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My 1969 convertible has lap belts only. Would like to add shoulder belt. Does anyone make replacement shoulder belts with correct buckle?
Where does the shoulder belt retractor mount?
Pic of my lap belt buckle below....thanks
To a small extent, these pieces are almost un-obtainium and or very expensive (for what they are).
The oblong 'keywayed' hole in your lap belt is where the shoulder belt buckles....so you can un-clip it by sliding it to the center. The shoulder belt would have a stanchion with a 'stop/hat' on it that fits in there.
The rear of the belt goes into two ready made but hidden under the carpet, captive NUT receivers in the rear luggage compt....proximal to the wheel-wells.
You can lift the carpet, and or interminably probe the area with a needle until the needle goes into the hole in the deck.
To a small extent, these pieces are almost un-obtainium and or very expensive (for what they are).
The oblong 'keywayed' hole in your lap belt is where the shoulder belt buckles....so you can un-clip it by sliding it to the center. The shoulder belt would have a stanchion with a 'stop/hat' on it that fits in there.
The rear of the belt goes into two ready made but hidden under the carpet, captive NUT receivers in the rear luggage compt....proximal to the wheel-wells.
You can lift the carpet, and or interminably probe the area with a needle until the needle goes into the hole in the deck.
Happy Holidays and Cheers.
Unkahal
edit...I also have a 69 convt L-46.
Thanks L46...I am not looking for OEM. It seems all the reproduction belts have the top hat on the lap belt instead of shoulder belt. Are the holes in the flat part of rear deck or up on the wheel well?
To a small extent, these pieces are almost un-obtainium and or very expensive (for what they are).
The oblong 'keywayed' hole in your lap belt is where the shoulder belt buckles....so you can un-clip it by sliding it to the center. The shoulder belt would have a stanchion with a 'stop/hat' on it that fits in there.
The rear of the belt goes into two ready made but hidden under the carpet, captive NUT receivers in the rear luggage compt....proximal to the wheel-wells.
You can lift the carpet, and or interminably probe the area with a needle until the needle goes into the hole in the deck.
Happy Holidays and Cheers.
Unkahal
edit...I also have a 69 convt L-46.
Thanks L46...I am not looking for OEM. It seems all the reproduction belts have the top hat on the lap belt instead of shoulder belt. Are the holes in the flat part of rear deck or up on the wheel well?
From: Loud, Raw and Dangerous 1968 327 4S in Southern California
I had to unbolt the existing seat belt parts and install a complete new shoulder belt setup. You can buy much lower cost versions of these online. Takes a bit of figuring out to adapt and not perfect but better than not having them at all.
Thanks for replies. I bought the ones that PJO linked above. Retraction mechanism works per vendor. They should work with my existing belts. I will have to dye them to match. Luckily my interior is black.
Thanks for replies. I bought the ones that PJO linked above. Retraction mechanism works per vendor. They should work with my existing belts. I will have to dye them to match. Luckily my interior is black.
Happy Holidays
Nestor, keep us posted on your progress. I am thinking the same way as you (my 69 convert only has lap belts) and since my wife would like to ride in the passenger seat, I want it to be as safe as possible.
Your choices are:
1. Buy complete belt sets with combo lap/shoulder belts and buckles that are 'modern' in design;
2. Find a full set of belts from a 1970-71 Corvette and attach the shoulder belt retractor as needed.
3. Salvage a set of belts from a 1980's Camaro/Firebird/Malibu/etc. which you can adapt to your car.
4. Find the shoulder belt set-up from a salvaged 1968-69 Corvette which had the optional belt (option code A85).
P.S. If you go for salvaged equipment, you don't need to worry about what color they are, as you will NEED to replace the webbing material on the hardware, anyway. The holding strength of 40+ year-old nylon webbing is nowhere near what it was when new. Find a source with a heavy stitching machine (upholstery shop, leather shop, shoe repair, racing belt shop, etc) who can do the work of changing over webbing from old set to new webbing. It's pretty easy and shouldn't cost more than $100. You can buy new seat belt webbing in ANY color on-line from wholesale fabric warehouses. Note that, for the early C3's, the shoulder webbing material is somewhat thinner than the lap belt webbing. The issue with this is that thicker shoulder webbing may not completely wind up into the stock shoulder retractor because of its limited capacity.
Good luck!!
Last edited by 7T1vette; Dec 20, 2019 at 02:06 PM.
Nestor, keep us posted on your progress. I am thinking the same way as you (my 69 convert only has lap belts) and since my wife would like to ride in the passenger seat, I want it to be as safe as possible.
Shoulder belt retainer mounting points at the top of seat frame. Inside fender well shoulder belt mounting point/guide pin. Plastic cover over bolt hole removed. Lots of plastic stuck in the threads. Shoulder retainer installed. A bit nerve racking to pop holes in seats I just rebuilt. You have to feel for mounting points!
69 shoulder belt help
