3-point seatbelt install

t_chelle16 · Jan 26, 2006

I finished installing one of my 3-point seatbelts (will do the passenger side tomorrow).

Since there is no top mounting point in 67's, I had to make one. For the most part, I followed this article:
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Strip/1121/seatbelt.html

What I did:
http://chelle.mine.nu/Sadie/seatbelts2.html

-Chelle

19stang66 · Jan 26, 2006

Very good write up. My mom wants me to get the 3 pt belts so I'm safer. said she'd even pay for them. Works for me I'll have to decide if i'll go your route or with the more expensive ones (are they any different?) Do the other ones require you to cut your headliner? I rather not cut mine since its fairly new.

t_chelle16 · Jan 26, 2006

What other seatbelts are you considering?

The only reason I tore my headliner is because it's old & brittle and I'm going to replace it anyway. If I had a new liner, I would have been a lot more careful (or installed the seatbelts right before installing the new liner).

-Chelle

19stang66 · Jan 27, 2006

from any mustang site. they are like $230. why are they so much more expensive?

mustangdave · Jan 27, 2006

I hate to say anything bad about someone's hard work but I've got to bring up a point of concern. Scroll up and look at where the upper belt will be on your body. That's right, YOUR NECK! In an accident, it appears the belt would choke you at the least, and more than likely crush your windpipe, possibly snapping your head off.
Modern belts have been moved to beside the shoulder, slightly behind, and a few inches above. There is a reason for this. In my opinion, there is no safe way to add three point harnesses to a classic. A roll cage and good harnesses coming from behind is really the only safe option. That being said, you would be dead in any serious frt. end collision anyway from the non-collapsible 67 spear-o-matic steering column, so what's the point.
Happy motoring. Seriously, discuss your agreement/disagreement.

t_chelle16 · Jan 27, 2006

It doesn't go across my neck. The edge of it touches the side of my neck a little, but no worse than the belts in our Cherokee. I think if it's going to crush anything, it will be my collar bone (which is better than a steering column through the chest or a steering wheel in the face). I'll just pick up a couple of seatbelt adjusters. I use them in our Cherokee and they position the seatbelt just right.

-Chelle

krash kendall · Jan 27, 2006

I think the deal (correct me if I'm wrong) with the steering column is that the cars were originally equipt with lap belts only and and the torso injuries were from being thrown into the wheel as opposed to the wheel being pushed back. It is a rear steer car afterall with the steering box being virtually at the firewall.

My dad's old Healy on the other hand, had a steering column that extended all the way to in front of the axle just behind the radiator. That was a death trap in a front end collision.

I have first hand experience being in a solid front end collision in my old '65 and although the tunnel crumpled, there was no visible rearward movement of the steering column.

All I'm saying is that it is a little on the extreme side to say that even with shoulder harnesses the steering column is still going to impale you.

bnickel · Jan 27, 2006

very nice Chelle, ome thing i'd suggest is that you sew up those rips real quick before the spread and you have a face full of insulation going downthe road at 60 mph. i know you're going to replace it anyway, but trust me sew it up anyway, that insulation does not feel very good when it gets in your eyes, doesn't taste very good either.

mustangdave · Jan 27, 2006

Sorry, you are wrong. I will try to find and scan a pic of a wreck that I was in (luckily in the backseat). A 67 with a frt. end collission: the steering wheel wound up on the roof of the car! Yes, the roof. If the driver had been wearing any kind of seatbelt, the steering wheel would have decapitated him. Lucky? No. He was thrown out the driver's side window and drug down the road. He looks like some kind of Frankenstein monster now.
The point I am trying to make is the pre-68 columns are killers..literally. That is why the Fed. govt. mandated collapsible columns. The 3 point Chelle has is also a killer. Chelle, if the belt touches your neck in the Cherokee, look to see if it is adjustable on the side....most are. If it stills wrpas around your neck....sell it!

t_chelle16 · Jan 27, 2006

bnickel said:
very nice Chelle, ome thing i'd suggest is that you sew up those rips real quick before the spread and you have a face full of insulation going downthe road at 60 mph. i know you're going to replace it anyway, but trust me sew it up anyway, that insulation does not feel very good when it gets in your eyes, doesn't taste very good either.

Yeah, I'll probably get out there with some duct tape.

The point I am trying to make is the pre-68 columns are killers..literally. That is why the Fed. govt. mandated collapsible columns. The 3 point Chelle has is also a killer. Chelle, if the belt touches your neck in the Cherokee, look to see if it is adjustable on the side....most are. If it stills wrpas around your neck....sell it!

I'm short so pretty much all seatbelts touch my neck a little. That's why I use the adjusters. And I am keeping my eye out for a collapsible column to put in Sadie.

-Chelle

bnickel · Jan 27, 2006

mustangdave said:
Sorry, you are wrong. I will try to find and scan a pic of a wreck that I was in (luckily in the backseat). A 67 with a frt. end collission: the steering wheel wound up on the roof of the car! Yes, the roof. If the driver had been wearing any kind of seatbelt, the steering wheel would have decapitated him. Lucky? No. He was thrown out the driver's side window and drug down the road. He looks like some kind of Frankenstein monster now.
The point I am trying to make is the pre-68 columns are killers..literally. That is why the Fed. govt. mandated collapsible columns. The 3 point Chelle has is also a killer. Chelle, if the belt touches your neck in the Cherokee, look to see if it is adjustable on the side....most are. If it stills wrpas around your neck....sell it!

the belts on cherokees aren't adjustable. mine rubs my neck also so i wrap the shoulder belt around behind the seat and just use the lap belt part. personally i don't like 3-point belts and refuse to wear them in almost all vehicles except my wife's car when she is in it, i got tired of listening to her nag me about it. i had a good friend who fell asleep at the wheel of his 300zx and drove off in the ditch and rolled it. he was knocked unconscious and the car wound up upside down and he was just kind of hanging in the seatbelt with the shoulder belt against his neck, he never regained consciousness because the seatbelt cut off the circulation to his brain, had he not been wearing his seatbelt he would still be alive today as the car rolled at a fairly slow speed, only about 25 mph or so.

krash kendall · Jan 27, 2006

Well, I did say to correct me if I'm wrong! I was just reading this modification/upgrade last week. http://mustangandfords.com/howto/30247/

mustangdave · Jan 27, 2006

Sorry, but I have to reiterate that the belt you installed will snap your head off like a Barbie doll.

andrewVA · Jan 28, 2006

Another option, if you want to combine some comfort with safety, you can put some late model seats in like these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2004...33701QQitemZ8033747976QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

Granted those are an expensive example, but I think almost any late model seats will fit if you modify the tracks a bit. The plus side is you can route the belt through that loop on the seat and have it cross your shoulder in the right spot.
Not an option if you want to keep your car looking stock though.

Edit: Probably would be very hard to match color to your interior . Or you could always try and retrofit one of those seatbelt guides to your seats.

Realmongo · Jan 28, 2006

Back in the earlier '60s, Ford had come up with a good collapsible steering column. Then the idiots sold the design off. The federal government required a collapsible steering column for the 1967 models. Ford had to rush a noncollapsible design out the door with that dog-ugly tall styrofoam cone in the center to meet the collapsible requirement. Then by 1968 they had a well designed column again.

StangDreamin' · Jan 28, 2006

I've seen a ton of 60's-70's Ford vehicles with the shoulder belts terminating above the back window, waaaaaaayyy behind (and above) the driver's seat. Seen quite a few accidents, even been in one - totaled my Dad's '71 LTD under the back of a 1-ton Econoline van. Had a red stripe on my neck, but never lost consciousness (although I was pretty sure Dad was gonna punch my lights out when he got there).

That being said, I'd love to fit a Stang with the exact same seats that are in my '02 F150 S'Cab. The shoulder belt (driver's side) appears from a vestigial bump on the upper right-hand corner of the seat back. Bolsters in the seat and back pretty much position your body away from the shoulder belt.

I still think it's a primo job, Chelle.

t_chelle16 · Jan 28, 2006

Thanks.

Actually, isn't the factory mounting place for the shoulder strap in 68 mustangs above the quarter window (even further back than I put mine)?

And a little OT (hijacking my own thread. ), I got my first offer from someone wanting to buy her. I was at my vet clinic the other day and a guy coming out asked if I wanted to sell her. I said no (of course), but he was really impressed with the shape she's in.

And tonight, some guy came to our house. Apparently he's visiting his son who just lives a couple blocks away. His son has a 69 mustang that he was fixing up. He tore the engine out but was leaving it up to his dad (the guy who came to my house) to put it back in. The dad wasn't sure about where some of the wires went so he asked if he could look at my mustangs to figure it out. We ended up pulling off the distributer cap (for the first time since I bought her) and discovered she's already converted to electronic ignition ).

-Chelle

t_chelle16 · Jan 31, 2006

I finally got around to getting the passenger side done. It went a lot quicker. The only thing I did differently was instead of cutting the slit infront of the seam (because it's a pain in the butt to get the opening big enough for the nut and there's that nice big opening behind the mounting point), I just drilled a hole so I could use a 2nd coat hanger to help guide the nut in place.

Still need to get in there with some duct tape to put over the tears in the headliner, though.

-Chelle

3-point seatbelt install

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19stang66

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My rearend needs a stud and two nuts.

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My rearend needs a stud and two nuts.

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