How To Install A Child's Seat In A Reatta Convertible

[ol' yeller]

I only have one Grandchild, my precious Jadie who is 3 (“ana half”). She has yet to ride in Gramps’ new Reatta convertible due the inability to install a car seat safely in the Reatta. At a Dealership I was able to score the seatbelt to hold the car seat to the seat but the hardware to install it was NLA. With the help of Marck from NCreattas I finally mounted the seat in my car.

<o:p> </o:p>

The first item to procure was a seatbelt tiedown which I got from a Buick buddy from a ’65 Skylark. (The green piece)

Marck was kind to provide me with some seatbelt parts which I had sewn locally to the seatbelt tiedown. I then mounted the assembly behind the bolt that held the seatbelt to the sidechannel. I routed the piece up through the cover and terminated it just past the plastic cover.

I used another seatbelt part supplied by Marck and cut off the seatbelts and used the male metal piece to snap into the inboard seatbelt. One end of the Buick supplied seatbelt snaps onto this piece.

I thought the hard part was going to be the tiedown for the top of the seat but it proved much easier than I thought. My only mistake was trying to route it under the slide channel. When I tightened it all up, I snapped off a piece of the plastic. A little glue should fix this problem and the strap doesn’t need to be in the channel.

With the seat removed all that shows is the maroon strap coming out of the seatbelt retractor assembly. It doesn’t interfere with the operation of the lap/shoulder harness in the least. Now I can safely transport Jadie and any future grandchildren in class with Gramps.

The last pic is of the inboard attachment with the end out of the seatbelt recepticle. I somehow added this and can't get rid of it ...... so enjoy!

Edited October 19, 2012 by ol' yeller (see edit history)

[Guest Mc_Reatta]

Twee ana haff! Too bad she has such a mean Gwanpa who won't take her for a wide in hes shinee car-car.

What dedication! I'm sure it would have been quicker, cheaper and easier just to unbolt the passenger's seat and mount the child seat in its place. Your sure made ole Rube Goldberg proud!

We need a photo of the smiles on both of your faces when she gets that first ride in a Reatta! That'll make all that effort worth it.

Way to go Gramps!

[ol' yeller]

She wasn't that deprived. Gramps still took her to preschool in Big Ol' Brown Betty, my '99 F250 Superduty. Rube would have been proud! As for cheaper, all it cost was $62 total including paying shipping twice because I hadn't changed my address at Paypal.

A smiling picture will be forthcoming but top down weather is fleeting here now in the Great Northwet.

[Guest Corvanti]

very nice!!! :cool:

i've been reflecting today, on my daughter's 22 birthday.

seeing this, i recall the many times i strapped her into her "car seat" and took, or picked her up from her "day care" center. the 1st song i ever heard her sing was accompanying a cd of "Queen": "We will, we will rock you!".

she was close to 3...

thanks for making that "brain synapse" active!

[NCReatta]

Glad you were able to make everything work for you, Greg! So sorry for the confusions with the paypal and shipping stuff. Glad everything worked out in the end!

Looks great!

[ol' yeller]

very nice!!! :cool:

i've been reflecting today, on my daughter's 22 birthday.

seeing this, i recall the many times i strapped her into her "car seat" and took, or picked her up from her "day care" center. the 1st song i ever heard her sing was accompanying a cd of "Queen": "We will, we will rock you!".

she was close to 3...

thanks for making that "brain synapse" active!

I have 2 daughters, 31 and almost 35. Both are married to the most wonderful men. I have been blessed with one amazing Granddaughter who is the absolute apple of her Grampa's eye. At the age of 57, two years ago, I came very close to becoming a memory instead of an influence. A heart attack followed with a heart rupture almost took my life. I have recovered a lot from where I was but I still deal with the damage from this event. Daughters especially need their Dads and that was brought home to me in the most forceful way. Hug your daughters and take care of yourselves. We are important and needed.

[Gary D]

I have 2 daughters' date=' 31 and almost 35. Both are married to the most wonderful men. I have been blessed with one amazing Granddaughter who is the absolute apple of her Grampa's eye. At the age of 57, two years ago, I came very close to becoming a memory instead of an influence. A heart attack followed with a heart rupture almost took my life. I have recovered a lot from where I was but I still deal with the damage from this event. Daughters especially need their Dads and that was brought home to me in the most forceful way. Hug your daughters and take care of yourselves. We are important and needed.[/quote']

Dang, ol'yeller...now I'm getting all misty eyed. My baby girl headed off to college in mid-September. I has hoping for a fair weather "top-down leaf cruise" to see her at college in Monmouth. Unfortunately weather and my emergency abdominal surgery last week have put this on hold.

Nice job on the child seat, gramps!!!

Gary

[Ronnie]

Dang, ol'yeller...now I'm getting all misty eyed. My baby girl headed off to college in mid-September. I has hoping for a fair weather "top-down leaf cruise" to see her at college in Monmouth. Unfortunately weather and my emergency abdominal surgery last week have put this on hold.

Nice job on the child seat, gramps!!!

Gary

I felt the same way when reading ol' yeller's post. It did bring a tear to my eye when I read it. Being about the same age, it made me realize how how short and fragile life really is. It also made me realize that the important things in life can't be replaced, like our family and friends. Thanks ol' yeller for the reminder.