is there any reason i couldn't attach the shoulder belt to a point near the top of the door jamb on a hardtop? i know i'd have to take out the panel and weld in an anchor of some sort.do i need to attach some sort of belt guide where it p***es over the top of the seat? anybody else done this,or is everyone running lap belts?
i remember my dads 71 monte carlo had some kinda shoulder belt that you could stash in clips up in the roof , check one out it might be good for ideas or donor....just remember once you put them in legally you have to use them, you can get a ticket just like in a newer car
My coupe and pickup both have three point belts. The coupe has a nut plate welded into the B pillar right at the top. The pickup has a plate welded to the top rear of the doorjamb and an internal panel at the cab corner. The takeup reels are attached to the body near (at) the floor. They work well, although sometimes the takeup doesn't quite hack it on the coupe. The fit between the seat and the interior side panel is a bit tight.
Some of the early 70's MoPar vehicles had three-pointers that attached/detached at the lower lap part...the shoulder part would detach from the lap belt and you could store/position that portion of the belt above the hardtop's window when not in use...then simply use only the lap belts if you preferred. I've used these in the rad chopped '57 hardtop for years...welded a nut to a plate and welded that into the roof rail...covered it with the interior trim and bolted the belt in place...and it doesn't interfere with the hardtop look when all the windows are down. R-
my daily driver ('72 ss el camino) has the same type of setup that stude mentioned. except for the clips where the upper stores it's probably a lot like the monte carlo mentioned. the upper belt is quite a pain in the patoot, so i normally only use the lap belt. if you can come up with a one piece unit like new cars have i believe you'd like it a lot more. i know that has nothing to do with your original question, but it might be helpful info.
Hey, my 3 point belts in my '39 Chevy are attached using a nut welded to a small plate, which was lowered down into the top of the B column and welded in place. I didn't do anything about a guide for the belt over the top of the seatback. When I'm in the seat, it doesn't seem like a problem not to have that guide. Hope that helps, *****6.
Yorqatron : Try Julianos site http://www.julianos.com/how2.html has a good How To tech page on installing three point seat belts in various types of cars. Good Luck Howard
I put shoulder belts into my old '63 Falcon 2dr hardtop. There was an area near the door jamb that was double (or triple) skinned, so I just drilled a hole there and bolted them in. I never put them to the test, but they seemed pretty sturdy. They were in line with my shoulder and were quite comfortable.
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