My Maverick is a '73 & has the two-piece seat belt system. I'm not sure if the shoulder section has ever been used and looks like a tangled mess. I wouldn't even try to use it. I use the lap belts, but would like to have a one-piece, lap & shoulder belt setup. Does anyone have any suggestions? Do the newer model year Mavericks have a one-piece system that I can grab for my car?
I have been wrestling with this same dilemna. I hate my 2-piece seat belts in my '72. The '74 and up models used a one-piece retractable system but you can't really retrofit it to an older car without some serious work, as it is recessed into the inside of the rocker panel. I think John B. adapted belts from another car brand but I don't know which. John, can you share your knowledge on this? Sam
Sam I'm not sure about adapting them from other makes but there is a company that makes new 3-point retractable belts for older vehicles. Here's the link: http://www.julianos.com/3_point_belt.html
I have a '73 Comet that had that system. I use just the lap belt. Took out the shoulder harness. Looks better too.
You'd probably want to check with your local law enforcement before removing the shoulder harness. Out here if the vehicle was equipped with them when it was manufactured they have to be functional.
As Sam mentionned, I am installing non-stock belts in my car. I bought front and rear seats, and all seatbelt parts from a '96 Sunfire. The part I like about the belt system from this car is that the rear seats had one piece lap & shoulder belts too. I'm not done installing these, and I can't attest to the safety of this modification, but this is how I plan to go about it. I've already trial fitted the belts in the car, with the Sunfire buckets in place. Up front the following problems need to be licked, but don't look too serious. The one seat has the "female" end belt attached to its frame, so that it slides with the seat. I plan to get another female end from a second car, and go with the Mav factory bolts and holes for these pieces. I will have to create new mounting point for the take up reels somewhere between the front and rear seats, and enclose these somehow. One other option is for me to anchor these reels to the base of my rollbar. Obviously this isn't an option if you don't have a rollbar. The mounting point above the door for the stock belts seems to be to far from the other anchoring points, because when I tried using it I didn't have enough belt left for a good fit when done up around a passenger. I am looking at mounting this point on the roll bar too. This way I can put it quite a bit lower if I choose. It is probably possible to creat a lower, or closer-to-the-front mounting point without the rollbar, but I doubt that you could get one that was as secure anywhere else. The rears belts will have the take-up reels mounting in the trunk, with the belts coming up thru the package shelf, over your shoulder, to the male-end buckle, to the take-up reels mounted behind the rear panels. These will have the belt passing up thru a slot I plan to cut in the rear panels for that purpose. This is probably clear as mud, but I will try to add some pics in a "reply" post later. (I'm late for work right now) I hopr this helps a bit. Later, John B.
you need to get these in tammys car! lap belts don't cut it in an crash! um i know you learned your lesson!
Thank You Thanks for the help, everyone. I appreciate it. I'll probably go with the kit from the Julianos link. Looks like the easiest way to go and I can get them in blue!! I've been just using the lap belt and would rather have something more secure. After being K.O.'ed by a drunk driver, I'm pretty paranoid about safety. Thankfully, I wasn't driving my Maverick at the time!!
I only hit my head on the "A" piller didn't do much damage me thinks good thing I don't have hair huh!!
I put in a set of these aftermarket seatbelts into a '72 two door. The set pictured will be incredibly uncomfortable for long drives. You want to bet a set with an 8" drop drom the "B" pillar mount point to the clip where the belt runs through at the top. The reason is that the angle was too great without the drop so the belt would always rub high up on your neck. Take a look at any of the later Mavericks and you will see that they also have an 8" drop in the stock belts. Really makes a difference. As for the belts I installed, my girlfriend made me put the stock belts back in as she hated the new ones.
Heck I don't even like the stock 77 shoulder belts. Someone had cut mine out, and when I finally found a decent looking set in the junkyard and installed the drivers side one, I figured out why, they suck! The problem I have, maybe it's just me, the buckle meets the belt halfway across my stomach. I have taken to hooking the belt into the passengers side buckle, it's much more comfortable that way.
Matt, maybe they designed those belts for "bigger" folks.......I had no trouble with them in Susan Greens Stallion, the buckle hit me right on the hip......... wait maybe I need to go on a diet?
I was concerned about the "8in drop" myself when I looked at Julianos offerings, as the B pillar mount point is way to high to use without one. I wonder if there would be any way to use the stock CoMav drop and thread the new belt through it? Anyone know if it comes apart enough to do that? Then I was looking at the belt in my '99 SuperDuty truck... it's got an adjustable "drop" that looks like it would work but I bet if I had to go buy the whole assembly from Ford I'd get sticker shock. Sam
