Sugar Bear

Any recommendations for a seat belt restorer on a '69 442? One of the buckle ends is jammed and the color is wrong on some of the webbing. Looking for nice work but not concours.

I've seen setups available online that are a system using GM buckles that use one connection/buckle for the lap and shoulder belt vs. the current separate two buckle/belt system. Original is nice and preferred but safety may trump originality in this department. Any thoughts or experience with these?

All input is appreciated, thanks in advance!

Fun71

The 71-up cars used that belt system, so you could get a set from one of those years and it should be a direct fit. The buckles in those years were smaller - at least with the Deluxe buckles, not certain about the regular ones.

VC455

Ssnake Oyl did my belt restoration. They did beautiful work but they are a concours shop and they charge as such.

There is no difference in safety in the one buckle/two buckle comparison. The one buckle style is more convenient and cheaper to manufacture--that's why they were put on later cars.

Sugar Bear

Was thinking that other drivers of the car which were will be (family), couldn't forget the shoulder belt, they are readily available and cost A LOT le$$. Are the mounting points at the same location for the single buckle style?

Seen great reviews for Snake Oyl. VC455 if you don't mind answering what did you have done and what was the cost?

VC455

They were upfront about their pricing and a lot of it is posted on their site. I sent them my belts and they mailed a quote back.

I sent them in about this time of year and had to wait about 4 months for the restoration. They were a few weeks later than they had promised, but I wasn't under time pressure.

• I have the deluxe seat belts and I had restoration for 8 seat belts and two shoulder harnesses.
• They replaced two buckles due to rust pitting.
• I had them replace the date code labels at the base of each belt.
• They supplied two rear belt retractors.
• I had them paint the front retractor housings in the interior color.

The date codes were expensive, so you could skip that.

All in, I paid near enough $1000, so it came to about $100 per belt. Doable if you have a Corvette, but expensive if you have a wagon.

Sugar Bear

Thank you for the detailed info. It may be worth it as only the fronts need work.

70Post

You need to look at SnakeOyl's main competitor....Python Restorations. I think it may be run by an ex-employee of SnakeOyl and everyone I've recommended them to has had a great experience....at a demonstrably lower cost as well.

83hurstguy

Python did nice work for me, but I had to chase him around because I was worried after a few months my stuff would end up in a black hole. I don't remember communication that wasn't initiated by myself until the work was actually done. It was slightly frustrating because we never had a discussion about replating buckles vs polishing and saving some very nice originals I had supplied. He was very nice, honest, and I had no issues otherwise.

One of my retractors stuck this summer and I haven't had a chance to investigate yet. Python does work for several resto shops, so when the shops send him stuff, it goes to the front of the line. I'm not complaining, as that's how things often work, but it's also good to know that up front if you are on a tight timeline. I think I paid around $6-700 for my deluxe seatbelt rebuild, that was new webbing, rebuilt retractors, date code tags, cleaning/reassembling the buckles, and plated original bolts.

There are pictures of the restored seat belts in my Major Projects/Builds thread.

stevengerard

if you are worried about safety they now sell 3-point seat belts for a-body gm cars such as this, not correct but safe

https://www.seatbeltplanet.com/c-138...-shoulder.html

Either way I would suggest either having them redone or replaced as the old webbing on those olds belts are getting more and more brittle each year and they can rip easily in an accident.

Olds64

As Steven said there are 3 point seatbelts available aftermarket. If you aren't concerned about staying OE you might consider these suppliers:

https://www.seatbeltsplus.com/

https://www.wescoperformance.com/seatbelts.html

https://www.retrobelt.com/

Jamesbo

ros6872 [ a CO member ] has some one who does a very nice job. I'm not sure if he only does his own for sale or other but it's worth and inquiry

ros6872

Thanks Jamesbo. I do my own work. if interested. email ros6872@hotmail.com.
BTW I have used Stewart at Python Restorations in the past and he did a beautiful job of rewebbing.

rand5204

I have just gotten the second set of belts back from Python. Stewart did the belts in my blue car and now on my current project as well. His work is fantastic. They are more reasonably priced than Snake Oyl but you need to have patience. I know they are pretty backed up right now.