How about a shoulder belt from an early '70's car? A bit more hassle, but
it could be clipped up out of the way when not in use.
I'm going to stick with lap belts myself.
--Roger van Hoy, Washougal, WA, '58 DeSoto, '55 DeSoto, '42 DeSoto, '41
Dodge, '66 Plymouth, '81 Imperial
----- Original Message -----
From: "Scott H" <kneedrager@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2005 8:00 AM
Subject: [FWDLK] Safety Question - Thoughts on Seat Belts
> I certainly am no expert or engineer (but I do pretend to be one in my
> garage) but I spent a lot of time last summer looking for replacement
> seatbelts for a Corvette.
> I checked all the seal belt suppliers (aftermarket, restoration aand race
> car) and was surprised to see that the standard method of installing
> aftermarket belts is a a hole in the floor with a large fender washer on
> each side. I believe that I even saw DOT regulations specifying this
setup.
> I was still not happy so I welded in an extra 6" x 8" support plate under
> the floor and then used fender washers on either side.
>
> A few years ago I did some junk yard scrounging to add belts to rear seat
of
> old 4 Runner and observed that the mounting points in many cars are not as
> stout as you might expect to see.
>
> My conclusion was that the steel in the floor and pillars must be stronger
> then I thought and are probably strong enough to support the force of a
> collision and the associated forces imposed by the weight the average
human
> body secured by a seatbelt. Of course I did not trust my own conclusion
> (based only on limited observation wth no empirical testing) and welded in
> additional support plates anyway :)
>
> You may be statistically safer with just a lap belt rather the nothing but
I
> do not like either option.
>
> For the rear of my 56 Dodge I am going try to instal 3 sets of
lap/shoulder
> belts in the back seat like a modern car (3 kids to worry about) which
will
> probably require some additional bracing to be welded to the rear deck.
This
> should not be too difficult and I can use aftermarket belts or get some
from
> a donor car in a junk yard.
>
> The front is more problematic. On a car with a post I think the method
> described on the Julianos site www.julianos.com is the way to go.
> Mine is a hardtop. I am not crazy about the shoulder belt hanging down
from
> the roof and spoiling the clean lines, It might as well have a post if I
do
> that.
> I was looking at various convertables and how the shoulder belt retracts
> into the panel behind the seat. BUT all those cars have high back seats
with
> a guide for the belt to keep it up high and over the shoulder. If the belt
> comes over the top of the relatively short back on the bench seat then it
> will have to loop over the shoulder (at least for me I am pretty tall) and
> you now have the added risk of spinal compression injuries caused by the
> belt.
>
> There are variuos "race car" 4 point harnesses available that get bolted
> to the floor, but again these are generally used with highback seats and
the
> low back seat problem remains.
>
> ne approach is changing the front seat. Some pickups have a seat belt
> integrated into the seat and would probably look ok if reupholstered with
> classic materials, but I really want to stay with the look of the original
> seat.
> I have not resolved this yet. but will probably mount the belt high up on
> the roof channel and live with the belt hanging down.
>
>
> Scott
> 1956 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer
> 2002 Dodge Ram Quad Cab
>
>
>
>
> ----Original Message Follows----
> From: JLSAVARD@xxxxxxx
> Reply-To: JLSAVARD@xxxxxxx
> To: L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [FWDLK] Safety Question - Brake and seat belts
> Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 09:03:44 EST
>
>
> In a message dated 2/17/2005 7:27:49 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
> walter.landry@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:
>
> As far as seat belts go I think I should add them but hear varying ideas
> about if they really are safe, just lap belts. I had not considered
> anything
> other than the lap belt.
>
> Any help or ideas will be appreciated.
>
> Walter Landry
>
>
>
> My personal opinion is that there is no way to make yourself TOTALLY safe
> if
> you are to be hurtling along at 60 mph in a metal box. I feel that every
> little bit helps, so I installed lap belts in my car.
>
> That being said, AI once had a coworker whose back was broken by being
> "Jackknifed" over a seatbelt while in the backseat of a car during a front
> end
> collision. The belt broke his back, but prevented him from leaving
through
> the
> windshield. There is no way to know what would have happened without the
> belt, but he was statistically safer with it on.
>
> I'd like to have shoulder belts in the car, too, but haven't figured all
> that out yet, since the car is a 1957 Chrysler 4dr, and I'm not sure if
the
> pillars are strong enough to hang shoulder belts on.
>
> Life seems to be a series of compromises, doesn't it!
>
> Joe Savard
> Lake Orion, MI
>
>
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