, but it can always be changed once their out of child seats.

I would prefer to put the lap sash belts in for safety if possible which is why I was asking. Many of the Jap cars that were imported here had a ugly setup, and as we never got Olds past mid 40's I wanted to know what they did for the hardtops so as to try to keep the look close to what would have been done back then.

After all I can go down the local parts store and buy ugly retrofit type belts and just get it ok'd by an engineer but as I said, I would like to add these to the car without them looking too out of place.

more a 'factory' look if you like.

cheers.

flatoz

car is going to be kept LHD just to make it easier on parts and no conversion cost , which is costly and needs to be engineered at about $1200. Will probably end up with a disc brake front end as it will be the daily driver.


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Oldsguy

You poor, poor people. I knew you had it bad down under....

Olds64

That is a pretty Olds.