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Adding seatbelts to a 62 Lancer
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Author:  NewLancerMan [ Mon Dec 13, 2004 5:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Adding seatbelts to a 62 Lancer
Hello everyone,

I know this is a basic question, but I was curious about some of the specifics.

Shoulder belts:
First, is it possible to add shoulder belts to this car without welding to the roof or something similiar? The door frame pillar seems awfully thin and I would think it would require some major reworking. I was curious if anyone has done this and if they can send me pics. Second, is it safe to use shoulder belts with no headrests? I have a bench seat in my Lancer, so which is worse--flying forward with no shoulder restraint or whipping back with no headrest? :roll:

Lap Belts:
Assuming shoulder belts aren't feasible, then installing lap belts seems pretty straight forward. I know the fronts are supposedly predrilled (everyone else's 62 seems to have seatbelts) so my question is on hardware. Should I just get a stainless steel eyebolt with two large fender washers and attach the belts that way? Or should I figure out a way to use a bolt that actually anchors the seatbelt more like "modern" cars?

I was looking at shoulder and lap belts from http://ssnake-oyl.com/ and the bolt kits there or getting http://www.julianos.com/lift_latch_seat_belts.html these which are pretty nice looking too.

Thanks in advance for guidance--I want to make sure I do this little addition correctly for obvious reasons ;-)

Menko
Author:  sandy in BC [ Mon Dec 13, 2004 9:42 pm ]
Post subject: 
I added a set of these to my 73 Suburban a couple of months ago and ordered a set for our Valiant last Friday. If you get the install kit and follow the directions it makes a good safe alternative to the ancient lap belts. They are a little cumbersome at first but once you are used to them it becomes 2nd nature. In town I just do up the lap portion.

http://store.yahoo.net/wescoperformance/am4point.html

These guys are very pleasant to deal with and the prices are $20 a side cheaper than Summit with WAY better quality.
Author:  NewLancerMan [ Tue Dec 14, 2004 6:45 am ]
Post subject: 
If you only do the lap section, where do the shoulder portions go? they look sewn on at the base. So are they always on and you just buckle them sometimes? also do they have any kind of give or are they like a racing harness?

Thanks for the info! any pics you have would also be nice
Author:  sandy in BC [ Tue Dec 14, 2004 9:21 am ]
Post subject: 
They are kinda like a racing harness without the submarine strap. Where I live I do 95% of my driving on mountain roads. We have very strict laws about seatbelt use. When I am in town (pop 2500) and am only going 3 blocks from the grocery store to the liquor store I just fasten the lap belt with the shoulder harness behind me. Of course it is not nearly as safe, but it meets the requirements of the seatbelt law.

The harnesses have no give,,,they are like a race harness. The shoulder harnesses are sewn in. To buckle up I put my arms in first then fasten the lap belt .

I liked these belts in my sub enough to order them for the Valiant. My son drives it 50 miles each day on snowy roads. Last weekend they drove 3 hours in 8" of snow over the mountains to go snowboarding.....good enough reasons for harnesses.

no pix....digital camera comes next week.
Author:  Bob D [ Tue Dec 14, 2004 1:13 pm ]
Post subject: 
Sandy,
These belts look like they might be a good fit for my convertible. Do the shoulder straps attach to the rear floor behind the front seat or behind the rear seat?
Bob D
Author:  Guest [ Tue Dec 14, 2004 2:52 pm ]
Post subject: 
I will have the new harnesses for the Valiant on Friday. I have them in my 73 Suburban which came with bench seat/lap belts originally. The truck now has 95 Bonneville SE seats. They are 12 way leather.
I used the original lap belt mounting holes for the Lap portion of the harness and drilled 2 new holes behind the seat for the shoulder portion of the harness. I purchased the install kit and used their hardware. The leather seats have headrests so I routed the shoulder straps on the inside of the headrest "posts". My Valiant install plan is identical.

http://store1.yimg.com/I/wescoperformance_1821_1014483
These seats even look like the ones in the Valiant!

http://www.arrowtipi.com/My%20Webs/jpg3C.jpg
Author:  sandy in BC [ Tue Dec 14, 2004 3:08 pm ]
Post subject: 
Appologies for double post! I will have the new harnesses for the Valiant on Friday. I have them in my 73 Suburban which came with bench seat/lap belts originally. The truck now has 95 Bonneville SE seats. They are 12 way leather.
I used the original lap belt mounting holes for the Lap portion of the harness and drilled 2 new holes behind the seat for the shoulder portion of the harness. I purchased the install kit and used their hardware. The leather seats have headrests so I routed the shoulder straps on the inside of the headrest "posts". My Valiant install plan is identical.


Image

These seats even look like the ones in the Valiant!

Image
Author:  NewLancerMan [ Thu Dec 16, 2004 9:07 am ]
Post subject: 
well when you get them up, that'd be nice to see. I can't see replacing the seats i have with ones that have headrests until i have done a LOT of other mods first ;-)


Looking forward to seeing the install pics and holes in the floor
Author:  64 Convert [ Thu Dec 16, 2004 5:10 pm ]
Post subject: 
When I installed Sebring seats in my Valiant, the integrated shoulder belts resolved that problem and also provided head rests.
Author:  sandy in BC [ Fri Dec 17, 2004 12:47 pm ]
Post subject: 
I got the new harnesses,,,,they look great. The shoulder portion of the harness is a "Y" so only 1 hole needs to be drilled behind the seat for the shoulder straps. The original lap mounts are fine for the lap portion.
Author:  SlantSixDan [ Fri Dec 24, 2004 8:29 pm ]
Post subject: 
Personally, I probably would not install a race-type harness (4- or 5-point) in a streetgoing car.

As for adding shoulder belts: Yes, you could bolt them up, but it would be foolhardy to do so without substantially reinforcing the B-pillar or roof area first. This would indeed require welding. If you eventually plan to upgrade the seats, just kill two birds with one stone and focus on seats with inbuilt 3-point belts, such as those found on '95-up Chrysler Sebring convertibles.
Author:  sandy in BC [ Sat Dec 25, 2004 6:26 am ]
Post subject: 
I installed the harnesses in the Valaint the other day. I used the original lap belt mounts for the lap portion ,,,,they bolted right in. I drilled one hole behind the seat for the shoulder portion. It took me less than an hour to install both sides. The harnesses function well and were adjusted well enough right out of the box. They function well with the seats in any position. I highly recommend this product. Even though we live in a remote part of Canada I had these in 4 days from Wesco. All the Belting and hardware is high quality stuff. It makes the set of RCI harnesses I ordered last summer look cheap. The Wesco harness were $20 a side cheaper than RCI or Peak.

Frank: there is no way to do a 3 point in our hardtop. The attachment points for the shoulder harness on a 65 would have to have considerable, intrusive modification.

BoB D : Our car has rear seat passengers all the time. I put the shoulder mount behind the front seats. In reality the best place would be on the package shelf behind the rear seats.
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