razman

black interior, i am not looking for original belts at this time, just something that looks nice and makes my car legal. does anyone make some that would use my original mounts? or is there a better option? thanks, Rick

palmbeachvette76

I've posted a couple of links for you to view your options. Your '68 would have come with non-retractable lap belts but an option for a retractor. You can purchase either one to accomplish your goal of being legal. The most important thing is to make sure you know what your buying and where it's manufactured.

I work for the manufacture as an account manager/sales and tech support. We're located in Southeast Florida so you know that our product is American made but more importantly is the fact that we test every product in our own test facility to ensure that our product exceeds Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Our mounting anchors are the correct size for Corvettes (no drilling like other chinese brands)
and we color match our thread to the webbing material.

You can use a simple lap belt set or our Retractable OE Styled set. Lap belts come in as basic a design as a plastic push button or the much nicer GM metal push button. Our retractable set uses a similar sized and shaped GM push button buckle and factory mounted retractor that really cleans up the appearance by keeping the tongue side of the belt under the seat.

The '68 mounts the retractor under the seat but more in the center of the floor pan versus later years it's closer to the seat rail so you will need to remove your seats for either a retractor or non-retractor design. You'll find our products at every one of the site sponsors except one and if you have any questions or concerns feel free to email me via my signature.

Eric

Retractable pair

http://www.zip-corvette.com/ProductD...=SGR-SR&CTitle=&


Basic Non Retractable GM Metal

http://www.zip-corvette.com/ProductD...=SGR-SR&CTitle=&

Least expensive Plastic push button

http://www.zip-corvette.com/ProductD...=SGR-SR&CTitle=&


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terrys6t8roadster

hi Rick, when I acquired my 6t8 it didn't have belts at all. 68s required lap belts, shoulder belts optional, mandatory in 69. that said at a local swap meet I picked up complete set of belts for a 70 monte, they were large plastic pushbutton buckles. worked fine looked good and were easy to mount. so what I'm saying just about any GM belt set that fits your fancy will probably work.

Günther-C3

www.seatbeltsolutions.com

Regards, Günther

LT-1 kid

I use seatbelt solutions, very good belts. in fact I am installing a set this week.

Billysvette

Sorry for jumping in but i need seat belts too,i want lap and shoulder belts,but i have c5 seats in my car,how would i do this?i have a 69 ,i know the the should belt went through the original seat right? I have no way of running the belt through the c5 seat,so how would i this?

razman

thanks everyone, exactly the info i was looking for!! Rick

terrys6t8roadster

69's have a chrome doodad that is screwed on top outboard corner of the seat to guide the belt has a split in the middle. kinda hidden under the headrest. I think the 70 went through the seat, not sure what year. just sat in a c5 last week and thought these chairs are great . how hard was that project and did it come out as good as you expected?

palmbeachvette76

The late 1968-69's were for the most part different in a few ways. The shoulder belt didn't go through the seat until 1970. The 69 used a guide mounted next to the headrest. The other difference was the mounting location for the shoulder retractor was mounted vertically on the wheel well area versus horizontally (parallel with the frame) The buckle was also a longer length which in your case may not be required with the difference in the C5 seats.

What I would do is verify if you have vertical or horizontal factory mounting holes in the rear storage compartment. You'll need to pull back the carpet from the wheel hump down to the flat ledge one step up from the main storage area. Depending on which mounting location you have will determine which retractors have to be used (triggers the locking mechanism) Secondly, measure from the mounting hole on the transmission tunnel to your hip when seated in the C5 seats and let me know what the measurement is. Lastly, and this could be the wrench in the motor so to speak is a place to mount the shoulder guide. The mid 70's coupes had a mounting hole on the "B" pillar just behind the door glass and behind the T-Top a few inches below the curve from the side to the ceiling is located. Pull the interior panel and see if you have a threaded bolt hole. If for some reason you do (buy a lotto ticket ) then you're in business. If not, snap a photo of the inner framing in this area and email it to my work email as there may be something that will work.

My thoughts are building you a Single retractor system we use to offer for the dual retractor cars from 1974-1977. It was a lower cost system and did away with the underseat retractors that were often rusted beyond repair. The only other thing would be to verify that the C5 seat frame go all the way around the rear perimeter of the seat. If so I have guides that can be screwed into the frame provided you want to do that to the seats. Then you could use the original style non-retractable lap belt with a shoulder retractor and the belt would stay where the guide is located when not in use. It would be the 2 piece system just like the factory set up.

Sorry for the long winded reply but you have a great setup that will take a little customizing to work but theres always a solution somewhere.

Eric

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Lupigiato

Great thread! I have ratty old lap belts in my 68 with C6 Z06 seats. Measurement from the center tunnel mount to the end of the strap/buckle is 28" and the measurement from the driver door side bolt under the carpet is 14" to the male connector. Here are a couple of photos. I hate the idea of removing the seats though, as the stock steering wheel may need to come off...

palmbeachvette76

With a convertible you could only use the seat back for mounting a guide for the shoulder belt. Something that might work and I say might only because it is designed for the stock seat is our 3 Point conversion kit. There is drilling and modifying of the car in most cases but it is a very popular kit.

Here is a link that shows the belts and the hardware/installation kit that comes with it.

http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corve...1968-1970.html

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Billysvette

this is just like mine,exactly. I only have holes in the back not on pillar, some how i need a guide .

Billysvette

Thanks for all the info Eric,I guess it is more involved to do this on my 69 ,i dont know what im going to do now,i dont want to screw anything into the seat,i may have to keep the lap belts

Billysvette

The c5 seats were pretty easy ,i just bolted my sliders to the bottom of the c5 seat.You have to put washers between the slider and frame of the seat.Forgot to say the c5 seats are alot more comfortable and support better

TWINRAY

I used this company "Auto Loc" when I put replacement seat belts in my '73 Alfa. They came out real nice.







You can get them from Summit Racing (among others). I intend to use them for replacements in my '69. If you're not interested in NCRS, they might be a good choice for you