I searched the forum a few days ago regarding seat belts and now I can't find the post! So, here is the question, is it true that the seat belt receiver bolts in a different location (farther back) in a bench seat car vs a bucket seat car? Asking about a 74 maverick. Thanks.
Seat Belts and Brake Drums check out my comment on post #4 also, OEM bucket seats had a support bracket under the front row seat track bolt, nearest to the tunnel. Bench seats did not have this bracket, plus buckets required extra bolt holes to mount seat track rail on tunnel side, if your car came with bench seats, when you pull back the carpet, you can see the center pop dimples where you would have to drill those extra holes in order to mount bucket seat tracks. Do you have bench seats and thinking about installing buckets? picture of my 74 with buckets and support plate, as far as I know only with buckets, as bench did not require this.......
The inboard seatbelt mounting location on the floor is different on a 74 than it was on 73 and earlier years. It is more under the seat by 2 or 3 inches. I was going to replace mine with 73 belts and it was too short to reach through the seat. Don't know about the 75-up seatbelts.
The picture was from my 74 Comet LDO 2 door with reclining high backs, when I went to install them on my 73 Comet 2 door which came with bench seats. I had to move those inboard mounts forward approx. 8" in order to use my 74 inboard belts which had those plastic sleeves. Basically where inline with the rear seat track bolts and reinforce plate/nut was tack welded between that U channel reinforcement that runs the width of the undercarriage where the rear tracks bolts mount..... I also kept those under seat brackets which I had to tack weld to the floor, since bench seats did not have them. So perhaps 73 inboard seat belt mounting location are different than the 74? The 74's that I have/had only came with buckets, it was only my 73 that came with bench, so I had to relocate mounting farther forward in order to use bucket seat inboard belt.........
I had a 74 with buckets, and one with a bench, both cars had the inner seat belt bolt holes in the same locations, I changed the seats, and had no issues.. Here's the floor in my 73, to compare.
Here is the floor in my '74 w/bench seat. You can see the seatbelt bolt hole it toward the front of the drain hole cover. Click thumbnail for larger pic.
Great to see actual pictures! So now that the location of the 74's (2 door) are settled, does anyone have pictures of 73 (2 door) that came with buckets?? I would love to see pictures of its location, was it moved to the same location as the 74's?? In Jeff pic, my 73 bench seat hole location was behind the one in the picture, where there is oval shaped hump on the tunnel, behind was thick round shape plate approx. 5" diameter to reinforce the sheet metal area of the tunnel where the seat belt mounts, can see in Dave's posted picture.
It’s my understanding that the floor pans of the cars were changed to accommodate the inside sill retractable seat belt assembly. The forward retractor is lower and more forward than cars with a single exterior mounted seat belt retractor. The floor pan had to be modified to get the assembly in the sill. Having two retractors caused the inner seat belt mount to be pushed forward to line up with the location of the forward retractor. Micah
If I remember correctly, only difference between the 73 and 74 retractor was the buckle. The 73 retractor fit inside the sill the same as the 74. The shoulder strap is mounted closer to the B post on a 74 whereas it mounted closer to the coat hook on the 73. The 74 also has an extension hanging from the roof rail and the 73 are mounted to the roof rail.
I've seen 73s with the 72 style belts, which both of mine have, and another 73 with the 74 style where the retractor is in the rocker.
Here is a picture of my 73 Comet, you can see where I cut the peel-n-seal for the seatbelts. This is a LDO car.
