Modern Seat Belts?

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fourspeed

fourspeed

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As we all know, the factory shoulder harness was never intended to be removed from the clips. Totally useless.

My idea is to put three point belts in my car that are retractable, use factory mount points, and one of those drops for the shoulder harness. Right now, it goes across my neck.

Have any of you done this? Recommendations?
 
I got a set like you are describing for my Duster. I forget what brand, I'll try to dig up the invoice or something and let you know. They were a universal set and the drop down part was optional.
 
dusterglenn said:
Here's some more ideas:

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=87566
Click to expand...

Excellent! That's just what I was after - some pics of them installed. Thank you. I remember seeing that post a while back, but I missed the photos.

The dropped "sash guide" should be perfect. I can't tell from the pics - did you use the factory hole for the retractor AND the shoulder mount, or two separate holes? I'm inclined to use the factory shoulder bolt for both.
 
fourspeed said:
I didn't know the '75 had different belts. If I can find one in the boneyard, I'll check it out.
Click to expand...

I used a set from a van in the 4-door. Had to trim the bracket at the free end of the belt in order to work with a single hole. I have not found a reel cover that I like, yet. Fit and function is otherwise, perfect.
 
I put a roll bar in the ragtop, and welded in a tab for shoulder belt.
 
Yes...but! The two things I suggest you consider are these:

  1. Reel location. If you go with a single bolt set up like I did with the 73, the vertical run of the upper belt goes through the rear door opening. The belt has to be pulled aside to allow a passenger to enter. The reel also intrudes into rear foot room. I didn't see it as a deal breaker.
  2. The webbing for the buckle needs to be long enough to pass through a bench seat and have reasonable access to the buckle. The van set that I used on the 73 is so short that anyone wanting to move the seat forward, from my position (I'm 5'11") will not be able to reach the release button after buckling in. I don't drive with the seat all the way back, but it's close. FWIW, I'm looking for another set with longer buckle end webbing. Longer buckle webbing will let the upper belt run lower across your chest.
 
I will be putting a set of 75's in mine,and harnesses in my 77 RoadRunner.
 
2 Darts said:
Yes...but! The two things I suggest you consider are these:

  1. Reel location. If you go with a single bolt set up like I did with the 73, the vertical run of the upper belt goes through the rear door opening. The belt has to be pulled aside to allow a passenger to enter. The reel also intrudes into rear foot room. I didn't see it as a deal breaker.
  2. The webbing for the buckle needs to be long enough to pass through a bench seat and have reasonable access to the buckle. The van set that I used on the 73 is so short that anyone wanting to move the seat forward, from my position (I'm 5'11") will not be able to reach the release button after buckling in. I don't drive with the seat all the way back, but it's close. FWIW, I'm looking for another set with longer buckle end webbing. Longer buckle webbing will let the upper belt run lower across your chest.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Dart. I was actually looking at this in the car yesterday. The shoulder strap bolt is just too far behind the front seat on a four door. I guess I could relocate the bolt farther forward, but that would require cutting into the headliner, which I'm not willing to do. Oh well, I'll see what else is out there.
 
Here's a short write-up on a 3 pt. install I did a while back.

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=48125&highlight=seat+belts



The only piece of info that isn't clear is that I mounted the reel bolt through the bracket and into the rocker. The lower reel is mounted in 2 locations, the stock location, and an additional mount out back.

To date the belts are super comfortable and retract easily. And they look great in my bench seat car. Probably look just as good w/buckets.

SANY0014-vi.jpg

SANY0012-vi.jpg
 
I bought some 3-point retractable belts from XV Motorsports , and I LOVE them !
My car has a bench seat ; XV makes belts for a bench seat arrangement .

They mount using all of the original factory mounting points ( ostensibly , 1968 & later ) , so there's no need to wrestle with drilling and screwing around .
 
I just did the same thing a little while back, got a set of seat belts some one bought from The Truck Stop in California, for a chevelle, they didn't fit them for some reason. Any way they only took a few minutes to fit, and hopefully will stop all those complaining passengers.
 
Sorry for my slow reaction time.
I mounted my 3 point belts using the stock mounting points. Install time was around 1/2 an hour, for both sides, working slowly.
The belts I bought were absolutley identical to the XV belts, I just picked the other guys to avoid UPS. My only complaint, and it is minor, is that the buckle end of the belt (at the console) is a little short. I think maybe 2" longer would be more comfortable.
 
I still have the stock belts for my Duster's bench seat. The inboard belts are around 15". I could re-use the sleeves, but the belts come in 10" or 20". Neither is ideal. I emailed to see if they can supply a 15" belt.
 
fourspeed, please post the response you get.
Thanks,
C
 
Great thread, I want/need to do this.
I saw a 74 Swinger last night that had shoulder belts, attached to the floor near the seat, and in between the rear seat and the rear panel.

Would these fit earlier a bodies?

Does anyone know if the 67 Barracuda has the roof mount?
I'm finding that 68s look very similar, but there are many, many, differences.
 
I just ordered a set from Wesco. They can supply a 17" "floppy end", but you have to call. They have 10", 17" and 20".
 
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