Projects Bucket Seats with Shoulder Belts

Good morning all. New project for my 1950 Mercury Meteor 2 dr, I like my wife traveling with me but she's freaked at not having shoulder belts or forward locking seats. I don't care to eat my steering wheel either should s**t happen. The rails on my car are only 14" apart, Sebring convertible rails 18 & 1/2, I'm told Chevy pickup extended cab seats lock and tilt and have belts, what have you guys discovered that requires little modification and is an easy install? I'd like power adjustments anyway (outraged purists hold your tongue please). I could spend hours traipsing through wrecking yards or get on with the project by seeking experienced builders and how they tackled the problem. Why re-invent the steering wheel? Thanks.

 

This is an outraged purist forum, and you're asking how to really screw up the looks of the interior of a neat old car. I hope you don't expect helpful answers

 

Have her follow you in the mini-van

 

Vintage looking 3 or 4 point harness





http://ebay.com/itm/351488006220

http://wescoperformance.stores.yahoo.net/crow-offroad-utv-seat-belt.html


Install lover back point, behind the lower cushion of the rear seat, mount the other two on the floor behind seat.
Use pic 4 as guide, use big washers for all mounting points, preferably near something of structural integrity.

If smokey ran belts in most of his cars, you can run them in yours,

Be safe, have fun and pay attention! In all aspect of your life and trip.

Seat belt bolts are the only bolt type that are standardized for cars. They are UNF on all cars, regardless of country and make

 

Actually I was hoping for helpful answers. The car was built by a builder who liked to do things his way. I bought it that way. It has a '76 Mustang dash grafted in very cleverly to the stock dash, a seamless install. Floor autobox shifter from the donor Mustang II and '65 Galaxie buckets. Nice to look at but hardly stock, and as I'm 62 with a bum heart it's gonna stay that way. A lower back and neck operation to repair bad discs also tell me that if I want long-distance comfort traveling to distant car shows I may need something more supportive to rest my ass on. Now I'm hoping to find open-minded builders who don't look down on non-traditional builders/owners. If this is the wrong site, please hold he criticism and point me in the right direction and I'll gladly bid you all adieu. Perhaps I should have explained all this ahead of time but didn't think it was necessary. Thanks.

 

We can usually assume that a new member here doesn't really know the subtle nuances of the HAMB, it's normal, don't worry about it.

But if you pose your question a different way, maybe you could get some helpful suggestions about how to fix the problem you have, and also keep the car kind of traditional looking. Finding modern seats for it may not be the only answer, eh?

 

Post pics of dash

 

use magnifying glass symbol at top left of main page to search 3 point point seat belts, etc. others have done installs that may or may not work for you.

 

Thanks.

 

Seats?


http://www.sportseats4u.co.uk/omp-classic-vintage-bucket-seats/cat_537.html

https://www.google.dk/url?sa=i&sour...xZ6fEJ95i48UbXWEgg&ust=1463682485734886&rct=j

NOT 100% HAMB ers perfect, But should match car

 

I thought you would be the first to post a pic of a cool Chevy 2 with some awesome seats with nice belts :wink:

 

I am not an outraged purist, but highly motivated opinionated purest may describe me well enough.

Here is a solution that may work for you. Your B pillar is substantial enough to handle a 3 point harness, you can buy them new aftermarket for about the same price as a junkyard belt. So we got the belt addressed now for the seat/seats.

by the later '60s Fords and nearly mostly all other n makes had lock back seats. You could possibly find a bench out of a Maverick or a Faremont or possibly buckets from a compact. Most of the head rests in the later '60s and earlier '70s were removable so that would cure the high back seat problem.

or you could just go ultra late model crap and fuck up a perfectly good Meteor.

 

Besides appearance issues, the seats with the integral shoulder belts and seat belts (mounted to the seat frame) have a different mounting structure requirement since the loading (in a wreck) has to be transferred to the floor pan THRU the seat mounting and floor structure. Whereas conventional B pillar shoulder harnesses load the vertical pillar, there is a larger lever loading when force goes thru the seat track. If you are set on using the integral belt seats, make sure the floor pan is properly reinforced..... it wouldn't be fun to have the seat tear loose in a wreck with you strapped in the seat.

 

Just my 2 cents worth...
I have seen Newer Volvo 740 940 (1985 - 1995) series seats used in some rods. I used to part out Volvos (still have RWD volvos for daily drivers) and sold MOST of my seats to guys doing rods (maybe not traditional..) 700 and 900 series seats are flat mount (many modern seats are not). Also they have 3 point belts attached at the bottom seat for anchor and B pillar . Makes easy install. Volvo seats are known for comfort and quality. Most are 6 way power/heated. Rebuild kits (new foam, springs, leather, etc.) are available at dealer reasonably priced.
If you NEED something for a good reason (medical, etc) then I consider it still traditional .
PS Local dealer also owned a Benz franchise. Would have them put new Volvo seats in all his new personal Benz !! They are that comfortable.

 

I heard the recently reincarnated but also short lived GTO (Holden / Aussie built) has great seats. Gary

 

LOL around here they would say on the news that he was wearing his seatbelt.

A few years back a guy in Kansas crashed his motorcycle in a city park, there is no helmet law in Kansas. The guy broke his leg no head injury reported, on the news they stated it was unclear if he was wearing a helmet or not, as if the helmet would have kept him from breaking his leg. LOL

 

Sounds sensible to me. The forces in an accident are quite large, so I do my road cars to the same spec as my track cars. The UK Motorsports Assocation technical regs require reinforcing plates under the floor where the seats mount when using non-factory locations. The plates should be 3mm thick and 40 square cm in area, with no side less than 6cm in length. Bolts should be a minimum of 8mm diameter and grade 8.8 and there should be 4 mounts per seat. The seatbelt regulations require a minimum of M12 grade 8.8 for each mounting point, so if your seats have integral belts then you should bear that in mind.
If the seat mounting points don't line up with something structurally stiff in the floor or frame then I make a subframe to go from the best chassis points to the seat mounts and follow the same rules with reinforcing plates and bolts. If you make a subframe from welded 1" square box with 1/8" wall then it should be strong enough, that way you can put whatever seats you want in.

 

I think shoulder harnesses have their place...

But it is hard to make them look vintage. I just bought lap belts from one of the nicest people ever. Bill Rich at Rich Design http://vintageseatbelts.com/ these are on his site, and he can customize stitching color, webbing color , metal finish, etc,


He also has these on his site, maybe he could rig you up some with a shoulder harness and the SCTA tag.

Personally, I bought 2 inch black belts, tan stitching and Irvin Air Chute tags that clip in and clip out for my car. Like I said great looks and great guy to work with. I hope the information helps Norm.

 

I personally am not a big fan of 3 point harness, not because of looks as much as I know what happens in an accident with them. My wife has suffered from a permanent non operable injury from a 3 point harness.35 mile an hour crash. The Orthopedic Surgeon called it a seat belt injury and says that it is quite common. he also said that if you must run a shoulder belt he would prefer that you run a racing harness and not throw your body into a twist on impact.

But I suppose I shouldn't mention that should I.

 

Beams seat belts has been manufacturing them since 1955 in Oklahoma. I use their "Tri-Lock" seat belt systems in my and customers cars. First Class Product !
Here is a link: http://www.seatbelts.net/products/retractable-lap-belts/

 

What we really need is a lap belt thread with anti-submarine (read that "crotch belt").

 

There is always a safer alternative but personally I'd rather have a shoulder injury than my skull smashed into the dashboard with a lap belt and compared to a $700 race harness that would look even more out of place in most cars IMO I will stick with a 3 point belt.

 

That's horrible, and only 5 MPH? Sorry to hear man.

 

Hard to beat the look of the Galaxie/Thunderbird seats you already have and they're comfortable. Not hard to find (at least for the drivers side) power track assemblies either. Go with a 3-point using the B-pillar as others have said. Noticed you have lap belts, originally the shoulder belt was a separate belt not permanently connected to the lap belt (think late 60's early 70's). I'm not an outraged purist, but I know what I like. If you must then maybe seats from a mid 70's (OT) Ford to go with the dash...?
-Dave
Edit: by 1975 when converters started getting hung in the exhaust system relatively flat floor pans started to disappear. This effected the seat track mounting.

 

like Beaner said, the roof is strong enough to support a belt mounting point. Look around for a belt that attaches to the roof and weld in a mounting lug. Chevelles come to mind, there are others.

 

I'll take a set. Seriously.

 

I always like to start off with an attention getter, looks like it worked too well Fred.

 

x2 what beaner said.

 

Not seat belts, and I forget which year(s), but some 64-66 T-Birds had an optional passenger seat with a "headrest" like section that could be raised and lowered at will. Not sure if it would go high enough, but if it did, it might be worth looking at.

 

Take a look at Julianos tech section on their website, also on their seat belt site. Good info on three point installs. Have three point belts in my 40 and 53. Using the Sebring seats with three point in my 55 Sunliner build.