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Seat Belts for 1953 Super


WillBilly53

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I've been looking around at all the different places that offer retrofit seat belts and would like ya'll's advice on what to get. Since the '53 is pillar-less it seems the option of a 3 point system will not work so I'll be getting the 2 point lap style. My main question is: Are retractable type lap belts safer than the non-retractable type or is it just for convenience to "move around - fiddlin' with the radio, etc." while driving? The price difference is pretty big between the two types and I'm not one to save a buck on safety, but if there really isn't a difference safety wise, my wallet sure would like the less expensive option. Any thoughts?

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I just did this in my '55 a couple of weeks ago. I'll attach a link below in case there's something there that might help. I went with the Julianos, non-retracting. What I found is the below-the-floor points more or less defined themselves based on where the back-up plates would fit. Since I was retrofitting through an existing fairly recent carpet, I cut U-shaped holes in the carpet for the attach points rather than bolting the belts over the top of the carpet.

To locate where to cut the carpet, I located the back-up plate below the floor, drilled a pilot hole for it with a 1/8" drill, took the bit out of the drill motor and pushed the bit up through the hole until I could feel it pushing up on the carpet, and cut about an inch to either side and an inch forward of the drill bit (use the seatbelt end fitting for reference). This located the cuts in the carpet just right.

Under the cutout, I removed a small square of the pad material that is stuck to the metal floor to allow the belt end bracket to attach tight directly to the floor. This worked out really well. If I'd have been doing the whole restoration myself and put the belts in before the carpet, I probably couldn't have done any better with hiding the attach points.

For the lengths, I mocked-up the lengths using pieces of rope and was able to see that I needed to buy the next longer set for the fronts. They look pretty long in these pictures, but that's with the seat fully slid back. Not that I'll ever drive with it moved forwards, but the belts should allow for that.

1955 Buick Special Custom - 04

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