I have not looked into seatbelts yet, but if the new belts are the "Inertia Locking" type, like new cars, what difference does the length matter?
Just read up on it, 1st mandated in 1966 on all new cars in the US. There was a big push for car makers to make things safer by offering belts (many dealers installed them) and padded dashes. But still seats folded, steering columns were solid and gl*** was not really safety gl*** until 1965. This is why I bought new gl*** (well... had to. It was either broken or missing...) for my car. Definitely will do a steering system change down the road.
Seat belts are on my to-do list after I finish getting the brakes/steering finished up here in the next couple months so here's a question for you since most of the standard seat belt stuff seems to have been covered. Has anyone welded any D shaped anchor points in between the upper and lower seat halves of the back seat? This would allow the LATCH style belt systems for car seat anchoring to work. I want to put my sons rear facing toddler seat in the car and also use it for when its forward facing next year. Photo for reference in a modern car....
I wouldn't recommend just welding those brackets. You can't rely on the welds holding in case of an accident. I would look into fabricating some good brackets with backing plates that could be bolted in.
Yeah I was planning on welding a complete plate in there, but I do like the bolt in idea. I'll have to brain storm a couple templates and see what I can come up with. However, I did some google searching just now for Latch System Retrofit and came up with these solutions from other people: I like the 3rd option best. Seems very simple with easy to source high grade steel parts. What do you think?
I'd be a little hesitant to use the eye bolts. Not sure if they would be strong enough in a crash. Also if you bolt anything to the floor use a larger backing plate to keep the bolt from pulling through the floor. Julianos has a nice mounting kit that has a plate. I just use the lap belts in the back seat to secure my daughter's car seat.
Thanks for the input guys. I'm gonna pull the trigger on a set soon and will share my experience. I've got OE hookups on front and will have to fab some for the rear. We'll see. Keep info coming.
I just use the lap belt for my car seats. One is forward facing, one is the rear facing Graco base (for the click and carry). If I was going to do cross country family trips I would probably look in to doing the latch system, but I just check the lap belt for tightness and etc every trip for now.
Like I said earlier, almost everyone sells the same kits, just packaged differently. The Wesco/ Julianos floor hardware is the best I've seen. I did use bigger and thicker washers on the under-floor since I had some. Eye bolts.. agree to not go that route. The floor bolts were grade-8 and nicely finished.
These are what the OE brackets look like. They are reproduced since they are the same for 55-57 T-birds.
Thank you for your input bomb. Those are different from what I have mounted in my car a somewhat elliptical loop with a threaded rod.. Maybe they were a local (portugal) ford dealer option... maybe they came from another car somewhere in time.. Cant tell. I'm talking with Julianos right now. I know Ive got other options but want to see how much can they manage for shipment.
Actually the elliptical looped are correct for the fronts. I forgot to mention that the ones I posted are for there rear installation. No one reproduces the front anchors to my knowledge. They are fairly rare and valuable.
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