AGK

Does anyone know how to go about putting a child's safety seat into a classic car? We want to put my 2 year old's carseat in a '69 Cutlass, but haven't done it yet as I'm worried about the safety. With that, I don't care what I can get away with regarding laws based on the age of the car. I'm more concerned about safety. Thanks for any info you can provide.

rustyroger

Your car should have anchorages for rear seat lap belts, use them. I don't think you could improve on a safety feature designed into the car when it was built.
You may need to clean up the threads if they haven't been used, it's a unique thread for seat belt bolts, be sure to use the correct bolts which should be readily available from a reputable auto parts store.

I think a similar thread has come up before.

You should have no problems getting a child seat suitable for lap type belt fittings, and you won't need to cut new holes in the floor or cut into the rear seat either.

I hope you buckle up anyway, you can buy another Cutlass but your family and you are irreplaceable.

Roger.

Allan R

The car seat needs to be anchored to the rear parcel shelf. Buy a tether anchor and install it as per instructions. I bought 2 of them to install in my wife's car many years ago - got them at Toys R Us. The upper car seat tether locks to the anchor, and the bottom of the car seat is secured with the rear seat lap belt. So it comes down to whether you want to drill the holes in your parcel shelf. You will need someone to help you holding the tether bolt while you snug it down from inside the trunk. Just a reminder though that the older cars are more susceptible to side impact crashes that the car seat may not be able to protect against.

AGK

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it.

rustyroger

I disagree with Allan, in the UK child seats designed to work with lap belt only are commonplace. I have fitted a few. They comply with the required British standard or they would not be legally for sale, and Europe certainly has safety standards comparable with north America.

I'll look up some info and let you know what I find.

Update, I found "Berkeley Parents Network" on the web. It has a Q&A section that addresses lap belt only car seat advice. Britax make a suitable seat and no doubt other makers also do.
It might be you need to buy another seat, but $150 for your childs enhanced safety is well worth it IMO.

Roger.

Yellowstatue

The shoulder belt anchor positions are already stamped into the rear parcel shelf on '68 and '69 Cutlass with the required big hole for the bolt, because shoulder belts were optional on these cars...just go into the trunk and look up at the bottom of the parcel shelf...

allyolds68

The only problem I've found with using the lap belt (both seats we have are designed to be used with a lap belt and the integral shoulder strap) is the lap belt only buckles in the middle so the buckle will end up in your child's lower back. I have a convertible and I hook the upper tether to an existing hole in the steel framework of the A support behind the seat. There are no provisions for a shoulder belt front or back.

When you use the lap/shoulder belt in a car without the "latch" system the shoulder belt does nothing except it's the "ratchet" point in the system, which, when you install it correctly, is locked. Functionally, the shoulder belt does nothing to restrain the seat

I'm much less concerned with the security of my three year old in the car seat than my nine year old with no shoulder belt. I'm always torn between having her ride in the front or back seat because neither is really a good option.

AGK

thanks for the additional info. My main concern was with the tether anchor, so with the info you provided I should be able to get one installed pretty easily.

rustyroger

I didn't know Cutlasses of that vintage had shoulder belt provisions in the rear. Thanks Yellowstatue.
3 point anchorages for the outer 2 passengers in the rear became compulsory in the UK in 1974 I think, although most vehicles already had them by then.

I presume my '87 Olds 88 Royale will have a 3 point anchorage too, it has rear lap belts fitted. I would like to upgrade to 3 point belts, do I need specific belts or will aftermarket ones fit?.

I don't mind spending money on something I hope I will never need in this particular case.

Roger.

gearheads78

Its a wonder any of us are still here since we didn't have any of this safety equipment when we were kids. Hell I have a seat the that my 6yo daughter used 5 years ago that is now not considered safe for my now 11 month old kids.

joe_padavano

Unless child seats have changed dramatically in the last 25 years, I don't understand the problem. I had my son's child seat in my 70 W-30 throughout the late 1980s. The fixed (as opposed to inertia reel) belts in the older car made this trivially easy. I did not use an upper anchor.

Allan R

Well Roger, you can disagree all you want. But in Canada, Transport Canada says I'm right. http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/roadsafety/s...acing-1085.htm

I know. We have periodic police safety checks up here and the date of manufacture is also checked. If the seat is outdated, you get a compliance order to replace it within X days and must prove it to the police by showing up with the seat for inspection. The general average is 6 years, but some manufacturers will state 10 years. If no expiry date is on the seat, in Canada the law says 6 years after the date of manufacture.

I don't know how Texas handles this. Check with your DMV or State Police.

allyolds68

That's because the government has decided that we're all stupid and they need to mandate common sense.

But....yes, car seats have changed substantially in the last 10 years. All child seats are a five point harness instead of three point. The preferred attachment points are now by the LATCH system rather than seat belts, although all car seats I've seen can be used with either system.

BTW Allen, apparently UAS is the LATCH system here in the US

joe_padavano

Yeah. That's why I still use my 30 year old lawn mower and gasoline cans. Especially the gas cans...

Olds Dad

I'd suggest one of these

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...ductId=2267437

helps cinch up the lap belts to get the seat nice and "mighty tight"

In my 71 convertible I use this, and I found a nice spot behind the seat (inside the convertible well) to hold on to - not a 'designated' anchor point, but as a practicing structural engineer, I made a 'judgement' call and if it goes, I've got bigger problems than the anchor point.

The tether kits can be used on the package shelf for the coupes though - I did this in my '55 sedan as well -

Good luck

rustyroger

Seems like we agree to differ then Allan, that's fine. I know from some of our posts we agree on some matters, disagree on others, and have no particular view on yet more.

I'm not saying you or Transport Canada are wrong, just we have our own opinions and are allowed to express them, part of what living in the free world is all about I guess.

Roger.

Allan R

No worries Roger. I'm not taking it personal. Just recounting the hoops and barrels we had to go through with child seat safety for my son. How people choose to secure the seat is really up to them and their countries legal requirements. Prolly should have said that in the first place. Just here you MUST have tethers in addition to the seat, even in an older car.

Just like Richard said ^^^ it's amazing some of us are still alive considering the lack of child safety back in the day. I can remember bouncing around from cargo to back seat in Dad's 59 Chevy wagon and the worst I got was being yelled at to sit in one place for awhile while the car was moving.

Sometimes (like Joe) I wonder if the safety institutes aren't really over reacting.

Anyway, you're right that this isn't a hill to die on. I also enjoy your posts to a lot of the other threads. Cheers!