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Are rear seat belts supposed to retract automatically?
I've seen other '70-'72 GM A bodies rear seat belts fully extended and laid out on the rear seat (see image below). When I extend the rear seat belts on my '72 Supreme and let go of them, they just retract back. Is there something that makes them stay?
Dave - There are snap-in holsters mounted to the front and sides of the rear seat. The end piece of the seat belt snaps into the holster to keep the seat belt extended. I'm not certain what years & model vehicles came w/ holsters. Something tells me they were only available w/ Deluxe seat belts.
EDIT: I should mention most people removed them because frankly they were a PITA.
The belts that lay flat on the rear seat (as seen in the pics above) do not have retractors. They simply have seat belt material sewn to a mount that bolts to the floor. Your 72 supreme probably has deluxe seat belt retractors. Before 72, the retractors used in the front seat were only there to "store" the belt. They had to be fully extended for proper use, which is why there was a length adjustment on the female end. Starting in 72 (I believe January of 72, but maybe earlier) the retractors provided the length adjustment and the female buckles were sewn to the belts. The difference is that the retractors in 72 work like modern retractors where a quick force pulling on the belt (like tha force of an accident) locks the retractor so it cannot extend further. The retractors in your supreme should look like the ones in the pic below. Notice the center belt still has a "pull to adjust" length adjustment, but it is on the male end.
Here is a shot of what the above belts look like in a car. At this point, they did not have covers on the female ends.
Last edited by Loaded68W34; Mar 3, 2024 at 04:36 PM.
The belts that lay flat on the rear seat (as seen in the pics above) do not have retractors. They simply have seat belt material sewn to a mount that bolts to the floor. Your 72 supreme probably has deluxe seat belt retractors. Before 72, the retractors used in the front seat were only there to "store" the belt. They had to be fully extended for proper use, which is why there was a length adjustment on the female end. Starting in 72 (I believe January of 72, but maybe earlier) the retractors provided the length adjustment and the female buckles were sewn to the belts. The difference is that the retractors in 72 work like modern retractors where a quick force pulling on the belt (like tha force of an accident) locks the retractor so it cannot extend further. The retractors in your supreme should look like the ones in the pic below. Notice the center belt still has a "pull to adjust" length adjustment, but it is on the male end.
Here is a shot of what the above belts look like in a car. At this point, they did not have covers on the female ends.
Yea, that's what mine look like. Guess that settles that dilemma. Always a wealth of information on this forum. Thanks everyone!
So after seeing the pic above, I realized that you could see three female buckles on seat. Further inspection revealed that only two were visible on my rear seat. As I dug deeper into the issue, I realized that when I put the sound deadening material under my rear seat some months ago, I left one of the buckles buried under the sound deadener. It never dawned on me until today.
So, out I went just a few minutes ago and after a short wrestling match with the rear seat, I emerged victorious. I now have all three buckles visible 😀
To bring back an older thread here, can the center belt be made to be a retractable like the outer belts? How hard is it to get the seat bottom out? I have a '72 W29 442 Convertible. Thanks!
To bring back an older thread here, can the center belt be made to be a retractable like the outer belts? How hard is it to get the seat bottom out? I have a '72 W29 442 Convertible. Thanks!
The rear seat as a whole is somewhat of a pain. The bottom has two hooks mounted onto the floor on either outboard side. The bottom of the seat has two bars that slide into the hooks. In theory, you should only have to push really hard on the front of the seat bottom and it's supposed to just slide back and pop out. I have found that that's not always the case, so I sometimes have to pry back on the bars that lock into the hooks to get them to pop out. Once out, you can just take the seat bottom out.
The upright seat back has to be pushed up from the bottom to get it to release from the hooks that hold it in behind it. Again, not the easiest thing to do, but with a little patience and perseverance you'll be fine.
To bring back an older thread here, can the center belt be made to be a retractable like the outer belts? How hard is it to get the seat bottom out? I have a '72 W29 442 Convertible. Thanks!
The center belt cannot easily be replaced with a retractable belt. The 72 seat bottoms have notched sections on the outside corners to give room for the retractors. Adding a center retractor would involve cutting and welding the back edge of the lower seat frame. Notice the cut-out sections at the rear corners of the seat frame in the pic below:
The center belt cannot easily be replaced with a retractable belt. The 72 seat bottoms have notched sections on the outside corners to give room for the retractors. Adding a center retractor would involve cutting and welding the back edge of the lower seat frame. Notice the cut-out sections at the rear corners of the seat frame in the pic below:
I have a 72 I bought in boxes, and sorting through the belts now. Rear seat out, I have 4 belt screw holes. Where do all these belts get anchor to? Do The 2 outer are for the retractors where do the other 4 get bolted in the 2 remaining holes? It's the little things that drive you crazy lol. I am thinking 2 goes to 1 hole.
