We bought my son a 71 Maverick Grabber (almost all original in excellent shape for a 37 year old car) as a father son project car. We have about 15 mo until the dreaded 16th birthday. I like the idea of safety while he worries about the radio. Anyway, what is the best way to improve safety? Replace the stock seat belts (with ones that work) and re upholster the stock seats or would there be more benefit from replacing the seats and putting in a new seatbelt system? As much as the boss (wife) would like a 5 point harness I just do not see him complying when out of our site. I was 16 once with a girlfriend/friends. Also, on aside is it best to start floor up or roof down when re-storing the interior? All advise is greatly appreciated. Any other safety thoughts would be great. John
I think any way you look at it a 37 year old car will never be as safe as a newer car. The seat belts should be replaced, or rebuilt (http://www.ssnake-oyl.com/) Since you only have a lap belt, there are after market kits, but since the car was not designed for shoulder belts, where ever you mount them will need to be reinforced, along with checking the condition of the stock mounting positions. To restore and interior, it's best to strip it out, and start from the top down, it's not fun installing a headlier in a car with seats. As much as I love Mavericks & Comets, I really don't think they make good first cars for 16 year old kids, 30 years ago maybe, but now days even an 8 year Focus would be safer.
Agreed maybe not the best choice, but we do not plan on it being an everyday car any significant driving and he will be expected to drive mom or dads car. Mostly, it is to and from school and special occasions. There are shoulder straps on the front seats but they are not the best in the world.
Couple of things to consider: 1* Replace the front drums with discs off a Maverick/Granada/Monarch/other... Discs up front, even manual discs, make a huge safety improvement. Drum brakes up front are horrible and usually squirrelly in a panic situation. 2* If you do any shifting, moving, replacing, modding... of the front seats, or seat belts, please remember that the stock mounting points are braced and strengthened from the factory. If you put in late model bucket seats, for example, and they don't use the stock mounting points, you should take extra steps to brace and strengthen the revised mounting points. If you just drill the sheet metal for new holes, the metal is thin and in a wreck can tear, freeing the seat to fly about. Same with relocating the seat belt mount points. 3* If you really want to go crazy, find a 90something Crown Vic and swipe the rear discs off it to convert to the 71. 4 wheel discs are really cool, but a bit more involved than just swapping on fronts. 4* Misc stuff you probably already know... Make sure shocks, tires, steering linkage, ball joints, u-joints, and brake hoses are all up to snuff. When I first started driving, I had a u-joint fail while driving... no big deal. But being young and inexperienced, it scared the crap out of me and I lost control of the car, hitting a large sign. Now I would know what it was, and even if I didn't I wouldn't panic. Point is that even little stuff can cause momentary confusion and wreck, so sweat even the small stuff.
I am aware of that, but since it has to be manually put on, and easily slips off, I don't think it compares to a factory 3 point harness. I myself would never put either of my daughters in a Maverick/Comet as a daily driver of any capacity.
You like to argue with everyone don't you. You think it really compares to the factory shoulder belt assembly? and how it adjusts? I would think it's more like a 2 point with the option of a 3 point.
I wouldn't put a kid of either sex into an old car unless they had some natural mechanical aptitude. My daughter or 2nd son... no. My first born, he's a natural mechanic and has an old car and does fine. He's only 16 and been driving a year.
I did realize what you were getting at right after I made that comment. You didn't mean the old stuff wasn't factory, as it sounded, you were comparing old technology vs modern. I just have to be a wise-acre anyway.
My '74 Grabber was my real "first" car when I was 17. Looking back on my experience with that car, I would say this much. Do not let that car leave the driveway until it has had at least manual front disc brakes installed. Trust me. I don't know how many near misses I had in that car, all of which were related to the fact that it wouldn't stop worth a damn. And the first few times I drove it in the rain were all almost lessons learned the hard way. Rebuilding the drums ain't gonna cut it, get rid of them. Disc brakes are a HUGE improvement over the drums. Replace the seat belts with modern type 3 point seat belts, regardless of what seats the car has. If that means you have to reinforce the new mounting points, so be it. When I did wreck my '74 Grabber, the original seat belts were so old, they just snapped on impact and I got thrown into the dash. Make sure all the suspension and steering components are in good condition. Have the front end alignment checked. As bad as this may sound, being a first car, I would go into this expecting this car is probably going to end up getting wrecked. I had already driven close to 80,000 miles in the first two years I was driving before I got my Grabber. I bought that car as a basket case pretty much, it had been sitting for over 12 years and I went through it and got it running and drivable again by myself at the age of 17. Of course I thought I would never wreck that car, I had already driven a ton and thought I knew what I was doing, plus I did all the work on that car myself. Well, after I had put just under 10,000 miles on it, I got hit by a Lincoln Navigator...
Don't change the OEM seats, fix them. No other seats will bolt into the factory reinforced mounting points. What did you expect to gain from new seats? Unless you add a roll cage you will not have a way to bolt in a 5 point harness. Go with a one piece 3 Point belt with a retractor. I did that and bolted them to the stock mounting points. Look at Street Rodder Magazine for a belt supplier. I got mine a a local swap meet.
