Refurbished Seat Belts-Back In Black

[Riviera63]

For the past several weeks I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of my refurbished original 1963 seat belts. Today was the day they arrived. It was just like Christmas morning. I had sent in 7 1/2 sets of 63 belts. They inspect, disassemble and use the combination of parts that would give me the best set of 4. I was very happy with the job done on the buckles, the hold downs, male ends and the correct tags for my car's build date. There is the joy. I will leave it to you to figure out where the disappointment is. The 2nd to the last picture is of the new belts as compared to the old, faded webs and the last shot is the new belts compared to what is in my car now. To say the least I was crushed after waiting so long.

 

Bill

 

 

Edited June 14, 2023 by Riviera63 (see edit history)

[Turbinator]

My guess is the black dye in the fabric is not as dark as you would like.

EZ fix. Send them back and tell them to dye black. Or dye them yourself.

 

The texture on the seat belt ???? My worn buckles may or may not have the texture.

Turbinator

[Riviera63]

8 minutes ago, Turbinator said:

My guess is the black dye in the fabric is not as dark as you would like.

EZ fix. Send them back and tell them to dye black. Or dye them yourself.

 

The texture on the seat belt ???? My worn buckles may or may not have the texture.

Turbinator

Yes, they are supposed to be black not dark green. They most certainly are going back. Of course they are only open M-T so I will have a wait before I can discuss this with anyone. More wasted time.

 

The texture on the seat belts is correct for Buick in 1963.

 

Bill

 

 

 

 

[Turbinator]

I figured the color was off. Surprising they would miss an easy thing to do.

Sometimes fixing something that should not need fixing is easier than grinding the supplier. Yeah, I know they are wrong. Seems the agggravation level is not worth the trouble. I sent in my Omega Speedmaster watch for routine clean oil and adjust. The factory repair shop overhauled the watch. The watch was gorgeous, but the overhaul fee was almost 1/2 of what I paid for the watch. I guarantee I’m not fixing any Omega watches or any watch for that matter. I collect OMEGA vintage watches with Swiss made ( ETA) movements. I buy them at the right price…. I think at the right price. The Omega keeps right good time.

Later Gator

The Turbinator

[Riviera63]

 

I knew I had seen that color before.

 

Bill

 

 

[Wayne R]

6 hours ago, Turbinator said:

I figured the color was off. Surprising they would miss an easy thing to do.

Sometimes fixing something that should not need fixing is easier than grinding the supplier. Yeah, I know they are wrong. Seems the agggravation level is not worth the trouble. I sent in my Omega Speedmaster watch for routine clean oil and adjust. The factory repair shop overhauled the watch. The watch was gorgeous, but the overhaul fee was almost 1/2 of what I paid for the watch. I guarantee I’m not fixing any Omega watches or any watch for that matter. I collect OMEGA vintage watches with Swiss made ( ETA) movements. I buy them at the right price…. I think at the right price. The Omega keeps right good time.

Later Gator

The Turbinator

Turbinator   thats unbelievable-- i just sold a speed master pro, will send you a PM

[Wayne R]

Bill, i understand your  feelings,  i would not send those back, they might  do 

something else crazy, dyeing is very easy ,these days to do your self,

i just resently dyed some clothing and i purchased the dye on line, worked really great,

years a go i did the same from dye purchased from chemist ,  but this latest  on line dye

terrific--if you do this ,on the instructions  use a little more salt than what they say .

[RivNut]

If the belts are made of nylon, you’ll have a really difficult time trying to dye them to a consistent color.  Nylon is not porous and will not absorb dye. The smart thing to do is to return them and have new belting installed.

Edited May 13, 2023 by RivNut (see edit history)

[Wayne R]

2 hours ago, RivNut said:

If the belts are made of nylon, you’ll have a really difficult time trying to dye them to a consistent color.  Nylon is not porous and will not absorb dye. The smart thing to do is to return them and have new belting installed.

Hi Ed,  yes you are correct  especially with the older dye packs available, but the modern version

is alot better,and the  2 most critical things to do when dyeing is more salt  used and, requires direct hot

boiling water   to the item being dyed.---regards. 

[Dundee]

Black is black! Bill knows what he ordered and they look like with the job they do they should resolve this for him.

[RivNut]

15 hours ago, Wayne R said:

Hi Ed,  yes you are correct  especially with the older dye packs available, but the modern version

is alot better,and the  2 most critical things to do when dyeing is more salt  used and, requires direct hot

boiling water   to the item being dyed.---regards. 

When I worked for the vinyl repair company, we were never able to properly dye the synthetic “esthers “ poly and her sisters.

[Jim Cannon]

I had the webbing on my seat belts replaced by Snake-Oyl. They send me some sample colors and I chose the best match to the original. (Some of the webbing was not exposed to sun or dirt stains.)

 

When the redone belts showed up here, the webbing was the wrong color. 🤪 Wrong shade of tan/brown/gold. As if the QC person was colorblind. I called them and sent a photo.

 

I sent them back, they redid them all, and sent them back to me. Now Perfect!

 

I lost some time, but other than that, no big deal.

Edited May 13, 2023 by Jim Cannon (see edit history)

[Riviera63]

1 hour ago, Jim Cannon said:

I had the webbing on my seat belts replaced by Snake-Oyl. They send me some sample colors and I chose the best match to the original. (Some of the webbing was not exposed to sun or dirt stains.)

 

When the redone belts showed up here, the webbing was the wrong color. 🤪 Wrong shade of tan/brown/gold. As if the QC person was colorblind. I called them and sent a photo.

 

I sent them back, they redid them all, and sent them back to me. Now Perfect!

 

I lost some time, but other than that, no big deal.

Hi Jim,

 

Thanks for that. I am hoping that they show the same courtesy here. It looks as if the same person is still checking for color correctness. As Ron said, "black is black". I paid an extra premium for them to give me the same webbing as the original belts had. It was not cheap. It was 40% of the cost of having the belts done just for that. They sent me a photo showing the original webbing as compared to the other webbing they use. The top sample in the picture is the original style. No problem with the correct color in those samples. It is a head scratcher that they aren't more observant before assembling and shipping.

 

Bill

 

 

 

 

[Wayne R]

3 hours ago, RivNut said:

When I worked for the vinyl repair company, we were never able to properly dye the synthetic “esthers “ poly and her sisters.

Thanks Ed---you got me thinking , i learnt something today, if any body is interested.

go to google put in , --how to acid dye seat belts--,  Chuck Davis  shows how on a 1963 ford belts, really interesting.

[EmTee]

2 hours ago, Riviera63 said:

It is a head scratcher that they aren't more observant before assembling and shipping.

Management took Inspector 23 aside and had a word with him about his performance...

 

[60FlatTop]

11 hours ago, EmTee said:

Management took Inspector 23 aside and had a word with him about his performance...

Inspector 23 once went to management because he was not able to do the job with what management provided. The inspector learned never to do that again.

 

Who wants to bet the first reply is "The new girl made a mistake."

[Turbinator]

On 5/13/2023 at 5:12 PM, Jim Cannon said:

I sent them back, they redid them all, and sent them back to me. Now Perfect!

Jim, happy it worked out for you. An aside question you might know. Is the seat buckle metal on the 63 Stainless steel? If you don’t know I can find out with a little heat, electric current, and acid. Now now on the OTH hand I should not damage the finish of what I do have. If you know let me know.

turbinator

[Jim Cannon]

11 hours ago, Turbinator said:

Jim, happy it worked out for you. An aside question you might know. Is the seat buckle metal on the 63 Stainless steel? If you don’t know I can find out with a little heat, electric current, and acid. Now now on the OTH hand I should not damage the finish of what I do have. If you know let me know.

turbinator

I don't know.

 

I don't actually have GM belts in my car. I have era-correct accessory Borg-Warner Maji-Buckle belts. They have a different latch mechanism, and are an early version of retractable belts.  Each side has a spring-loaded roller that takes up slack in the belts when they are not in use.

 

[Turbinator]

Thank you. Hope all is well.

Turbinator

[Turbinator]

Test

[Riviera63]

Very happy as the seat belts arrived today. This time black as they were supposed to be. Fronts are in today. Rears are going in on Friday.

 

Bill

 

 

[XframeFX]

44 minutes ago, Riviera63 said:

This time black as they were supposed to be

Gorgeous and simple Lap Belts at that! Also, a glimpse of Bill's restored steering wheel, nice too!

So, seat belts are colour keyed to the carpet? Black carpet a sharp contrast to white upholstery.

 

I've given-up my desire for 1965 Riviera retractable Lap Belts in my '63. Spent way too much for red seat belts from a company in Jupiter FL of which I sent back to be corrected and still only used them in the rear. I washed the webbing of an original back pair for the front, done.

If I ever dive back into this, Snake-Oyl will be my resource. They replied to my request for 1965 Riviera retractable Lap Belts. "No-can-do" but, I appreciate the reply.

 

On 5/15/2023 at 5:44 AM, Jim Cannon said:

I don't actually have GM belts in my car. I have era-correct accessory Borg-Warner Maji-Buckle belts. They have a different latch mechanism, and are an early version of retractable belts.

Again, I have moved on from seat belts but, do you have pictures of what you have Jim?

 

 

Edited June 14, 2023 by XframeFX (see edit history)

[Riviera63]

5 hours ago, XframeFX said:

I've given-up my desire for 1965 Riviera retractable Lap Belts in my '63.

 

Do they need to be retractors like the 65? I had retractors which were reproductions of GM retractors of the era on the seat belts I just took out. I did find a pair of retractors that are what I believe to be correct Buick/GM retractors for 1963. Early on I got tired of the belt flopping out of the car and even sometimes chipping paint. 

 

Bill

 

 

[RivNut]

The Corvette supply houses have this pen style retractor available from the aftermarket.

[XframeFX]

17 minutes ago, Riviera63 said:

Do they need to be retractors like the 65?

Bill, my theme is original as to the best of 1st Gen. Rivieras as GM offered, not specifically to 1963. Reason why I consider a future ST400 Switch-Pitch to be original.

I find those 1965 retractor Lap Belts the best of 1963-65. Retractors not necessarily my goal.

I have aftermarket web mounted retractors I should install. My original Lap belts from a parts car are black, my interior is red.

[Jim Cannon]

6 hours ago, XframeFX said:

 

Again, I have moved on from seat belts but, do you have pictures of what you have Jim?

 

I have attached pictures of the belts, buckles, retractors, etc. from before they were restored. They are dirty and frayed, so they don't look so good. I never took any pictures of the final product (but they look great!). The retractor installs on the belt that is next to the door. It keeps the end from falling out the door. The other end has an automatic spooler that takes up excess webbing coming off of the adjustable buckle. Kind of clunky, but it works.

 

You can occasionally find Maji-buckle sets on eBay. I have seen black and green. 

 

[XframeFX]

8 minutes ago, Jim Cannon said:

The retractor installs on the belt that is next to the door.

OK, TXs.

So, the Tang is on the retractor and the Latch is inboard below the Console?

[Riviera63]

17 minutes ago, XframeFX said:

Bill, my theme is original as to the best of 1st Gen. Rivieras as GM offered, not specifically to 1963. Reason why I consider a future ST400 Switch-Pitch to be original.

I find those 1965 retractor Lap Belts the best of 1963-65. Retractors not necessarily my goal.

I have aftermarket web mounted retractors I should install. My original Lap belts from a parts car are black, my interior is red.

Gotcha.

[Riviera63]

21 minutes ago, RivNut said:

The Corvette supply houses have this pen style retractor available from the aftermarket.

 

That is where I got the ones I just removed. They look like the picture I have attached. The ones I just installed were with an original set of 63 belts. 

 

Bill

 

 

[Jim Cannon]

12 hours ago, XframeFX said:

OK, TXs.

So, the Tang is on the retractor and the Latch is inboard below the Console?

yes. 

 

[atencioee]

Where do you all send in your belts for refurbishment? Any recommended places that do great work?

[Riviera63]

44 minutes ago, atencioee said:

Where do you all send in your belts for refurbishment? Any recommended places that do great work?

Ssnake-Oyl Products is where I sent mine and that is the only place I am aware of that does this.

 

Bill

[NC1968Riviera]

On 7/10/2023 at 2:01 PM, Riviera63 said:

Ssnake-Oyl Products is where I sent mine and that is the only place I am aware of that does this.

 

Bill

Ssnake Oyl Products (ssnake-oyl.com)