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1952 Special Deluxe Project


Guest shadetree77

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  • 3 months later...
Guest jmillsUT28

Hey shadetree, thanks for the thread. Could not find it in 39 pages but wanted to ask.

1. Did you install seat belts? Where did you bolt them up at? Have any pictures? Thanks man!

Jon

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Guest jmorrisn699a

If your trying to appease the trooper bolt it to plywood. We did a car with floor pan placed a 10" square of 1/8 steel and large washer at bolt. If you hit hard

enough is not going to matter

1928 Model AA Truck, Not pretty, but I found a place a 2" angle iron across and under the frame. Mesured the distance. Remember you want the buckle to land close to your middle.

---

Ssnake-Oyl Products, www.ssnake-oyl.com <http: www.ssnake-oyl.com="">

1-800-284-7777 ordered norma 02-06-09

Seat Belt Pros, www.seatbeltpros.com <http: www.seatbeltpros.com=""></http:></http:>

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Jon,

I bought seat belts to install in my 52 Buick Super (2Buicks). I have retactable belts for driver and passenger seats and regular belts for the middle front seat and three seat belts for the rear seat. The one main point I am working out is to make sure I use a small flat plate under the floor pan to bolt the seat belt brackets. I don't want to use the after market standard large washer to bolt the belts. I have looked at several installations on the internet to see how I could adapt for my installation. The one I like is http://www.hotrodhotline.com/md/lapbelt/, but I do not want the extra brackets showing behind the front seat. However, Jim Clark's article does show alternate anchor plates with welded nut (approx. 2" x 4") that may work, Juliano's Seat Belt Retractors. This is something that could be made in your garage.

Don

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See post #11 of my '55 thread (link below). If you're careful about cutting the carpet, nothing more than the end of the belt shows. I used the Juliano's / seatbeltstore.com hardware & belts. After about 1 1/2 years of almost weekly cruises with this setup, about the only thing I might want to add are the in-line retractors for the outboard belts on each end of the front seat.

To know where to cut the carpet, locate the seatbelt best as you can* and drill up from below. When the drill pokes through the metal (but not the carpet), hold the drill bit up through the floor to locate the small "U" shaped cut in the carpet.

http://forums.aaca.org/f163/55-special-runner-349933.html

*Location will be driven by all the little stiffening ribs and bends in the floor as much as any guidelines on belt placement.

I believe I drilled up from below with 1/8" drill bit, made the carpet cut, then holding the flap of carpet out of the way, drilled down from the top with a unibit to get to the seatbelt bolt size.

Edited by Eric W
added drilling detail (see edit history)
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Guest shadetree77
Hey shadetree, thanks for the thread. Could not find it in 39 pages but wanted to ask.

1. Did you install seat belts? Where did you bolt them up at? Have any pictures? Thanks man!

Jon

Jon,

I have not installed belts in my car. There are front belts on it but I wouldn't use those for a reference. I found a receipt in the glove box when I bought the car where the owner's had the belts installed in 1964. They don't look very safe to me. Go with what the other fellows have suggested.

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On my 41 Limited, I installed two with shoulder harness in front, and three without harness in back.

I used the plates that came with the belts, OPTIONAL, and made sure flooring was SOUND.

I will NOT drive any car without belts, but that's just me. I installed my first belts in the 50's that I purchased at the Army surplus store. Aircraft style, UGLY, but very strong.

Dale in Indy

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Guest jmillsUT28

Thanks guys for the info! I'm also one of those guys that will not drive the car without seat belts. I did drive it around the block last night for the first time in 20 years with out one.

I think I am going to do like some of you are saying. Will not use the washers that come with the seat belts. Will make my own bracket and weld on a nut for under the panels. Would like to do it right as this will be a body off restore.

Thanks again shadetree for this thread. Very helpful!

This is the way she sits right now.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Guest shadetree77

The Summer has finally come to an end here in Michigan and I am sad to see it go. I had an amazing time (see post here: http://forums.aaca.org/f115/best-summer-ever-381156.html). So as a result of all of those amazing things in that post, I have had very little time to do any work on my cars. I've been driving the Buick too much to have time to work on it! But as the leaves start to fall and the wind blows colder, it is almost time to park the Buick for the Winter, fire up the heat in the garage, and do some work. In fact, I have already started tinkering. I got the Kaiser started for the first time since 1974. I then yanked the oil and trans pans and cleaned them out. I pressure washed the top and bottom sides of the engine and oiled it with Marvel Mystery in an effort to preserve everything. I'm currently working on getting everything back together. Hoping to have it on the road by next Summer. My wife will be driving it to shows and I will be driving the Buick. What a site that will make for!

I haven't done much to the Buick yet. My plans are to patch the floor pans this Winter and maybe re-build the shocks. I did get a little custom project completed a few days ago that I thought I'd share. My car has a clock delete which I think is very cool. It adds a bit of character to the interior and I'm glad I don't have the clock option. However, it has always bothered me that the delete doesn't light up with the rest of the dash instrumentation. So I set out to fix that. I ended up buying a TRASHED clock for $10 and an extra clock delete for $16, both found on EBAY. I was able to modify and combine various components of the clock and the delete to end up with a light-up clock delete. I think it looks awesome and the best part is it looks 100% stock. You'd never know Buick didn't design it that way. It looks way better in person than it does in the photo my camera took. I'm writing the process into a Bugle article so more details on how to do it will be in the Bugle at some point. Trust me, it was not as easy as just putting the stuff from one housing inside the other! Lots of cutting was involved. As the weather turns colder I should be making more updates here. Gotta' do something to distract myself from the piles of snow that will be lying outside my garage very soon!

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Great to hear from you Robert! And I agree, the lighted delete has that warm 50's look. Are you acclimated to Michigan? Of course I'm asking just before winter :rolleyes:...hope all is well and hope also to meet you in Springfield, Missouri next year! I plan to drive the 49 to the meet.

Geoff

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  • 4 weeks later...
Guest shadetree77

Getting colder every day! I've been working off and on to winterize everything. Took Lucy out for one last drive. Took the scenic route to the ethanol free station 15 miles from home. Stopped to take a few pictures along the way. Filled her up with good ol' expensive ($4.47/gallon) 91 octane pure gasoline topped off with a bottle of Stabil storage. Drove her home, cleaned the white walls, and parked her for the winter. Still need to put it up on jack stands so the bias ply's don't get flat spots. Sad day indeed. :( Already looking forward to the next driving season. Meanwhile, back in Georgia, they are still having car shows and running the local drag strip!:mad::(

Been working on my garage too. I put insulation on the front and rear garage doors. Should help a little. Filled a bunch of holes I found in the walls with that expanding foam stuff. Swept the floor. Prepped my pressure washer for winter storage and got it put away. Bought myself a torpedo style heater too. Should help me keep nice and toasty out there this winter. Dyna-glo Workhorse edition 75,000 BTU kerosene heater. I tried it out and within 5 mins. I was sweating. Hope it does as good when it's 20 degrees out instead of 55! All in all, I think I'm ready for another brutal Michigan winter. Looking forward to getting some work done.

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Edited by shadetree77 (see edit history)
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Robert;

I hear you my friend! I put the '56 away today, and the '41 went into storage on Sun. We had snow here in Toronto on Sat.! I have my garage insulated and I heat it with a smaller kerosene heater, and it does just fine, even in very cold outside temps. I've promised my wife that her Wildcat will get some attention this winter, so it's getting the heated space, so my Buick babies are in the cold garage.

As well, its' nice to hear from you again, Robert.

Keith

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Robert: She looks good,we're not getting dinged as bad for non ethanol,was 3.49/gal yesterday,the price has come down alot and we have been getting more stations stocking it,have several A few miles away,boat marinas have it too.Wish they would do away with it,something about Iowa caucus/politics,Iowa being big corn producer{ethanol}first to win the poll,etc.etc.etc.etc.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I put mine away last week but am taking the 59 Plymouth for A veterans day outing{flags on the dual antennaes goes good with the "fins"} then that will be it,I don't think it will be as bad as last winter,I can't remember one that bad{I'm 56}. Mark

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Y'all keep that weather up there. It is supposed to freeze here tonight.

Plus it's only 50- something degrees right now.

This is usually our convertible time.

In other words: "Shut the door!":(

Send some weather this way Mike! We have 18" of snow. 3 days ago we had green grass.....

We'll be glad to send you some....in August! :D

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  • 5 months later...
  • 1 year later...
On ‎2‎/‎10‎/‎2013 at 7:04 AM, 1953mack said:

You have my vote: GO FOR IT.

Just the facts re: previous posts.....

∙ Bill Hines (aka The Leadslinger) was 84 in the video.....been leading since 1941.....still vertical today at 90 years old.

∙ ...

Al Malachowski

BCA #8965

"500 Miles West of Flint"

Was just looking back through this for Robert's transmission posts as I contemplate dropping the Dynaflow out of my car, but just last night I was looking at an Autoweek from March 2016 that had a feature on the Leadslinger. Now 94 years old, and still working! I'm not saying one should skip all PPE and ignore what we now know about lead safety. You say "still vertical" - man, his story is something else. He spent time at or near the end of high school in an institution where they physically straightened (or attempted to straighten) his spine by strapping him down to a flat surface and holding tension on him for the daylight hours - every day for 2 1/2 years! They also removed 2 vertebrae. If he's 94 now, that would have been just before WWII. Article said he had to crawl for a time when he couldn't walk...

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  • 2 weeks later...
On ‎5‎/‎17‎/‎2016 at 3:43 PM, Eric W said:

Was just looking back through this for Robert's transmission posts as I contemplate dropping the Dynaflow out of my car, but just last night I was looking at an Autoweek from March 2016 that had a feature on the Leadslinger. Now 94 years old, and still working! I'm not saying one should skip all PPE and ignore what we now know about lead safety. You say "still vertical" - man, his story is something else. He spent time at or near the end of high school in an institution where they physically straightened (or attempted to straighten) his spine by strapping him down to a flat surface and holding tension on him for the daylight hours - every day for 2 1/2 years! They also removed 2 vertebrae. If he's 94 now, that would have been just before WWII. Article said he had to crawl for a time when he couldn't walk...

Sad to report that Bill Hines passed a week ago today on 5/20/2016. The story goes that a 1941 Buick was one of his first cars that he used lead on. Rest in Peace, my friend.

http://autoweek.com/article/car-life/remembering-bill-hines

 

Al Malachowski

BCA #8965

"500 Miles West of Flint"

Edited by 1953mack (see edit history)
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