Customs Seats and seat belts in your hot rods. What did you use?

New seats and belts from a source or seats and belts from a salvage yard vehicle?

I have race seats and 5 point racing belt in my truck. Neither one is very comfortable to use. If any of you guys have a Studebaker M5 or similar truck I would like to see what you did.

As always thank you.

 

As far as seat belts, I would think purchasing new ones would be the wise decision, they are not expensive and the age & wear on belts salvaged from the junk yard may have been compromised in a accident. HRP

 

Did it both ways,out of fairly new junk cars at first in the 60s,by the 70s got new and new each time now. For hot rods make the seats,for customs redo seats from other cars to fit.
Some older pick-up cabs are small,so seat from a junk jap want-a-be truck or a like can work.

 

I don't have any information for you, just a couple thoughts.
I've been thinking about seat belts a little bit lately for my 1953 Chrysler. I would prefer to have seat and shoulder belts, but they just don't look quite right in an old car. I'm thinking that a quick release would be good so that I can remove and reinstall them easily.

Sent from my VS835 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

rear seat belts from my old cars I know havnt been involved in a big hit,or been used much.

 

If it's going to be going down the drag strip in the future, and it's kind of quick, your choice of belts might be limited to a current (less than two years old) 5 point harness, installed as it's supposed to be, usually involving a roll bar or cage. But for a street only vehicle...you can get race type seats that are comfy, it takes some effort. I have some Hunt low back aluminum race seats in my cars that are pretty comfy because I had good upholstery done on them.

For something that's not race oriented, you will probably want to figure out what the rest of it looks like, and find seats that will fit the look. If we had some good pics of the interior of the truck, we might be able to make more relevant suggestions.

 

Hello,
For everyday use, the 5 point seat belt/shoulder harness style is not conducive to arriving at work with less wrinkles. The daily grind of attaching everything together like Squirrel's belt harness set up would get a little tiring, safe, but tiring. My wife did say that she did not want the 5 point belts in our last 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery back in those early days.

I was influenced by the drag racing set ups for safety and looks, but she was more concerned with being wrinkle free and stylish when she arrived anywhere. She did not mind the daily driving with just lap belts. Not that they are the best, but for the times and for these early hot rods, it would keep us inside of the sedan delivery in extreme conditions.

Jnaki
Very old hot rods obviously did not have seat belts. So the least intrusive belt set up is better than no belt set up, just like in our "newish" daily drivers.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/seat-belts.1118253/#post-13099019

 

WWII bomber seat belts going in the 31. They look pretty rugged.?????

 

Seat belts are dated and have a “expiration date”. A belt from a junk yard has no doubt been exposed to stress and sunlight which weakens the webbing. Look at Crow Seat Belts, they have a competition style quick release belt in 2” wide which is much more comfortable for street use than the normal width.
They also have matching shoulder belts if you are able to provide a secure mounting point.
The belts are made to order so they are “fresh” when you receive them.

 

Crow 2" belts 2 point, no 5 point don't want my head to become a row bar in a roadster.