What are yall using for seat belts? I think I want airplane style but I don’t know. 40 ford, patina, going with dark leather interior. Looking for something cool. Also looking for ideas on mounting points?
I use the lift latch style and get them from seatbeltsplus. American made, and they'll send you free color samples so you get exactly what you want.
I don't know what belt you should use, but mounting is the most critical issue. Cars of that era were not designed with seat belt mounting in mind so it requires an alternative route. You could weld in frame cross members to take the mounting point or you could try these mounts from Juliano's. I have installed them in seven cars and if you have good sheet metal in your floor, they are great. https://www.julianos.com/Lap-Belt-Anchor-Kit-for-Bench-Seat-p/ju010600.htm They also offer an incredible selection of belts. Worth checking out. Warren
Seat Belt Plus They offer the old chrome clam shell seat belts, looks exactly what was in my dad's new 1962 Ford Galaxie. Do not mount the Seat Belt to the frame, all the companies offer seat belt hardware that is much larger than using big flat washers, mounted to the floor the belt attaching point can expand but attached to the frame there is no give, in a sever roll over or crash should the body get loose from the frame a person could loose their legs or life. HRP
Danny Many years ago, there was a tragedy locally with a fiberglass Cobra that was involved in a double fatality, the story I heard was they were both found still strapped in their seats outside of the car. This really had a bearing as to how I mounted my seats, directly to the frame.
Latch-link belts are not FMVSS approved. If you're concerned for safety for a street vehicle I would go with a FMVSS approved design, personally. I would rather build a crossmember in the body that the belts and maybe seats bolt to. Being attached to the frame when nothing else is may also not be good. If the body gets loose and you're still attached to it (assuming a structurally sound closed body), that might be your best chance at survival.
Just about all of the seatbelt manufacturers have guides on how to mount their products. I assume you are using lap belts only. Be aware that too high of mounting points can cause internal injuries on impact. Too low is not only uncomfortable but might actually allow the body to slip out of the belts depending on the seat construction and and what it does on impact. Use quality hardware, most manufacturers offer a number of options. Not the place to use cheap hardware store eyebolts. Shoulder harness mounting is also critical. Too low can cause compression injuries of the spine, too high will not hold you in seat in a roll over and sometime even in collision belts will slip off shoulder.
I prefer the airplane-style lift-latch seatbelts. The latch link look more vintage, but they don't meet FMVSS requirements and they're a bit clumsy in my opinion. Juliano's makes good stuff, but so do a lot of others.
Denny , our club was on our way to Myrtle Beach and a guy in a Chevelle decided that we were going too slow so he pulled around us and sped on down the road, about 45 minutes later we came to a stop and notice a red glass 34 ford in the medium, it seem the Chevelle clipped the 34 and he lost control, the glass body had ripped loose from the frame, the driver and his wife were still strapped in there seats to the frame that was upside down, both were deceased. We didn't know the people they were from Virginia but seeing the carnage has stayed with me to this day. HRP
I don't believe DOT deals with seat belt standards in the US. I believe it is Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards that does. Multiple US based seatbelt manufacturers mention this on their websites.
You're correct, I got that wrong and corrected my posts. It's FMVSS. Juliano's has a warning about it for latch-link belts on their website. "Please note that these belts are for off road or show use only. They DO NOT meet FMVSS 209 or 302" Latch & Link Lap Belt FMVSS 209 relates to the construction and testing of the actual belt and latch designs and assembly and their requirements. FMVSS 302 relates to flammability of the belts.
There seems to be mixed info on this. Both Seat Belt Plus and Wesco claim they do meet the FMVSS standards. https://www.seatbeltsplus.com/product/31800-60.html https://www.wescoperformance.com/3-point-seat-belt-chrome-retr.html
There's nothing mixed about the info. The 2 links you posted are lift-latch style seatbelts. That design satisfies FMVSS standards. The design I linked to and a lot of the race-style belts (like the Simpson ones posted earlier in this thread) are latch-link style, which does not meet FMVSS standards. I didn't see anything on Seatbelts Plus or Wesco which showed that they sell latch-link style seatbelts.
On my way to work on Wednesday I saw a city bus enter an intersection on a yellow in the right turning lane and cut off all the traffic in the straight-through lane, and then 3 minutes later saw someone turning left through a crosswalk where the intersection was blocked so no vehicles were allowed to turn left. You really have to be defensive about what other drivers might be doing these days. Part of that is making sure your vehicle is reasonably safe should one of the idiots make it past your defences.
Racing belts are very rarely approved for street use. States with Seat Belts laws usually state if the vehicle came with belts from the manufacturer they are required. A very few states tried to require retroactive seatbelt installation. I believe these laws have all been overturned. If you've installed non-FMVSS approved belts you should check with your state laws to make sure they can't site you for using non-approved restraints. If you have installed approved belts, you are now required to use them regardless of if they were originally equipped or not. As has been mentioned, the belts are only as good as their mounts. Make sure you plan the install and do some serious what ifs on where and how to install them. You can never be safe enough while driving. Safety is really about risk management, not risk elimination. Edit: And so far we're just discussing seat belts. Shoulder belts and restraints are a whole other can of worms. If your seat back can flip forward, what happens with rebound during a crash, ect, ect, ect....
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