Technical Whose seat belts do you use? Why?

I grabbed mine out of the back seat of a Firebird. Color matched my intentions for the interior.

 

It is planned obsolescence
Our "GO TO" is and FIA homologated camlock harness [Sabelt, Sparco, OMP etc] because they have a 5 year life.
with Clubmans racing [non-championship] this is extended another 5 years past expiry.

SFI belts are only rated for 2 years [FIA and SFI cost the same]
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If anybody is considering sewing tie-downs / seat belts / or load bearing straps ! There is a bit of a science to it ! I was OSH registered to sew these in NZ back in the late 70's
Over the years I have re-webbed seat belt
[Now a redundant skill due to programmable "Bar Tack Sewing Machines"]

Here is some basic rules from the playbook. [showing relative tension strength of stitching]



@Bandit Billy and @jimmy six ! When I see stitching like your 2 examples below on a tie-down or seat belt, I know damn well the manufacturer has merely plagiarized someone else's mistake.

This is the industry standard of "Monkey see....Monkey do" because of deregulation. [or that looks strong enough]
"then they baffle you with bullshit"






The retro colour matched seatbelts in my 57 Chevy had one of the straps sewn on upside-down. [normally I would flip it around in the inertia reel but the safety label would still be on the wrong side]

These were expensive and USA made.[from a reputable vendor]

So I simply unpicked them an re-stitched them, so you couldn't tell it was done.
What annoyed me was I had to replicate their original poor/dangerous methods.

They were sewn east/west and only had a 2" seam overlap.
If I corrected this , I would have to argue with our "Road Compliance Know-alls"

 

I bought mine from https://www.ssnake-oyl.com/ They sell a set with a traditional style chrome latch.

 

They are traditional in New Zealand! All cars manufactured after January 1st 1955 must have front seat belts fitted.
If they weren't factory fitted, they must be retro-fitted to NZ specs [at the time it is first registered]

So my 57 Chevy never had factory fitted belts BUT it had dealer fitted lap belts [so I argued that the dealer was representing the factory AND they were fitted prior to the customer receiving delivery]
From the pages of the 1957 Chevy accessories booklet




I was told to F - off and fit inertia reel belts to 2017 standards [the time of 1st registration in NZ.]



The "Fearless Leader" in our Govt was also a hotrodder who owned a 56 Chevy and he said he was in the same situation.
I got really creative fitting anchor plates in the pillars without any paint damage

 

In the state of Australia (New South Wales) where I live, if the car is modified, you have to instal retractable lap/sash seat belts and I think nowadays they must be new. You can't grab a set from the wreckers and fit them.
If you fit them to a vehicle that didn't have provision for them the installation has to be approved by an engineer.

 

My dad put lap belts in my aviator in the mid to late 50’s

 

the rumor I've read is that the lap belts were there to keep the driver's butt in his seat, for hard cornering...thanks to Mr. Duntov. They're pretty wimpy mounts!

 

I have Crow belts and harness in the Cyclone. 2” wide, the car is never raced so I don’t have to adhere to any sanctioning rules.

 

Same here. If it didn’t come with them, you don’t have to have them. So mine doesn’t have any and probably never will. I have a collapsible steering column so I don’t have to worry about that.

 

Just so you know, when the SFI spec for belts was implemented, the division 5 tech director at the time, Elroy Adams told me that Dupont which made the fabric for the belts had a seminar for NHRA. At that time they showed how uv rays destroyed the strength of the belts in months. Their logic in going 2 years was based upon race cars being inside most of the time. I quized him at length about the subject. One of the things that came out of the conversation was upon impact, a belt will stretch a foot. That keeps it from cutting the body in pieces. That also means the placement of the belts is very important. I realize this has little to do with the original question, I just thought it might be useful info for some.

 

I swear duntov is the chuck Norris of the automotive world. Never been a Corvette guy but after hearing the story of how duntov broke his back in a race and wore a dress to work to finish engineering Rochester mfi because that was all he could fit over the cast I've been a fan of his lol. One of the few times it's manly without question to wear a dress lol

 

I've used these Jegs house brand lap belts on two cars now. Great quality for the price https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/70080/10002/-1

 

There is seatbeltsplus and seatbeltsplanet
https://www.seatbeltsplus.com/
https://www.seatbeltplanet.com/

I have gotten basic lap belts from seatbeltsplus and use them them with the Juliano's bracket.

The carry different colors from each other in some cases.
If you have old seatbelts that you like the hardware. You can buy the seatbelt material by the yard at some upholstery shops. And then sewn up too.

I believe that some of the other shops are still just reselling seatbeltsplus belts.

 

Depending on what kind of car you're putting them in and what all has been done to it adding seatbelts is actually more dangerous. As in it'd almost be more dangerous than putting a secure restraint system on a motorcycle. Now if the car has a cage(and cage mounted belts) and a collapsible column that's different and yes belts would increase safety. But a car like my 53 Bel Air for example? In a hard head on wheel could potentially impale me if I didn't get out of the way. B pillars are not engineered for 200 lbs to yank on them from a centralized spot at 60+mph. Floor pans for sure aren't designed to hold the load of the lap belts regardless of how new they are. My stepmothers father had a damaged disc in his back from when he bought a new Ford pickup in the sixties and had seatbelts added (honestly unsure if dealer installed or done by an independent shop). Bout a year after install he hit a ditch doing about 40 mph. Seat belts held just long enough that he flopped like a rag doll when the anchor bolts ripped loose. On top of whiplash in his neck he nearly broke his lower back. And did dislocate his hip. Man never wore a seatbelt from them till he died.

 

After having experienced a head on crash without wearing the seat belt that was present at the time, everything I build gets a seat & shoulder harness belt, and it gets used if you are riding with me.

I much prefer the modern (after 1990) factory seatbelts with the factory retractors. They have to be properly positioned so the centrifugal force belt lock mechanism works properly. The belts move freely with you, but when the pendulum swings with sudden movement (in any direction), it locks the belt. I choose belts in the color I need out of modern vehicles that were not wrecked, and the belts still look good. I'm sure those factory belts can be re-webbed if their age concerns you.

I install the lap & shoulder 3 point harness for both front seat passengers in everything I build. A middle seat passenger gets a lap only belt. Since the shoulder mounting point is placed where I believe is the best location in the vehicle I'm working on, my opinion about the belts in my vehicle is that any restraint has to be better then no restraint at all. I copy factory installation practices as closely as possible. Some of my belt installations have been crash tested, and have worked out OK.

 

I got belts from the back seat (lap belts only) of a gm car in the junk yard. Not the best belt but should keep me from falling out if the door opens in a turn.

 

He used these

 

Lil food for thought for the guys thinking putting seatbelts in a vintage car with no cage and a stock column actually does anything for safety.

 

Watch the vid on YouTube

 

I have. And while a 59 Chevy has the weaker of frame designs at the time it's still representative of what can happen when you can't get out of the way of the steering wheel. And while someones reaction time may not be fast enough to lean out of the way the jar of initial impact could be enough to be the difference between an EMT and a coroner.

 

Thank you all for taking the time to respond herein. However, we've veered way off course of my original four questions.

 

Not really. You were asking about seatbelts for safety. If at the very least you don't have a collapsible column via ot modern steering box and column replying narrowly to the question would be equivalent to telling someone the best dealer to get substances from. Don't mean to sound like an orfice at the opposite end of a human from their mouth but facts is facts. And plenty of documentation to back it up

 

Well; it really doesn't matter anymore. I've decided to buy lap belts from Juliano's. Shoulder belts would be really nice but there's just no way to attach the upper part.

Again thank you all.

 

That has nothing to do with safety rating.

 

You take your chances flying through the windshield in the case of a collision. You've clearly made up your mind and you're trying to convince everyone else.

I'll continue to put seat belts securely in all my stuff and not think twice about it.

 

[/QUOTE]
I’d like one of the electric shavers..[/QUOTE]


Electric Shaver Option
Offered primarily from 1951 through 1959, and a few left-over years following, this accessory option was a little strange. Listed as an "electric shaver", the vehicle owner could choose from the Remington Roll-a-Matic, Schick, or Norelco Sportsman shavers. These all came with 12v cigarette lighter plug-ins to be used in the car...so you could conveniently shave driving down the road.


They also offered a "Brylcreem" hair product dispenser [aka: Road draft tube ]

 

What vehicle??
Can you get up inside the "B" pillar with a piece of wire etc?

I managed to get up inside the B pillar of my Chevy and install an anchor plate without any outside paint damage

 

That’s hilarious

 

I bought three point belts for the front and lap belts for the rear of my '40 Chev coupe a few years ago- a daily driver, not a race car or race car lookalike. After shopping around I also went with Seat Belts Plus, and was very impressed with their selection, quality and price. Shipping to Canada was surprisingly cheap too. Their packaging wasn't great, as a result the plastic covers for the front retractors got damaged in shipping, I sent them an email with pics and they promptly sent me replacement covers and installation instructions. Kinda nice when a seller exceeds your customer service expectations.
https://www.seatbeltsplus.com/

 

https://www.surpluscenter.com/Truck...e/2-Wide-Amsafe-Seat-Belt-Assembly-1-5687.axd $15