Seat belt questions, again

[tonyfromjersey]

I was looking on gotbelts.com for lap belt replacements for my 77. I was looking at this Y-belt they have as a possible way to get something besides lap belts in the car, possibly use this in conjunction with some brady-belter seatbelt guides. Here is the link: http://gotbelts.com/yharness.html

Anyone try this and have any suggestions or ideas. I do use the back seat so I don't really want to route anything back there, but I'd love to get something a little more robust than a lap belt. The retractors are shot on my 33 yr old belts, replacement is on the list as soon as I get it back from the insane body shop guy.

[ga.spyder]

Hey Tony,I will be interested in what you come up with.I took an extended ,spirited ride thru the mtns in the 76 on Sat.The lap belt doesnt really feel secure!Those 'Y' belts look like a good setup,if you have a roll bar(I dont).Otherwise it looks like you would have to cut into or eliminate the seat? I used gotbelts for my 82,nice product and excellent prices.
Craig

[CShroom]

Yeah you would need a roll bar at best, or some way to reinforce the seats to handle a crash.

The thing to remember about those style belts is that the base of the Y has to be about the height of your shoulders. Otherwise in a good crash it will try to fold you over. If you really want 3 points, you may want to consider reinforcing your floor pan and get the seats out of a more modern car with the seat belts build in. There may be a way to build a stand to get the three point high enough not to actually harm yourself in a crash, or adapt a stand for the back of the seat to feed the belt through that is strong enough to take a good beating.

The body style itself really won't lend itself to an easy conversion. It is just too low and in order to get a proper shoulder harness you will have to figure out a way to bring the shoulder mount high.

[kmead]

Is there a reason you aren't trying to adapt the later factory 3 point harness? Although it may not have been equipped with them originally the mount for the upper belt may well be behind the trim. (I have updated other makers cars and found the mounts)

If you want the 4 point security one would also want a roll bar as these types of belts will hold you more upright in a crash. Holding the car up with your neck is not exactly something you want to be doing. It is easy to include a crossbar in the roll bar to keep the top of the belt above the seat back.

[ga.spyder]

Karl,
my 76 doesnt have any kind of mount behind the seat to mount the stock 3 point.Maybe some of the later models do? I havent really looked into fabbing something,but I probably will.It feels 'insecure'.Go figure...we used to drive 4000 lb muscle cars that werent even equipped w/ lap belts!
Craig

[azygoustoyou]

I have two parts cars that I could cut that part out for someone so they could weld it into theirs. let me know.

[tonyfromjersey]

Brady,

Let me think about it. My other main question would be how it affects the use of the back seat, my kids sit there a lot.

Tony

[NJFIAT1981]

Hi Tony,
You can have my spare set of back seats. Recover them in the color of your choice. They are set up for belts. I might have the old retractors. I think your kids still might fit in the rear. George

[tonyfromjersey]

George,

Thanks. If I do it, I'm going to buy new belts. If Brady can weld something in there and I'll get a set of his belt guides it might work. I'll take a look at your car when we get together next. I know a guy who does some upholstery work too.

I heard from crazy Dave, my car may be ready sooner than expected. I should hear from him again in another couple of days.

Tony

[NJFIAT1981]

OK. Let me know. Im going to have the heater core repaired tomorrow at Fingers. Hopefully I'll be ready to go before you are going up. George

[tonyfromjersey]

I'll wait until you're ready to go if you want to go up. Its all of 2 hours and a few, so no need making extra trips.

[NJFIAT1981]

OK. I spoke with them today and they will look at it tomorrow. George

[azygoustoyou]

Tony, I have a parts car here. It is either a 81 or 82. I can take out of it what you need. Just let me know what it is you need.

[tonyfromjersey]

I need to look at one of the backseats with belts already and see if I want to do it.