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Seat Belts, may put them in my 56.


Guest gunjeep444

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Guest gunjeep444

Just got a 56 Roadmaster and drove it home. Felt uncomfortable without seat belts. Anyone install them in their car? Not shoulder belts, just seat belts. If so, where did you get them, how did you install them?

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There are several companies that sell seat belts for the street rod part of the hobby . . . which should also work in stock vehicles, too. There are several who advertise in Street Rodder Magazine. Many still have the "aircraft style" chrome buckles which would be correct for the earlier vehicles. Prices are reasonable, too.

In some prior online searches, I found RetroBeltUSA.com. Julianos.com is another one. Just be SURE that you get the anchor kit as a part of what you order.

Nice looking car!

NTX5467

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Just a note of caution from what I have heard, not from experience. You may need to be prepared to do the entire installation yourself, including the anchors. As with everything these days, the lawyers got involved and due to liability issues, some shops won't touch them. That being said, one would expect hot rod shops to be a bit more inclined to do so as they are more typically starting from scratch.

It seems to me there was another company - Snake Oyl or something like that - that sold seat belts.

Good luck.

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SSnake-Oyl typically rebuilds later model seat belts, which would be factory retractables, usually.

From what I saw of the installation packages online, the "anchors" were a rectangular piece of about 1/4" thick metal, with threads in the hole in the middle. I suspect there could also be a larger flat washer for the passenger compartment side of the hole, too, for general stiffness and support. Looks like it should be pretty simple to do, though, as to just drilling a hole in the floorpan . . . in an appropriate location just behind the front seat.

In an mid-'60s service manual, I found that it was recommended that the two outer belt buckles be criss-crossed before they went through the seat. I thought that seemed a little strange as the factories installed them "straight". This was before there was, generally, a center belt for the bench front seats. Then, when I looked at the "pull angles of force", the criss-cross made perfect sense to do--felt a little more comfortable, too. When center seating position belts came alone, the only way to do them was "straight" rather than "criss-cross".

Once the belt anchors have been installed, with the seat belts installed, it might be a good idea to put some "tack welds" on those under the car, for good measure, and then add some paint and then thick undercoat to the anchor areas. This would help keep surface rust from forming over time and weakening the floorpan at the point of the anchors.

With the growing number of street rod/custom shops, there should be somebody that could do the installation AND had done some previously . . . liability issues or not. Ultimately, any liability for installation would be with the installer, but if the installation was done "according to supplied instructions", then liability could shift more toward the belt's manufacturer.

Back when seat belts were "added" to vehicles rather than supplied as factory optional equipment, the "auto supply" belts seemed to be rather flexible and flimsy in fabric. The OEM belts were thicker and more substantial in their webbing, yet they all met the same safety standards. Personally, I'd see if I could find the thicker-webbing belts, which have webbing very similar to current production vehicles.

Just some thougths,

NTX5467

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