Looking for the Fasten Seat Belt indicator light that goes on top of the dash in 72 and up i believe to 77 but I am not sure

 

Anyone?

 

Where does it go exactly and what does it look like, I will look at my parts car , I guess I am not familiar with the part.

 

The part goes right on top of the dash pad in the middle. It would have came in cars with the factory rally pac for 72 only. I understand that it was used up to about 77. I am not sure what it looks like. I have heard that the same housing was used in the Vista cruisers but said tailgate ajar instead of fasten seatbelts...But I am not 100% on any of this

Thanks

 

In a box somewhere.... I have one that I pulled from a 1975 Cutlass. If I can come across it I'll let you know. John

 

The Fasten Seat Belt indicator light you are looking for was only provided in 1972 for cars equipped with the U21 Rallye Pac. 1972 cars equipped with the "idiot light" gages had the "Fasten Seat Belts" incorparted into the bottom of the Fuel, and idiot light cluster.

You are correct in thinking that these pods were also used from 1973 up to 1977, but only on the Cutlass cars with rallye pacs. I don't know if they had one for the tailgate ajar that you mentioned, but it's possible. I believe this pod was also used on Pontiac and Buick for some of their models, but don't know which ones.

Do you need the dimensioning and hole drilling schematic? Take a look:

 

John, If so please let me know as I would love to have it....!

Thanks,
John

 

Alan, Thank you for the photos...if I find one that will work out very well!!!

Do you have one or is that from a dash that had one?

 

Yes, I have one. The pics are not mine. I got them on one of the forums and kept them in my photos in case I ever needed them again. They are from a dash that had one installed.

 

Thanks Alan, did it hurt to drill the whole in your dash

 

I'll let you know when I do it. (My dash says no, it won't hurt. It's looking forward to getting the modification) There's always a little bit of personal apprehension at the start, but once I get started, I just have faith in my abilities. And, if I do screw it up I know I can get another dash to play with. Before I actually do this, I'm going to go and play around with my drill on dashes that are already wrecked. Just to give myself a little comfort zone.

I don't expect there will be any issues. I triple check my plans and dryfitting to avoid disappointment. Unlike my cousin who likes to "wing it" and drills 3 times before he checks his measurement.... I also plan to re-dye the dash pad anyway to make it a nice crisp black. I'll clean the pad really well, and any minor scuffs will simply be absorbed / covered by the dye.

 

Good to know Alan and keep me posted....Just redyed my dash and am VERY VERY happy with the outcome

John (2blu442) Sent you a PM

 

I've got a master plan for the installation of my options. What I'm trying to achieve is taking the interior apart only once to get everything done. That's a real tough call since I still need to refurbish some of the parts. I want to have some of them right now, but I don't want to take everything apart several times. (I know practice makes perfect, but it gets ridiculous after a while).

Did you take your dash pad out to re dye it? How long does it take to remove, and what are the main obstacles? I'm thinking it will be carefully finding and removing all the nuts on the pad mounting studs. The rest of the interior is a piece of cake. I have spare junction blocks for all the power options that need to be installed. Also had to upgrade to a 63 amp alt to handle the load.

Next year or 2011 (if I survive that long) I want to take out the 350 and freshen it up. It will also be a great opportunity to completely detail the engine bay (which is actually pretty clean right now). My Mrs and I were talking about moving to lower BC around then. That would be really close for a cross border jaunt to come down and check out your C/S. It's a really sharp looker. It would be an interesting side by side. I have silver and black stripes, you have black with white. Only one problem, I'd have to chop off my roof to get that open top feeling.

 

Allen, I've got a sawzall you can borrow

 

John, I can always count on you for a chuckle. I guess I'll have to keep the top on cause it would just tear me apart to "modify" my car like that. Then I'd also have to change the chassis to make it into a vert. Just waaaaay to much work.

Then again, we could always do the texarcana beer run under a semi to loosen the top???

 

Alan, Too be honest the removal was pretty easy as the rest of the interior was out. The olny hard part was the studs by the head light switch. if you look at my thread "interior gutted with questions" you will see my progress. i did take it out to redye the interior and the dash looks BRAND NEW. I also redid seat belt retractors, console, lower dash sun visors, seat backs and will be doing the column, metal dash, floors header bow covers and what ever else needs to be freshened up.

before my first one got wrecked I did the engine paint and bay detail as well as the suspension, like you in 11 I plan to yank my 350 to freshen it up and detail the bay.

If you are ever close look me up and Lower BC is real close to me like 2 hours to Vancouver. Would love to see yours as well....And as to the roof....We can fix that as we can venture to oregon to get 2Blu442's Sawzall

 

Allen, since you have the correct one for a 1972 would you please review these photos to make sure they are the same? I pulled this from a 1975 with the rally pack. Somewhere on my computer I also have pictures of the dash and if I remember right there was some really thick aluminum foil attached to the underside of the dash, I guess for a heat shield. John

P1010148.jpg

P1010152.jpg

P1010153.jpg

P1010150.jpg

P1010149.jpg

P1010151.jpg

 

The pics look good John. It's the same pod from 72-77. All you need to do is paint the top to match the color of the dash. One of the wires on the bottom will need some shrink wrap to re-insulate it where it is damaged. As far as a heat shield, I'm not sure about that. You could always use the silver foil tape they use on heater plenums to reflect the heat. I don't know that it's needed though since this light will only be on for a few seconds each time and that's not a lot of heat. Plus there's a fair amount of space below the bulb to dissipate the heat.

Are you sure you're not confusing the thick foil with the adhesive pads that are used on the top of the center AC vent to help keep it attached to the dash pad? It would be in about the same spot.

 

Thanks Allen
It may not show up in the photos but the top cover on this one is black.

You may be right on the foil, and that makes sense it will only be on until you get annoyed with the buzzer and fasten your seat belt! John

 

Alan, If and when you do yours do not use the measurements you have posted as they are not even close. I had tried them on a cardboard box and they are WAY off. i ended up buying calipers to measure in decimals as the specs are VEY precise and there is no room for mistake. the assembly manual has the right specs. Here are some pictures of the completed project

 

I have the 72 light, but it will go with a near perfect black dash (one back mount broke off). Let me know if the pair suits your needs.

C.J.

 

Sorry to hear the pics in that post were off. Can you tell me where they are way off? The dash pics I posted were not mine, but clearly had the fasten belts pod on it at one time. Does your car have A/C? Mine doesn't, and neither does the dash in the pics I posted. I don't have my dash pod handy to do a measurement on. I did rely on the integrity of the person who posted the pics originally.

Really glad to hear that you got it installed. It looks Great!! Now you just have to put the dash back in

 

Hey Alan, Most of the measurements are good. The center hole is 1.25 and 2.25 from the back of the dash is great. the problem is that in the picture it shows 1" from center of the center hole to the center of the hole for the posts on the light. They need to be .91 or 1.82 from post to post in width. If it was measured with a tape measure that would explain it as a 6" scale or calipers are needed to measure in decimals. The guy that helped me is a Boeing QC guy and was suprised how precise the measurements need to be. If you cut the holes 1" from center the unit will not drop in and the bezel will not cover the outside holes. I just did not want you to cut holes in yours and them be off. I am sure you would test it on somthing before you cut your dash but wanted to be sure. I did make a template and if you use the measurements in the assembly manual it will be perfect just make sure your measurements are on the money....

Thanks Alan and if and when you do yours if I can help please let me know.

 

You're right that I would make a template before actually drilling, and would check how it works with the pod posts.

It's not a question of if I get this done, it's just when. I have half the rallye pac in, but still have to do the gages. When that happens I'll be doing all the underdash work at the same time. As I previously posted, I want to do all the mods at one time to avoid taking it apart and re-doing it. I've been dreading the job of taking the dash pad off mostly because I don't have skinny long fingers to get into some areas. When I git 2 r, I'll take lots of pics and post them. Rest assured, I'm probably going to send you plenty of pm's when the dash comes out.

 

Alan, I will be very happy to help in anyway possible and agree that you should do it all at once. Do you have a lead on the gauges? When I posted my wanted add for them I got 2 replies and only bought one Check out my thread interior gutted with questions thread...although not that detailed you may see somthing that will help or get a question I can answer. my dash pad is back in and after everything is tested and works I will bolt it down.

Thanks Alan

 

I have the rally pac gauges. Need to do a little cleanup on them. Cost me 290.00 but they are OEM, in decent shape and they probably will work a lot better than some of the resto stuff from PP and other vendors. I have new lenses for the gauges too. By coincidence, I found a harness connector for a 70-72 rallye pac on ebay that I got dirt cheap, so I don't have to rewire my existing harness. I also recently got an optional 72 speedminder speedometer that I need to restore. It works fine but could use cleanup for presentation. LOTS of stuff to prep before doing the dash.

Glad to hear that all your work turned out the way you wanted. I will take a look at the thread you mentioned. A lot of times, I take thread pics and text and store them on my PC in file archives that I will use later. Saves trying to remember what thread they were in. You should see the list of stuff that needs to be done still! Next year in March I expect to sign my retirement papers and get the majority of my projects well under way.

 

Speedminder huh....I was looking at one that a guy localy had but found out it was a 69 and not a 70 as he stated...another nice option that I would like to add....the goal is to round up and add as many as possible but we shall see. let me know what I can doand congrats on the retirement

 

It's a very hard to find option. Even more rare than finding an NOS cruise control for 70-72. Shouldn't take a lot to clean it up, the needles will need to be touched up, and I'm putting on a new lens. I'm thinking of taking apart the number cluster and putting it back together with the existing mileage of the car on it. Before I do that, I think I'll buy a couple of ebay specials cheap and try it on them before doing the speedminder. One thing I wish Olds had done back in the day was include a trip odometer on the speedo.

 

Hi does anybody have another seat belt light for a 72??

 

I would be interested in one of those seat belt lights with or without the whole dash.
The early 72's did not have this. Terry Devilbliss has the exact date & info on this. It is somewhere around February '72 that they began installing them.

 

Thanks Brian,

My 442 was made in Dec 71, that probably why it does not have it. Is Terry on this website? If this is correct I rather not cut into my dash.

Thanks

 

here's the info:

Rally Pack cars got them starting in January 1972, which is when the federal requirement kicked in. Any '72 car built through December of 1971 did not have them.