So the shoulder belt was broken when I got the car so I just got around to pulling it apart to see if I can get an aftermarket belt for the car. What I got from under the trim is a plate that the two retractable parts of the belt are bolted to. The lap belt and shoulder harness are both retractable. The plate is then bolted to the side of the car with three anchor bolts. The three anchor bolts don't line up with the slots in the trim, which I really want to re-use as it's in great shape. Has anyone dealt with this kind of an assembly in replacing your belts? The retraction assemblies actually go inside the body of the car in the rectangular slots as shown in the the picture.
I grafted that set up into my '71. I sent them in to have the mechanism rebuilt and new webbing. I suggest you do the same. You might only need new webbing. Much easier and safer than trying to retrofit. Plus, both sides will be the same. Micah
Micah, who did you use? I found this outfit right after I posted. The mechanisms seem to be just fine. https://www.safetyrestore.com/6-seat-belt-repair-service
Steve at www.seatbeltplanet.com can repair/restore your mechanisms, other members, along with myself have used them, give him a call.......... David
Interesting post, I have a 74 with blue interior also, and I just spoke with Justin at Seat Belt Planet today about getting mine rewebbed, he said that they have a 3 day turnaround on it. Sounded pretty knowledgable. I was wondering if I would have to remove my seats to get this assembly out, it looks like you did not have to. How long did it take you to remove them? Ill post a photo of mine, its strange, someone cut the belt then riveted the strike plate back inplace, looks bad.
Here it is, I really can't figure out why the previous owner did this, its the same way on both front belts. Is the strike mechanism supposed to be stitched into a fixed location like this (in this case it's riveted) or is it supposed to be free to slide up and down the length of the belt? I plan to send them in for rewebbing. I assume seat belt planet will know which way they are supposed to be.
From what I can see it looks like someone took a lap belt and converted it to a 3 point shoulder belt. The shoulder belt and lap belt come together in separate slots on my buckle. Looking closer, maybe they had the shoulder belt wear and break, and just attached the two belts together instead of passing the shoulder belt back into the buckle and sewing it. I do have one complete intact belt (passenger side) I'm going to send, as I want both belts rewebbed to match. If we can get them there together, they can just match the factory set up I'm sending them. It will be a couple weeks before I can get set up to send mine in.
hey thanks for the picture, that helps a lot, at least it looks like I have the correct strike. I may not be sending mine in for a few weeks yet, I'd like to get some driving time in on it yet while the weather is still nice, also I'm hoping to have it repainted this winter so that would be a good time to have them out. If you do send them into seatbelt planet perhaps you could mention that another set will be coming in and they can keep notes on how long the webbing needs to be since mine seem to be kind of hacked up. Was it difficult to remove them from the car?
Glad I could finally return the favor to anther user, I've been taking info more than I've been giving here. The mechanisms come loose pretty easy, just the three - star headed bolts that are under round plastic buttons that just pop out. Its good to have a flat bar handy to slip in behind the plate and it will work out. There is one phillips screw in the trim at the back, don't forget to take that out or you risk messing up the plastic cover piece. It all comes out as a unit, including the plastic cover trim. If the seats are still in, you kind of have to wedge it past, at least I did with the LDO bucket seats. Would have been a little easier if the seats are out. I'll take a look at taking the seats out to re-install.
Ok, thanks, The more I look at these belts now the more I want to get them re-webbed, they look bad. I think I will try pulling them labor day weekend and hopefully send them in right after.
I have an early 70s bench in my 74. When it was time to bolt in seat belts, I had to pull out the seat....I dont remember why other than It was my first time to bolt that stuff in and I wasnt sure how the carpet was supposed to be cut and it was getting irritating.
Checked my manual on cd and it actually has the seat belt removal and diagrams if this helps anyone. I also have the bench seat so I may be stuck removing it.
Did you get your belts sent in yet. I'm going to call today and get this going on mine. I hope to have my Mav back on the road as soon as I get these back. I will see if they keep data on length so its in a database for future needs. Maybe I can get them to send it to me and I'll post it here as a reference document.
