child safety latch systems retrofit

I was wondering if anyone has installed a "latch" system of car seats in their cars. I have installed rear lap belts already and it seams that the 3 point latch system is a little more secure.



anyone have thoughts?

 

huh?

 

david, must not have any real little ones?

 

I have found that I can get teh belts tighter than the fancy new latch systems and it releases easier to swap cars.

The new shit is for the lowest common denominator person that can't operate a seatbelt. Watched my brother in law take 20 minutes with a belt one time.............

 

I installed a D-ring in the center of the package tray on my '53 Chevy, with a lot of backing underneath so it would not pull in a collision. So the lap belt clamps the child seat down and snug and the D-ring allows you to use that strap at the top/back of the seat to really hold that sucker in place.
That car seat sits more secure in my '53 Chevy than it does in my 1998 Oldsmobile, because the Olds doesn't have any way to attach that top/rear strap.

The latch hooks don't hold the seat any more secure than a lap belt does - it's all about that top strap. Trust me on this.
What kind of car are you putting it in?

 

Same here...the top middle strap is a big help. I installed an anchor salvaged from a junk car in the center of my 64 oldsmobile's package tray. Works great...a lot more secure. And the lap belts (which I had to add too) work just fine on the bottom.

 

Top strap is a great idea in conjuntion with the lapbelt. Thanks.

 

Been wanting to ask about this for my '56 Pontiac......still needs to be rear facing too though.
I can get my daughter's car seat equally secure with a latch or the lapbelt....the leveling is what get's me irritated!
By the way, when mounting a seatbelt, what do I mount the ends to? Doesn't seem to be anything much more substantial than floor sheetmetal by my back seat!

 

Watching this thread with interest as I've got a 3 & a 5 year old and haven't even figured out how to remove the back seats from my chevy to get to the floorpan!!

 

I keep a towel in the car/truck to protect the seat and help get the seat leveled or laid back depending on the vehicle. Kids gotta be comfy! Even got it positioned for the kid to ride in almost a full body cast.

 

A roll of shop rags works great too!

 

I will post some photos later of how and where I mounted seat belt re-enforcements on my 57 Pontiac. I also added the upper strap mounts in the rear package tray for when the boy gets bigger and uses that style seat/booster. Or you can look through my albums, I think there is some shots there or in my build thread.

 

Here you go, shots of my rear seat belt mounts. I had a piece of 2in steel, 1/8th thick that I cut into 2x2 squares, one welded to the inside of the floor pan, one to the outside.

 

Sweet thanks for the pics!! I really feel like I should be over engineering some seat belt attaching points, but that sure looks like it would be sturdy enough.
For leveling front to back, I cut up one of those swimming pool noodles. Works ok. Problem is the buckle to tighten the seat down is on one side so it leans to one side whenn I tighten it down initially. I have to lean it the opposite way first and hope the buckle evens it out!

 

At the fire dept where I work we use the pool noodles to level a rear facing car seat. We usually have to duct tape 3 pieces together in a triangle shape to get enough height. And as others said, correctly installed lap belts work just as well as the latch system. The latch system was intended to make installation easier. Hope this helps.

 

This is a cool thread: dads, kids, old cars, all together.

 

I used these anchor plates under my floorboards...seemed like quality parts at reasonable prices. And shipping was very quick.

http://www.julianos.com/anchor_plate.html

 

Here's what I did:

http://issuu.com/pimag/docs/summer2010issue

Check out page 32

Hope this helps!

 

You definitely need to add reinforcement wherever you bolt the seat belts to the floor pan - and a big washer is not enough! I used flat 1/8 or 3/16 steel square plates like Bryan6902, but just tack-welded them to hold them in place. The plates can't be too big, because if they are too small the sheet metal will just tear around them.

My daughter's 5 1/2 so I don't remember how the rear-facing seats mount, but the blow past those pretty early on if I remember so don't cut up your car too much!

 

Thanks for the idea guys. My build is specifically a family mobile.

 

I ordered a belt from Juliano's, as much as I tighten it, it seems to loosen up....anybody using anything else?

 

I installed old Bomber belts in my 54, it was kind of a pain to get them set up length wise but now it's a cake walk to swap seats.

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