seat belts

[gerty]

My wife just bought a 63 valiant convertible. We've never owned an a body this old or a vert either so we'll have lots of questions. There are no seat belts in the car. Did the belts come standard or have they been discarded? A prior owner had installed new seats-door panels- carpet etc. The first priority is safety so the seat belts need to be taken off the list. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Bob

 

[trapster]

My 63 dart Conv. did not have belts in it nor did it have evidence of belts in the back seat.
It may have been a convertible thing, because I had a 63 hard top that did have lap belts in it.

 

[valiant1966]

Mandatory seat belts did not come into existence until 1968. Prior to that they were an optional item.
If you want seat belts in your car(and I would), there are many places to get aftermarket ones. If you do decide to install them, don't forget to reinforce the floor area where they are attached to the floor. From the factory, there is a 1/8 to 3/16 thick plate welded to the car floor pan for the seat belt to attach to.
Dennis

 

[BillGrissom]

My 64 Valiant convertible has seat belts, as does my 65 Dart. I expect the factory welded the nuts in the floor regardless. You can check from underneath and poke a nail thru the nuts to find where to cut thru the carpet. You can get aftermarket belts ~$15/seat on ebay. If you get used ones, they actually clean up well. I used laundry detergent in a tub on the ones in my 65 Newport and they looked like new (don't get the latch wet). In both my A's, I am putting in front seats from new cars to get a head restraint and shoulder belts. Many use Sebring seats since the belts are integral to the seat. For that, you don't need the factory holes.

 

[gerty]

Thanks for the info, I'm leaning toward installing three point aftermarket belts. The sebring seats would be nice but Angela 's car has practically a brand new interior.

 

[GaryS]

My '64 Valiant convertible came without any belts, but the anchor points for front seat lap belts were in the floor, and I was able to use them when I installed Sebring seats. However, I did have to reinforce the floor where the seats mounted.

I had to drill holes for the rear belts, which came with their own reinforcing washers.

 

[mcnoople]

My '64 Valiant convertible came without any belts, but the anchor points for front seat lap belts were in the floor, and I was able to use them when I installed Sebring seats. However, I did have to reinforce the floor where the seats mounted.

I had to drill holes for the rear belts, which came with their own reinforcing washers.

What kinda of sebring seat. I want a set of the 2 tone leather suede ones, but I am curious about if the rear seat is the correct width. Matching front and rear would look good.

 

[GaryS]

What kinda of sebring seat. I want a set of the 2 tone leather suede ones, but I am curious about if the rear seat is the correct width. Matching front and rear would look good.

I Have fabric '97 seats that I recovered with vinyl to match the stock interior aqua color.

Someone on this website is trying to adapt a Sebring rear seat to fit an early-A convertible, but I don't recall which thread it was.