1937 Buick 40C - adding seat Belts

[Jim_1937_Buick]

Hi

I would like to add seat belts, both to the front and back seats on a 1937 Model 40C.

Any suggestions on how I should do this would be greatly appreciated and are much needed.

Were can I get floor mounted seat belts that would look like they were for a Buick? (Dealer?)

Should I just drill a hole in the floor or should I add some extra metal?

Any reference to articles on this?

I am suppose to receive the car today or tomorrow and my daughter (age 10) does not want o ride in it unless it has seat belt, plus I would feel safer for her if the car did have them.

Thank you for your help and suggestions.

Jim

Placerville, CA

Jim@Seahorses.com

[Matt Harwood]

If you anchor it to the floor, I'd definitely add some steel to reinforce the sheetmetal floors. When I was fabricating race cars and we needed anchor points, we welded some 1/4" plate to the mounting points and drilled through that. But I'm guessing you won't want to weld plates to your floor, so I'd use the plate as a giant washer under the car and bolt through it to distribute the load to a greater surface area. Over-engineer it for peace of mind.

Adding shoulder belts would be an entirely different can of worms, especially with an open car like yours and one that still used some wood in the frame. You may have to settle for lap belts alone in this type of car. Perhaps someone else with some experience in this department will chime in.

You can get new belts from a variety of sources--I'd recommend trying Hemmings first (I think there was a company named, unfortunately, Sssnake-Oyl or something stupid like that, which sold retrofit belts). Also, it isn't like belts wear out, so if you want to use OEM-looking belts, go to a junk yard and find a GM car that has belts in the right color and take all the hardware from there. If you get them from a car from the '60s or early '70s, they will probably be single lap belts with retractors and the cool GM logo on the chrome latch button. That would look pretty good in my opinion.

Hope this helps.

[Jim_1937_Buick]

HI Matt

Thank you for the suggestions.

Would you happen to know were I might find Sssnake-Oyl in the Hemmings Motors News? or a web site?

I looked through the Hemmings magazine and web site but could not find them.

Thanks

Jim

[Matt Harwood]

I just found their ad in the May issue on page 94 of the color section. The company info is:

Ssnake-Oyl

114 North Glenwood, Suite 400

Tyler, TX 75702

800-284-7777

www.ssnake-oyl.com

They're just one source, too. I'm sure there are others. Hope it helps!

[Jim_1937_Buick]

Matt

Thank you very much, I looked for the ad, just missed it, as my wife says I must be getting older.

I have e-mail them a list of what I think I need. Just waiting for a response.

Thanks for your much needed help.

Jim