Hello everyone!

So I am currently gutting my interior to replace the carpet and headliner, as well as install some dynamat and additional insulation. While I am at it I think It would be a good time to see about changing my seatbelts out. I have a 1973 Duster with front bench. The current configuration is a retractable lab belt with a separate over-the-shoulder belt that connects to the buckle. This piece is hard to adjust and unhooks from the lap belt easily. I would like to replace the belt with a single piece 3-point belt.

Anybody have any luck swapping belts with a later model? Maybe aftermarket belts (though I have heard that some after market belts are not as safe)?

The rear seatbelts are both stuck (one retracted, one extended), has anyone had success repairing these?

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'73 Gold Duster - /6

The 1974 Unit will be as desired but they also suffer from retractor problems like your rear lap belts...they changed the unit for the 1975 model year and similar for 1976 which have fewer "hangups"...

If you can find a workable set, there is a company that can re-web them for you....

I'm interested in this too because I'm about to do something similar. My seatbelts don't always retract properly and then get stuck in the retracted position, so I can't put them on. They need to be replaced. Plus, trusting my safety to some decades-old strip of nylon doesn't exactly instill confidence.

I've only ever swapped from donor car to similar recipient car.

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If it was easy, everybody would be doing it.

Has anyone tried an after market solution? Something like this: http://www.seatbeltsplus.com/product/3- ... odyBe.html

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'73 Gold Duster - /6

'70s belts are a pain, whether they're the super-nuisance '73 type with separate lap and shoulder straps or the just-regular-nuisance '74-up Unibelt types.

Belts have to be ready and able to save you when they're called on...not just look nice. There are also bench- and bucket-seat 3-point belt setups available from XV Motorsports, but I am hesitant to recommend or use them until I have more than a one-line say-so from the company that their belts actually meet the relevant safety standards; discussion on that matter is here.

I recommend these up-to-date, reputable-brand ECE-approved 3-point seat belts (linked vendor is reliable; I've been buying there for a decade; their eBay store is here). More info on belt selection and mounting is at the maker's website. If I needed mounting hardware, I'd buy it again from Wesco (and their page has good illustrated write-ups on how to install belts in pillarless cars like yours here ), but the Securon belts are a much better-designed product than anything Wesco carries.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

I just installed the seatbeltsplus non-retractable 3 pt belts in my 64 Dart. I would probably look aftermarket, but I don't know about the best retractable ones or installation mode since mine is a 4dr (with a big B-pillar) car.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

I bought the Wesco belts and mounting plates, and slid the 3 point plate up inside the B pillar and riveted it fast. They work fine although sometimes you need to pull them out a little slowly or they catch. Not a big deal and I am sure they are much safer than a 50 year old lap belt
Plus I used the factory mounting bolts on both side of the seat.

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2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

Great info everyone! Another quick question: does anyone have any tips for repairing the rear lap-belt retractors? I have one stuck fully extended and one stuck fully retracted. Reed mentioned in another thread that sometimes they just need to be blown out, but has anyone had any luck getting this open?

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'73 Gold Duster - /6

I really wish I had sprung for the retractable belts the first time around. Fixed shoulder belts are a pain in the neck.

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"When you find a big kettle of crazy, it's best not to stir it." - Pointy-haired Boss

1964 Valiant V200, 225/Pushbutton 904
BBD, CAI, HEI, LBP, AC, AM/FM/USB, EIEIO

Over the weekend I was able to get at the rear seatbelts. The covers were held on with two rivets, which punched out. I will replace them with some small screws I think. Once the covers were off I was able to see that both of the belt had at some point had folded over themselves and bound up roller. I removed the spring-lock and un-bound them. It's easy to see how this would happen as the orientation of the belts is really perpendicular to the direction that they are used. Anyway, I washed housing and rinsed the belt. I used my wooden bench as a drying jig, with the belt fully extended.



I couldn't find a washer in the shop with a small enough hole for a wood screw but big enough for belt's mounting hole, so a couple bottle caps came to the rescue.


I'm hoping that the crease in the right belt will go away once its been coiled for a few weeks.

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'73 Gold Duster - /6