Uncomfortable seat belt problem finally solved!

[TonyV8 10]

Hi

 

I have been suffering with the front seat belts almost cutting into both the driver and passenger's necks on my 69 Mustang Mach 1 They are inertia reel belts with the top mount above the door. Having tried several solutions I finally found a posting buried on one of the classic mustang websites (sorry forgot which one) refering to a seatbelt drop link that cures this common problem so just thought I would share this with the forum in case anyone else has this issue.

 

I mananged to locate a drop link here;

http://www.hemiperformance.com.au/st...Belt-Drop-Link

 

I bought a pair and shipping was reasonable and they arrived in under a week, total cost AUS $109.08.

 

 

 

 

 

Fitting was easy apart from having to remove the original top mount though I could have possibly slid it down inside the rear panel but I thought it safer to remove by cutting a slot with an angle grinder and slipping it off.

 

The belts still work fine and are much more comfortable, not cheap but well worth it!!

[fordguy69 24]

Tony, this is an incredibly timely post! I just got off the phone with the guy that makes the seat belts complaining about the exact same thing and that they aren't long enough when my wife drives with the seat all the way forward.

 

Thanks for sharing, ordering a set now.

 

Bill

Edited December 30, 2013 by fordguy69
spelling

[Flanders 46]

just adding a link to an old post I put up on here:

http://www.1969stang.com/mustang/forum/showthread.php?t=12286

 

the seat belt kit I got comes with this extension.

[TonyV8 10]

just adding a link to an old post I put up on here:

http://www.1969stang.com/mustang/forum/showthread.php?t=12286

 

the seat belt kit I got comes with this extension.

 

 

Hi Flanders,

 

These look really good and I would have gone with these, but unfortunately in the UK (and Europe) seat belts have to have an 'E approval' tab on them which unfortunately these do not even though I'm sure they would pass the annual Motor Vehicle Test he have on all cars over three years old and registered after 1960 but they may check and fail the vehicle on this.

 

The good part about the drop link is that they look part of the original belt so should pass.

 

Not sure about our Australian cousins.

[shaun071 62]

This is a similar set up to what I've fitted to my coupe. Here in Australia to get registration you have to fit inertia reel lap/sash belts in the front, lap/sash in the rear and child restraint points as well. The belts have to be ADR approved which basically rules out any belts not manufactured in Australia. My belts with drop links were made by Hemco and they supply kits with all the mounts required. I'm pretty sure Hemi Performance get their belts from Hemco.

[TonyV8 10]

Shaun,

 

Looks good. You can see in my picture that the reel is mounted further back so sits inside the rear side trim which keeps it our of the way, but requires a slot cutting in the panel.

 

Like you I could not use US belts, but I could have used static belts or a full harness set up but the latter would have rendered the back seats useless.

[shaun071 62]

My original plan was to do the same as you've done but the coupe has a wider rear seat so there's nowhere to mount the inertia real without modding the seat base. The whole seat belt thing has been a sorry saga as I paid someone to supply and fit the belts/ child harness points to the engineering standard required and they made a mess of the it. I've had to redo almost all of it myself!!! I learnt a long time ago that if you want something done properly you have to do it yourself but I ignored it this time at my own expense.