Hot Rods Seat belts in hot rods, do you have em?

Retractable shoulder belts in my coupe. Don't leave home without them.

 

Hey, some guy is selling aircraft belts in the classifieds..........

 

I have 3 point seat belts in all my vehicles. Seatbelts help but shoulder harness is much more efficient.

 

???? That's not what I asked, not at all. But I guess that's my fault for not being more clear. In my defense, I never asked "How far from your front door do you drive?" I do understand that you are saying "All miles driven, even short trips, are risky so buckle up" which I agree is wise.

So, in a nutshell, Driver-A takes his vintage show car on two 500 mile trips per year (1000 miles total) with no seat belts and Driver-B takes his on twenty 500 mile trips (10,000 miles total) also with no seat belts. Does anyone not agree that is 10 times the miles and it seems like 10 times the exposure to risk. Everybody on the HAMB, even the most obtuse, most hard headed, traditional, "just like originally equipped" realizes that an accident with no belts is just like playing Russian roulette with a Glock 9mm. Your chance of winding up dead or in a world of hurt is higher.

I guess I'm saying, I could be more inclined to think Driver-A is a 10th of a knucklehead about seat belts as Driver-B if he drives a 10th less miles "than your ave-ver-edge bear". This is just how I'm feeling about this at the moment and I'm certainly not trying to win anyone to my cause or state what's acceptable. I'm a belts are safer guy. But I'm also a curious kind of guy. If someone says "I'm not afraid to pick up a rattlesnake." I want to know, are they talking about doing it once or doing it everyday?

 

Statistics do not work that way.

The rate of increase in risk is not directly linked to miles traveled.

Every time you leave the driveway, the exposure to risk is the same.

 

Hello,

When I bought my 58 Chevy Impala from my brother, seat belts were not around. Also, in 1961, my first 40 Ford Sedan Delivery did not have seat belts, either. But in 1965, my first El Camino came with seat belts. Every car since has had seat belts, the no give-shoulder harnesses, finger eating motorized belts, and the modern flexible one piece belts.

When we bought our 2nd 40 Ford Sedan Delivery, I installed a couple of brown, GM “click button” seat belts from the dealer, to match the upholstery. I was told to make sure that extra large wide washers on top and bottom of the floorboard would make it that much stronger. I also bought the GM washers, plus nuts and bolts to secure it down.

There was plenty of space behind the bucket seats for the install at the correct angle of support. The brown belts matched the upholstery perfectly and made it look like it was installed as a stock item with the sedan delivery. Those belts gave us some form of safety and security.

That was about the only safety item we had for that hard dash and solid metal steering wheel staring us in the face. Some protection was better than no protection. Plenty of miles of safe driving still rings true in our minds.

Remember those scary early photos from the driver’s education movies? Non collapsible steering columns, the hard metal dash, and poor quality safety glass that still cut when broken, etc, all played a part in the scare tactics of the schools back then.

Jnaki

Luckily, we have never had to use the belts to keep us secure for an emergency in 57 years of driving any of our cars. Whew! Of course, they are always on when driving. The car(s) don’t move unless everyone is secure.

 

Just ordered (2) 3-point retractible kits from LMC. That hurt the ole wallet!

 

Back around 1960, I was riding shotgun with 3 of us in the cab of my buddy's truck. He made a normal left turn from a stop sign, and the next thing I knew, I was hanging on to a swinging door with my feet still in the truck and my ass perilously close to the pavement. Fortunately, he was able to stop the truck, before I fell out. We had a good look at the Mickey Mouse design of a latch, and we determined by looking at the contact marks that the latch on the door was not only poorly designed, but also poorly rigged, and just a small amount of pressure on the door was enough to cause it to let go. We re-rigged it, but never trusted the doors on the truck again.
I was involved in a head on collision, surprisingly not my fault, and the lap belt saved me from going through the windshield, but the steering wheel in the chest really hurt.
I have also been through the passenger side windshield of a car and unceremoniously dumped out onto the pavement. I can guarantee you that, considering the ambulance ride, concussion, stitches, hospital stay, and all, it wasn't much fun. I wear a very long scar to this day, to remind me of the incident. No booze involved, we were T-boned by a car that failed to stop for a red light.
It is easy to put on a seatbelt. ( This doesn't begin to tell the story of my experiences in my flying career). Yep, wear a seat belt.
Bob

 

If I even sit in my car in a parking lot, the belts are on. Usually before I start it regardless.

 

no

 

I want them!

Sent from my XT1650 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Last week to make my wife happy going to the Outriders Picnic.. She's been waiting 5 years...

 

Heck, I dont even have seats in the car. Last weekend on the maiden voyage, my buddy and me went tearing around the neighborhood sitting on coolers. With open headers, no less. Great time.

But the seats are at the upholstery shop and seat belts are on the way from Seat Belt Planet. So yeah, I'll be wearing them.

Then on to the muffler shop for some exhaust...

 

I am using the 2 inch 2 point crow racing lap belt in my 32 roadster and 50 Ford custom with stock seat, they come 5o inch long which worked for the 32 but the 50 because the seat sits higher I called then and they custom made a set 60 inch, They really hold you in good and look cool,
Note racing belts for race cars are 3 inch wide but you only need 2 inch for car.