Fitting a 3 point seat belt in a 64 Riviera...

[Guest Scotsbass]

Dear Riviera Owners,

I'm just about to take delivery of my first Riviera (64 Original California Black plate) and was wondering if it's possible to mount a three point seat belt, with the shoulder fixing point being just behind the door (kind of where the B pillar would be). Any thoughts? I have a wife who loves the car but is very freaked out by the lap-belt thing.

Thanks in advance (I'm sure there will be plenty more questions to come)

Keith

[Zimm63]

There was an article in the Riview on how to do this a while back. Maybe someone will remember the issue, or its available on the CD.

Join the ROA for access to all kinds of good tech stuff.

Zimm

[CTX-SLPR]

My 70 had factory belts but they were attached all the way back by the C-pillar. I'd be worried about adding something with that kind of load to it just to the roof rail without somesort of additional reinforcement.

[tim63riv]

Keith,

I understand your wife's concerns as it is just a fact that seat belts save lives and shoulder belts are a big part of that. When the manufacturers added shoulder belts in the late 1960's, they strengthened the roof area where the belt attached to the inner roof panel.

If you were to attempt an installation, the placement of the shoulder belt is very important so that it does add protection to the passenger and not cause additional injuries!

In reaity, collector cars are carefully driven and rarely involved in accidents that are life threatening. Have your wife adjust the seat as far back as it goes and then snug up her lap belt. Then get her out on the road for a drive and tell her what other safety features the Riviera does't have, like ABS, OnStar, Traction Control, Air Bags, knee bolsters, Dual Master Cylinder, 4 wheel disc brakes, 4 way safety flashers, 5 MPH impact bumpers, side marker lights, side impact beams and people still got home safely!

Tim

[Guest Scotsbass]

Just to clarify, my thought was to attach the "shoulder" fixing point high on the rear panel just behind the door closure points. So the strap would actually have to rise up slightly over the seat (and the shoulder) - I had this once done in a Chapron bodied Citroen DS21 convertible and it worked well and looked tidy. I've also ordered the archive article that one member wrote on doing it to a Riviera, but am interested in more experienced members' views also.

Thanks for all the input

Keith

[Jim Cannon]

The roof is not strong enough to anchor the shoulder belt. Replace the front seats with ones that have shoulder harness integral with the seat. There are several cars to choose from, depending only on how much $$$ you are willing to spend on them.

Edited August 1, 2009 by Jim_Cannon
expand and fix typos (see edit history)

[RivNut]

Keith,

My '84 Riviera convertible had the shoulder belts attached as per your way of thinking. The retractor was on the floor, and the metal loop was mounted toward the top of the rear panel. The same plastic retainer as is used in the coupes was used on the back of the seat to keep the belt in position. The only drawback to this was ingress/egress from the back seat. Those convertibles were originally built as coupes so there was probably some sort of HD reinforcement welded to the inside of the rear compartment for the bolt to mount into.

I "Googled" 3 point seat belt and came up with big list of vendors. I think this link is something like you're looking for.

Retractable Seat Belts

Ed