I Installed Seatbelts In My Desoto

[hullinger]

 

 

 

 

 

[BuicksBuicks]

My wife and adult daughter are terrified to ride in my '37 Buick 4-dr. since it has no seat belts. Although I'd like to install belts I would rather include shoulder belts also.  It's not a pristine show car but a driver with typical wear and age. I would like to hear the general consensus on seat and shoulder belts.  Anchoring a shoulder belt would not be a simple task in this car and is what's holding me back.

[mike6024]

That's the way the lap belts are installed in my Dad's '64 Dodge Pickup, holes in the floor and big fender washers. Now I am thinking those never were factory installed; maybe put in at the dealership.

[john2dameron]

Shoulder belts were required in 1968 except for convertibles and I thought lap belts were required as early as 1963.  My '63 Ford came with them and I thought they were standard. 

 

[SC38dls]

I got new surplus Humvee shoulder belts for under $40 for a two belt setup.  That included all kinds of mounting hardware. It took some work but got them installed in my 38 Studebaker 4 door. Hopefully the pic shows them well enough. 

[Lebowski]

4 hours ago, BuicksBuicks said:

My wife and adult daughter are terrified to ride in my '37 Buick 4-dr. since it has no seat belts.

 

Terrified? LOL. Leave it the way it is and tell them to stay home.... 

Edited July 1, 2017 by Lebowski (see edit history)

[trimacar]

Interesting video.

 

It mentions that Ford introduced safety features in their car line in 1956.  What it doesn't mention is that this promotion hurt sales, as people were questioning Ford about What?  Your cars aren't safe, so you had to add this stuff?  Public acceptance of safety devices was a long time coming.  Even now, a lot of people don't use the seat belts in their cars, the majority of motor car fatalities in our area always seem to have the reported comment that "occupant wasn't wearing seat belt".

 

I remember buying a brand new 1973 Cutlass, and it had a very loud warning buzzer if your seat belt wasn't fastened.  The salesman told me "It's against the law for me to tell you that you can reach under the seat and disconnect the harness, yes, that one right there in front, and the buzzer will stop".......

 

The wisdom and physics of installing belts in cars not designed for them has been discussed in this forum many times.  If it makes you feel better, install them, but realize that there are limitations to performance effectiveness during an accident by the very design of the earlier cars. 

 

My feeling is that the main reason for a driver to wear a seat belt (in an old car installation, not a newer car designed for them) is to keep him/her from sliding around on the seat during an impending or occurring accident, to better maintain control of the car.

[SC38dls]

Trimacar, I agree with you that the seat belts may not be as effective in an old car as they would be in a newer car.  If they help at all in a crash that is a good thing. If I did not have them in the car my wife would probably never ride in it. Some may say that can be a good thing also but I really enjoy it when she does go along with me and feels good about it. 

If you decide to put them in an older car take the time to do it right. Study the possibilities and be sure they are well anchored and not just installed for appearances. Dave S 

[R Walling]

 I have had seat belts in every car that I have owned since 1958.

 

 I wear them in any car that I ride in and demand that the driver also wear his belt.

 I installed shoulder belts in my 38 buick coupe, my 32 ford roadster, my 31 Essex sedan and my 55 ford PU. 

 I even installed hidden roll bars in the Buick and Essex

 

 It's never too late to instal them in your car. (except after you died in an accident)

 

 Ps, the little 3" washers are not enough, use larger 1/8" plates at least 6")

Edited July 2, 2017 by Roger Walling (see edit history)

[Restorer32]

My life was likely saved in 1967 when the small sports car I was driving was hit head on by a much larger car. Ironically I was only wearing the seat belt because in the crowd of sports car guys I hung out with it was considered "cool" to be belted in. Safety was not a consideration whatsoever.

[ckowner]

I installed seat belts in my 1930 DeSoto CK  as well. I made special 1/8" plates (approximately 4"x 6") with the edges slightly curved up to prevent the plates from opening up the floor board like a can opener in the event of a collision. The outer belts were all bolted through the floor boards and frame rails. Although seat belts are not mandatory in British Columbia (Canada) if the car did not come equipped with them, it is mandatory to have children buckled in. Now they can ride with grampa 

[Paul Dobbin]

Hullinger,

I enjoy your films and agree will all commentators, seat belts are a good idea.  I too have them in all our cars.

However, I did notice that at the end of your test ride with the new seat belts, you ran a stop sign!

Still a good film, but I'm glad it didn't end in a crash test.

[hullinger]

On 7/1/2017 at 2:07 PM, john2dameron said:

Shoulder belts were required in 1968 except for convertibles and I thought lap belts were required as early as 1963.  My '63 Ford came with them and I thought they were standard. 

 

I've heard from a friend that early '60's Fords had lap belts as factory equipment.  I didn't know that shoulder belts were mandated in '68.  Good information.

[hullinger]

On 7/2/2017 at 8:47 AM, Roger Walling said:

 I have had seat belts in every car that I have owned since 1958.

 

 I wear them in any car that I ride in and demand that the driver also wear his belt.

 I installed shoulder belts in my 38 buick coupe, my 32 ford roadster, my 31 Essex sedan and my 55 ford PU. 

 I even installed hidden roll bars in the Buick and Essex

 

 It's never too late to instal them in your car. (except after you died in an accident)

 

 Ps, the little 3" washers are not enough, use larger 1/8" plates at least 6")

Roger,

 

I agree about stronger mounting hardware is a good idea.  I've read early crash test results that show washers with their cut edges tend to rip out of the floor board when in a heavy impact.  So now the problem is the seat needs more robust mounting hardware to keep if from ripping out as well. 

[hullinger]

23 hours ago, Paul Dobbin said:

Hullinger,

I enjoy your films and agree will all commentators, seat belts are a good idea.  I too have them in all our cars.

However, I did notice that at the end of your test ride with the new seat belts, you ran a stop sign!

Still a good film, but I'm glad it didn't end in a crash test.

Paul, you're right (and your caught me) in that I rolled right through that stop sign.  I was in my neighborhood and to the left of that stop sign is a dean-end street three homes down.  It's weird that a dead-end street gets the right-of-way.

[ply33]

On 7/1/2017 at 11:07 AM, john2dameron said:

Shoulder belts were required in 1968 except for convertibles and I thought lap belts were required as early as 1963.  My '63 Ford came with them and I thought they were standard. 

 

 

Seat belts were available from the factory on the '63 Plymouth but as my parents wanted three belts on the front bench seat as well as rear seat and they wanted them all to match, so our '63 was ordered without belts and then Dad installed six sets purchased from an auto supply store. If it was possible to order a car without belts then I am sure they weren't mandatory. Anyway, parents installed belts on the '61 in 1961 and enforced wearing them on us kids at that time and I've never really felt safe in a car without wearing belts since then.

 

I am pretty sure that the belts installed on my '33 will not be as effective as I might like (I'll likely be either impaled on the steering column or crushed chest if the wheel doesn't fail) and my passenger will have massive head damage from the steel dash) but it could keep us from being thrown out of the car car which would be an improvement I guess.

[john2dameron]

6 hours ago, hullinger said:

I've heard from a friend that early '60's Fords had lap belts as factory equipment.  I didn't know that shoulder belts were mandated in '68.  Good information.

 The reason I remember shoulder belts were mandated January 1, 1968 is I ordered a new Chrysler 300 convertible in January of 1968 and I was concerned how the belts would be mounted and the salesman could not tell me.  The car arrived without lap belts only and I learned the law did not apply to convertibles.  My first car with lap belts was a '63 Ford convertible with bucket seats.  I liked the fact that the belts kept me in the proper place with no sliding in the seat when I drove fast on crooked roads.   

[Larry Schramm]

Seat belts were required for the front seat positions for 1963.  I think rear seat belts became standard in 1964. 

 

Shoulder belts for front seat passengers became mandatory I believe January 1, 1968.

[Akstraw]

I think the seat belts were still optional in 1965.  I had a 65 Mercury (purchased new in my family) without them, and a 65 Mustang that had them.

 

[billorn]

The 1965 (1964.5) Mustang was the first car with front seat belts as standard equipment. Optional on other models and makes but everyone got with the program shortly thereafter.

[poci1957]

Regarding original seatbelts, it seems I recall that mounting anchor bolts for front seat belts were required to be installed in 1962 and front belts themselves in 1964 as others have said.  I believe the 1968 date for front shoulder belts is correct and some may recall that the shoulder belt was not initially a three point belt but an additional plain belt clipped to the headliner when not in use and using an additional full size buckle.  I am pretty sure my grandmothers 1970 Bonneville had 5 buckles in the front seat, two for each outboard passenger and one for the center lap belt. 

 

Regarding retrofitting belts, I installed lap belts in the front of my 1957 Pontiac and was not happy with the flat washers included with the belts so I looked around and found the mounting plates shown here from a street rod supply house (Julianos) for (I think) $15 a pair.  When installed underneath they look factory-style and make a better installation.  Good luck with yours, Todd C  

Edited July 5, 2017 by poci1957 (see edit history)