three point seatbelt install

[Flanders 46]

I thought I'd post a few pics, in hopes it'll help others down the road. I wanted to install a set of retractable 3-point seatbelts in my fastback and use the factory holes. I ended up getting a set of Wesco belts, with shoulder extension:

 

http://wescoperformance.stores.yahoo.net/conversion-van-seat-belt.html

(product WELR-L, in black, with 8" sleeve for bucket seats)

 

The installation was pretty simple, although save your money and DON'T buy their hardware kit. A few washers and grade-8 bolts do the trick -- you don't need any of the brackets they provide, and thankfully I did have my own box 'o bolts because the shoulder strap hole in the Mustang didn't match any of their bolts.

 

Measure three times, cut once. I didn't have a hole in my headliner already:

 

 

Remove original belts. Note the big torx bit, although mine came off with a 1/4" allen key very easily as they were not in very tight.

 

Admire your new seat belts:

 

I installed the shoulder strap extender first:

 

Then install the base retractor, and the 'arm' that connects to the lap belt:

 

All done! It's amazing how "secure" one feels with a retractable shoulder strap:

 

You can see the arm where the lap belt clicks into, near the center console. It peeks up, with just enough room for your hand to press the release button.

 

Turned out not too bad. I prefer the belts with the shoulder extension, just to get the height correct where the belt comes down to my neck. Nobody is ever going to use my back seat, but if they do, it's not too much of a hurdle to get in there with the belt. :thumbup1:

[ashleesmach1 28]

Awesome!

[JayEstes 172]

Fantastic post! Thank you! I am working to put 3 point belts in our 71, and this thread and link is very helpful!

 

A few questions:

 

Does the shoulder belt extender (which is attached to the roof) swing around the bolt hole ok? I'd be concerned about it twisting the head-liner, or wearing against it. If people are getting in the back before the driver gets in, I can see them swinging this extender backwards or forwards to get in, etc.

 

Also, do you think the same retractor system could be used in the back seat? I'd like to put 3 point retractable belts in there too for passengers. (Rationale: My teen son is going to be driving this car, and he might have friends in with him, and I want a good retractor belt system for all 4 seats.)

 

Looks fantastic though. Thanks again!

Jay

[Flanders 46]

Fantastic post! Thank you! I am working to put 3 point belts in our 71, and this thread and link is very helpful!

 

A few questions:

 

Does the shoulder belt extender (which is attached to the roof) swing around the bolt hole ok? I'd be concerned about it twisting the head-liner, or wearing against it. If people are getting in the back before the driver gets in, I can see them swinging this extender backwards or forwards to get in, etc.

 

Also, do you think the same retractor system could be used in the back seat? I'd like to put 3 point retractable belts in there too for passengers. (Rationale: My teen son is going to be driving this car, and he might have friends in with him, and I want a good retractor belt system for all 4 seats.)

 

Looks fantastic though. Thanks again!

Jay

 

The shoulder belt extender doesn't move at all. I used a regular bolt, so it's tightened down do the threads in the roof. If I'm motivated, I may look for a bolt that doesn't have threads all the way to the head, to allow some rotational movement of the extender. I tightened mine down purely because I didn't want it to rotate around and slowly wear through the headliner. Plus, I can't forsee many people going in the back seat. If they do, they'll just duck under the extender and be careful because they're in a classic car :)

 

For the rear seats, you'd have to figure out how to bolt the shoulder extension on. Similarly, the retractor mechanism is too big to fit beside the rear seats, so you'd need to come up with a way to put it inside/behind the interior fiberglass panels. Definitely a bit of custom work to be done!

[Mike65 475]

Fantastic post! Thank you! I am working to put 3 point belts in our 71, and this thread and link is very helpful!

 

A few questions:

 

Does the shoulder belt extender (which is attached to the roof) swing around the bolt hole ok? I'd be concerned about it twisting the head-liner, or wearing against it. If people are getting in the back before the driver gets in, I can see them swinging this extender backwards or forwards to get in, etc.

 

Also, do you think the same retractor system could be used in the back seat? I'd like to put 3 point retractable belts in there too for passengers. (Rationale: My teen son is going to be driving this car, and he might have friends in with him, and I want a good retractor belt system for all 4 seats.)

 

Looks fantastic though. Thanks again!

Jay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jay,

The same company also makes a retracable lap belt that can be used with a bench seat. There is another company I found doing a search on google for 1971 Mustang seat belts called Andover Restraints Inc. There web site is www.andoauto.com . They list front & rear retrofit retractable seat belt kits. Hope that helps you.

Mike.

[JayEstes 172]

You know whats interesting is that the pictures from both of these sites indicate the same products. They look identically made, right down to the "globe icon" on the button (see pics from each). I guess both are reselling from the same major wholesale supplier.

 

On the front belt, I think I would do just what Flanders mentioned, and use a bolt with a short shank that doesn't have threads. You could weld a good size washer on at the beginning of the threads to provide a firm place for the belt to rotate against other than the headliner. Only reason for all of this is that I think teens getting in/out of the car would ultimately rotate that 9in lever around it's base even if it was tightened down real well. In your case, with next to no one getting in there, it almost surely won't matter.

 

In the back though, I'd like a 3 point retractor. There is a configuration I have seen where the retractor is bolted down to the "package tray", fixed under the seat next to the rear wall, and a slider tab which plugs into the usual "buckle with button" near the hump. I'm not seeing seat belts in the configuration I'm looking for back there yet, so I'll have to keep looking and post back if find what Im looking for.

 

Thanks for the help guys. I do appreciate finding both of these sources to buy these belts in ANY case!

 

Jay

Edited September 28, 2012 by JayEstes

[prayers1 153]

I'm thinking of installing a shoulder belt and Googled it, I was glad to see a 1969Stang thread pop up by "Flanders".

 

FLANDERS: What is the part number you went with and belt length?

Any after thoughts regarding the install?

 

I'm glad you took the time to caption and give great details on this topic.

Thank you!

Edited July 30, 2013 by prayers1

[Tgriffin91 27]

Flanders,

 

I was hoping you could answer a quick question. What size bolt fits through the hole? Assuming they are stock holes still. I just got my belts today. Yay!!!

[prayers1 153]

I hope you can answer my question as well.

[69mi 10]

Be careful when you push the seat back. The retractor will eventually break the seat hinge cover if it is mounted in the original bolt hole.

[manley 13]

correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the factory bolt have a shoulder which a thick washer rides against, leaving a gap between the bolt head and the large washer so the seat belt can move freely and not rub on the headliner? Couldn't you use this with the new seat belt?

[Tgriffin91 27]

You are correct. Although mine were not very "thick." more like thin and dry rotted (thank you Phoenix heat). My headliner is trashed anyways so I do not care about the rubbing. You can just put a rubber washer there to fix the rubbing though. Or do like Flanders and have the head liner tight against the roof wall. If it is tight I do not think you would have much of an issue with rubbing due to the connecting point of the belt swivel and the bolt. I guess that depends on the type of seatbelts you get too though.

[Flanders 46]

Tgriffin91: sorry, can't recall bolt size (stock hole). I just remember that none of the bolts in the 'hardware kit' actually fit. I went to my nuts 'n bolts store and grabbed a handful of everything (very handy to do this!) and one of them fit perfectly.

 

prayers1: model# is WELR-L (see link way up at the top). I have the 8" sleeve for low bucket seats. No need to specify length of belt itself.

 

I've had this in the car for a while now, and still think it's great. No problems with my seat hitting the retracter (I'm 6' tall, seat is back fairly far and it never moves). It does 'catch' quicker than the seat belts in my daily drivers, but nothing irritating. I'm still quite happy I did it.

[ashleesmach1 28]

I thought I'd post a few pics, in hopes it'll help others down the road. I wanted to install a set of retractable 3-point seatbelts in my fastback and use the factory holes. I ended up getting a set of Wesco belts, with shoulder extension:

 

http://wescoperformance.stores.yahoo.net/conversion-van-seat-belt.html

(product WELR-L, in black, with 8" sleeve for bucket seats)

 

The installation was pretty simple, although save your money and DON'T buy their hardware kit. A few washers and grade-8 bolts do the trick -- you don't need any of the brackets they provide, and thankfully I did have my own box 'o bolts because the shoulder strap hole in the Mustang didn't match any of their bolts.

 

Measure three times, cut once. I didn't have a hole in my headliner already:

 

 

Remove original belts. Note the big torx bit, although mine came off with a 1/4" allen key very easily as they were not in very tight.

 

Admire your new seat belts:

 

I installed the shoulder strap extender first:

 

Then install the base retractor, and the 'arm' that connects to the lap belt:

 

All done! It's amazing how "secure" one feels with a retractable shoulder strap:

 

You can see the arm where the lap belt clicks into, near the center console. It peeks up, with just enough room for your hand to press the release button.

 

Turned out not too bad. I prefer the belts with the shoulder extension, just to get the height correct where the belt comes down to my neck. Nobody is ever going to use my back seat, but if they do, it's not too much of a hurdle to get in there with the belt. :thumbup1:

 

with these belts I had to use 12" seat belt extenders. because the buckles were too short.

[Dave R. 85]

Great pictures and help. Flanders, did you attach the solid bracket on the end of the shoulder belt on the same anchor bolt as the retractor? What about belts for the back seat? I am thinking about just lap belts back there. I can't imagine rear seat passengers but VERY rarely. What length should they be? The PO had started a restoration and I have no belts at all to use as a reference. Thanks and nice job.

[69volunteer 84]

I followed this thread and installed seat belts I got from WESCO Performance. I think they are probably all made by the same company.

 

I believe you are asking is the lap belt for the front seats and the belt that goes up to the 3rd point at the roof on the same bolt--YES. At least that is what I did since there is not another mounting point.

 

Not sure they sell 3 point belts for the rear and if so, you would have to do some fabrication for the 3rd point. I used lap belts and the shortest ones (48" i believe). I believe my originals were 51" extended and they had a ton of overlap on the belt.

[shaun071 62]

I have 3 point retractible belts in the rear of my coupe. The retractor is fitted to the package tray with a 3"x2" 1/8" thick reinforcing plate under the package tray. The mounting points for stock lap belts are used for the other 2 mounts. There are also belts available that have the retractor mounted under the package tray so it looks just like a regular belt. I don't have any photo's of the install but here's a pic of the reinforcing plate I used

[Raven R code 281]

anyone have a picture of the factory belts that mount there? If I recall , the originals were not retractable....and I think I didn't put them back in because they were a pita. Also, how much was the setup you installed?

 

Dave

[Restomod 10]

Raven I can snap a few tonight as I have the lap belt that retracts and also the separate shoulder strap that when not used hangs horizontally above the door that is not retractable. Is that what you mean? I did not install them so I dont know how original or correct they are but they look to be.

 

Flanders I am curious it seems that you did not have that shoulder strap above the door before, so you would not have had anything along the roof line. I haven't looked closely but I basically have a stud there of some sort for the current old school setup of separate belts. I am wondering if I can convert by using that preexisting setup hardware to some extent?

[Flanders 46]

Restomod -- the car originally had shoulder straps, but when we put the new headliner in, I didn't want to install the straps. I didn't like how they dangle down when unused (as you've described, they hang horizontally, but tend to droop).

 

The hole I cut in the headliner matched up with the existing threaded nut that was welded to the fastback pillar. This nut was used for the 'old' seatbelt strap. So for your install, you'd remove the old shoulder strap and re-use the hole for the new retractable belt.

 

Raven -- I ordered from my link above (http://wescoperformance.stores.yahoo.net/conversion-van-seat-belt.html) so it was $70 per side, plus shipping to Canada.

[Restomod 10]

Thanks that is what I needed to know, wasn't sure if you welded that nut on yourself in a different location. Helps to know I can just basically bolt this in for my case and most of the hard work is done.

 

Mine droop too, and most times I don't even mess with them since they are a pain to get reset above the door.

[Raven R code 281]

I can snap a few tonight as I have the lap belt that retracts and also the separate shoulder strap that when not used hangs horizontally above the door that is not retractable.

 

Yes, that is exactly what I'm talking about. Thanks, Dave

[Restomod 10]

I dont know if these will help? If I am missing something you need let me know, the garage was dark and I tried to get details. Also these pics make my car interior look absolutely horrible, makes me sick since I dont feel it looks that way in person?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Raven R code 281]

looks good to me. I have these laying around somewhere in my garage. Now I know what I'm looking for.

 

thanks,

Dave

[Dave R. 85]

Flanders, yes that is what I wanted to know. Thanks. You did a nice looking job. I think that Wesco might be the way to go. Dave.