Interior Changes

dbdragracing

Member
Dec 1, 2004
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I have a 1989 Mustang GT with grey interior....some of the interior needs to be recovered or replaced....instead I decided to go black. I just got my black sail panels in today and noticed there was a large hole above each speaker grill. Did they start putting shoulder straps in new Mustangs? Can I make my '89 accept these seatbelts? I believe they only made black interior from 1990 and up...are there any other changes made to the interior that I need to look into or should everything just swap out? Thanks.
 
My 91 had rear seatbelts in it before I took them out. Yes they were shoulder straps that came through the rear panel. I will sell you the set for a fair price, however, they mount to a threaded stud high on your rear quarter behind the quarter window. You should make sure you have this mounting stud first.
 
Yes, the belts mount on a bracket that is welded to the wheel well under the quarter panels. If you can weld, go cut the brackets from a 90-93 parts car and install them, then the belts will bolt right up. I put the belts in my car and attached them to the wheel well, without a bracket. just drilled a hole in the right position and used a seat belt torx bolt and lock nut along with washers to strengthen the mounting point. It works, but the belts have to go up and then out when used, making a rubbing noise. Not a big deal, but I think my kids are safer than with just the lap belts.

As far as other things, the front seat belt mount is higher up on the 90-93 cars so you will have to drill new holes to mount the B pillar part of the belts, and you will have a hole above it from the old mounting place. There are a few other differences between the 87-89 and 90-93 interiors if you get other parts, such as the AC control mounts, fuse box location, and rear seat bottom mounting are the ones off the top of my head.
 
04sleeper said:
I have some black 93 front belts if anyone is interested.


those won't work on the 79-90 cars, the tabs on the front belts grew longer in 91. the only direct black belts that will bolt on for him with no mods are 90 belts, and the earlier 79-83 black belts, but good luck finding those in good condition.

This swap isn't as easy as it sounds, lots of little differences. the rear hatch seat isn't a bolt on either, the entire bottom mounts differently, and you have to do that in order to mount the rear shoulder/lap belt setup properly, and also have them poke through the seat bottom holes (90+ seat bottoms had holes for the belts to come through)

if you don't want to **** with all that, find some 83 black rear inner 1/4 panels, (79-83 stangs had black). the 83 units are a direct plug in, no modifying for belts. As well, 79-83 rear black lap belts are a direct bolt in, and are identical in style to your current ones. I have extra mint rear black lap belts if you need some.

read this for a full black interior conversion article, my bro wrote it from our combined experiences.

http://50stangs.com/techarticles/foxbodyinteriorguide.html

If I had to do this again, I'd get the rear 83 black 1/4 panels, or dye your originals black, use 83 rear lap belts, 90 front belts (you won't have to drill the piller now with the 83 panel, or your painted one). Then I'd take your oem rear seat in, and have it recovered by a shop in black, or black vinyl, and use 90+ front leather or tweed buckets.
 
v8only said:
those won't work on the 79-90 cars, the tabs on the front belts grew longer in 91. the only direct black belts that will bolt on for him with no mods are 90 belts, and the earlier 79-83 black belts, but good luck finding those in good condition.
All you have to do is cut off the small tab on the belt and measure the angle of belt when you mount it. They work just the same. Or you can cut a small hole for the tab to go into.
 
04sleeper said:
All you have to do is cut off the small tab on the belt and measure the angle of belt when you mount it. They work just the same. Or you can cut a small hole for the tab to go into.

i've always wondered about that. Good to know.