1964 seat belts

[RivNut]

I have the hardware (a couple of pieces need replated) for four sets of Brownline belts with the 64 only buckles.  Any recommendations for someone besides $$nake Oyl who can put new webbing on my hardware?  I’d like to buy bulk webbing and furnish it rather than pay a marked up price to who never it is that does the webbing.

Thanks,

Ed

 

PS - anyone have a Hamill Mills buckle for a 1964 that they’d sell? I lost this half of one set some time ago. 😢 Or trade you 3 Brownline buckles for the one Hamill buckle.

[trimacar]

If you have someone willing to supply material and modify/install webbing, pay their price and move on.

 

I’ve had people ask me to modify seat belts, usually length related.  I tell them no, from a litigation viewpoint.  If one modifies belts, an accident injures person wearing that belt, and there’s ANY question about the belt, a good lawyer is going to come after the person who modified them

 

I’ve researched this, since I’ve had the requests.

 

Seat belts fall under rhe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and for repaired or aftermarket installations of seat belts, Standard 209 of the safety code. Standard 209 “sets forth strength, elongation, webbing width, durability, and other requirements for seat belt assemblies.”  This applies to repair or replacement of original equipment belts, or addition of seatbelts to an older car which did not originally have them.  They both must comply with Standard 209.  There are other sections, most of which apply to new car installation of belts.

 

Chances of being pulled into court?  Slim indeed, but when one looks at the highly litigious society we now live in, not worth the risk.

[1965rivgs]

8 hours ago, RivNut said:

I have the hardware (a couple of pieces need replated) for four sets of Brownline belts with the 64 only buckles.  Any recommendations for someone besides $$nake Oyl who can put new webbing on my hardware?  I’d like to buy bulk webbing and furnish it rather than pay a marked up price to who never it is that does the webbing.

Thanks,

Ed

 

PS - anyone have a Hamill Mills buckle for a 1964 that they’d sell? I lost this half of one set some time ago. 😢 Or trade you 3 Brownline buckles for the one Hamill buckle.

Hi Ed,

  I have several sets of `64 Hammil seat belts that are barely driver quality so I would break the sets up to supply whatever you need. If you post or send a pic of the specific hardware you are in need of I can check my inventory.

  I`m sure the belt material is available in bulk. At UPS we stocked 12 inch diameter rolls of the material and we used it to fabricate trailer door pull straps....but, sorry, I cant recall the source.

Tom Mooney

[Riviera63]

14 hours ago, RivNut said:

I have the hardware (a couple of pieces need replated) for four sets of Brownline belts with the 64 only buckles.  Any recommendations for someone besides $$nake Oyl who can put new webbing on my hardware?  I’d like to buy bulk webbing and furnish it rather than pay a marked up price to who never it is that does the webbing.

Thanks,

Ed

 

PS - anyone have a Hamill Mills buckle for a 1964 that they’d sell? I lost this half of one set some time ago. 😢 Or trade you 3 Brownline buckles for the one Hamill buckle.

 

Ed,

 

You may want to reconsider not going to SSnake-Oyl. I had 4 sets of belts for my 1963 completely refurbished by them last spring. The price they quoted was very reasonable. In fact it was cheaper than what it would have cost me just to have the buckles and anchors rechromed on my own. It included disassembly, rechroming all buckles & anchors, new webbing and of course reassembly. They have an inventory of seat belt parts, labels, stickers etc. in case you should need them. New webbing was included in the refurbished price. Where I paid extra was in having correct date coded labels added and for webbing added exactly as original. They will only do as little or as much as you want them to. If you have only a couple of pieces that need rechroming the cost would be reduced substantially. They may even have pieces in stock that could be purchased more cheaply than to have your pieces rechromed. Another bonus is the fact that these people do this for a living and know all the ins and outs of the process to make sure things are done correctly and up to specs. I found them very easy to work with and even had a couple of conversations with the owner. Customer satisfaction is at the top of their list. 

 

Bill

 

 

Edited February 6 by Riviera63 (see edit history)

[60FlatTop]

3 hours ago, trimacar said:

I’ve had people ask me to modify seat belts, usually length related.  I tell them no, from a litigation viewpoint.  If one modifies belts, an accident injures person wearing that belt, and there’s ANY question about the belt, a good lawyer is going to come after the person who modified them

My grandfather used to call the "Flirting with a rattlesnake". Good example.

[XframeFX]

5 hours ago, trimacar said:

Seat belts fall under rhe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

I had an industrial supply/services place specializing in slings build a cargo net for the back of my SUV at the time to keep items from becoming projectiles during sudden stops. The price varied depending on lbs rating. I was already unsuccessful sourcing seatbelt services prior to that.

So, upon completion of that cargo net, I presented my seatbelts during pick-up. They were fully capable and I almost had them convinced to take it on. After some discussion, NO. Too many unknowns outside their norm. They were concerned with liability.

 

Yes, if there's a source - SSnake-Oyl, pay the $$$, done.

[RivNut]

11 hours ago, 1965rivgs said:

Hi Ed,

  I have several sets of `64 Hammil seat belts that are barely driver quality so I would break the sets up to supply whatever you need. If you post or send a pic of the specific hardware you are in need of I can check my inventory.

  I`m sure the belt material is available in bulk. At UPS we stocked 12 inch diameter rolls of the material and we used it to fabricate trailer door pull straps....but, sorry, I cant recall the source.

Tom Mooney

@1965rivgs 

 

Here are pictures of three of the four pieces I pulled from the car when I started refurbishing it.  As you ca see, I am missing one belt with buckle and anchor

 

here are pictures of the Hamill 1964 Buick tags, the back of the buckle, and two pieces clipped together as a set

I appreciate anything you can do to help.  If you’re in need of any Brownline buckles, I have three extra, no male ends to go with them though.

 

Ed

Edited February 7 by RivNut (see edit history)

[RivNut]

4 hours ago, Riviera63 said:

 

Ed,

 

You may want to reconsider not going to SSnake-Oyl. I had 4 sets of belts for my 1963 completely refurbished by them last spring. The price they quoted was very reasonable. In fact it was cheaper than what it would have cost me just to have the buckles and anchors rechromed on my own. It included disassembly, rechroming all buckles & anchors, new webbing and of course reassembly. They have an inventory of seat belt parts, labels, stickers etc. in case you should need them. New webbing was included in the refurbished price. Where I paid extra was in having correct date coded labels added and for webbing added exactly as original. They will only do as little or as much as you want them to. If you have only a couple of pieces that need rechroming the cost would be reduced substantially. They may even have pieces in stock that could be purchased more cheaply than to have your pieces rechromed. Another bonus is the fact that these people do this for a living and know all the ins and outs of the process to make sure things are done correctly and up to specs. I found them very easy to work with and even had a couple of conversations with the owner. Customer satisfaction is at the top of their list. 

 

Bill

 

 

Thanks,

I have the items boxed and ready to ship to them.  I’m going to go ahead and ship them the four sets that I have and get a quote.  I can then decide to what extravagances I want to go.

 

Thanks for the push..

 

Ed

[Riviera63]

2 hours ago, RivNut said:

Thanks,

I have the items boxed and ready to ship to them.  I’m going to go ahead and ship them the four sets that I have and get a quote.  I can then decide to what extravagances I want to go.

 

Thanks for the push..

 

Ed

Ed, 

 

You are welcome. I am very happy with my belts. I can tell you that for me the correct dated tags were $25 each extra. 8 tags for a complete set of 4 belts. I had them put them only on the front belts as they would not be seen on the rear belts. OEM webbing was an extra $100 per seat belt set for an added $400. Prices might be different a year later.

 

I have attached a picture of the webbing. The top web is the OEM style. The bottom web is the style they would use as part of the refurbishment with no extra charge. Not a lot of difference and there are probably not very many people out there that would not know the difference. 

 

Bill

 

 

[RivNut]

3 minutes ago, Riviera63 said:

Ed, 

 

You are welcome. I am very happy with my belts. I can tell you that for me the correct dated tags were $25 each extra. 8 tags for a complete set of 4 belts. I had them put them only on the front belts as they would not be seen on the rear belts. OEM webbing was an extra $100 per seat belt set for an added $400. Prices might be different a year later.

 

I have attached a picture of the webbing. The top web is the OEM style. The bottom web is the style they would use as part of the refurbishment with no extra charge. Not a lot of difference and there are probably not very many people out there that would not know the difference. 

 

Bill

 

 

Last night I was looking at different sites that sold webbing by the yard. The seven panel webbing was about 1/3 the price of 3 panel (OEM Buick) and 5 panel webbing.  Until last night I didn’t realize there were differences. All said they had the same strength. Why the difference in price?

[Riviera63]

38 minutes ago, RivNut said:

Last night I was looking at different sites that sold webbing by the yard. The seven panel webbing was about 1/3 the price of 3 panel (OEM Buick) and 5 panel webbing.  Until last night I didn’t realize there were differences. All said they had the same strength. Why the difference in price?

Ed,

 

I never asked. I figured it was either original OEM. Which would make it in short supply as it is not being made anymore. Or they were having it reproduced as the original was. Being that there is such a small market for this it would be very expensive to have it reproduced.

 

Bill

[RivNut]

Here’s a link to the site that I was looking at.  I have no idea what their market is, but it must be fairly large.  They offer belts in three different panels and a bunch of colors.  This firm says that the three panel webbing is something they do for Corvettes.  I have webbing from three different sets of 1964 webbing and each of the three sets has 3 panel webbing.  For $5.95 per yard for 7 panels compared to $14.50 per yard for 3 panels, my car will be fine with 7 panels.  Maybe some clubs might judge based on the number of panels in the seat belt webbing, but I do not belong to any of those clubs.  Do any of you BCA members know if BCA judges count panels in the webbing of seat belts?
 

https://www.seatbeltsplus.com/category/Seat-Belt-Webbing.html

Edited February 7 by RivNut (see edit history)

[dr914]

snake oyl is great we have. been using them for years, THEY even had the oft broken retractor covers for the 65 models!

[Wayne R]

Ed , set you a PM incase it helps.----regards.

[1965rivgs]

On 2/6/2024 at 2:24 PM, RivNut said:

@1965rivgs 

 

Here are pictures of three of the four pieces I pulled from the car when I started refurbishing it.  As you ca see, I am missing one belt with buckle and anchor

 

here are pictures of the Hamill 1964 Buick tags, the back of the buckle, and two pieces clipped together as a set

I appreciate anything you can do to help.  If you’re in need of any Brownline buckles, I have three extra, no male ends to go with them though.

 

Ed

Hi Ed,

  Finally got around to checking my seat belt stash. Here are pics of what I have which satisfies your request. As you can see it is barely driver quality as I stated. Looks like the same color as yours?!

  You can have this if you like. Just pm me your shipping address.

  I do have a set of  tan '64 Hamill belts a friend and I will be taking to our annual swap meet next week. We are selling off his inventory. They are the upper end of driver qualty with no corrosion on the hardware, somewhat of a dulled appearance from fine scratches/wear, but are very nice; I'm sure he'd like to see $200 for them. They come with correct original retractors also.

  Tom

[RivNut]

PM sent, 

Thanks,

Ed

[Craig Balzer]

On 2/7/2024 at 1:12 PM, dr914 said:

THEY even had the oft broken retractor covers for the 65 models!

I had SsnakeOyl do the belts for my 65 Riviera Gran Sport.

Better than new but a$ other$ have noted, at a price.

Got new retractor covers, the fancy carriage emblems, labels and new webbing

 

First 3 photos are "BEFOREs"

 

Next couple are as received from Ssanke Oul

[RivNut]

Nice!