Kid seats and vintage cars (safety)

I am at a loss on what to do now that my 4 year old is in a booster seat. With the old seat, I was able to use the lap belt and install some anchors. But booster seats dont have the straps for anchors to clip into. that leaves us with only the lap belt. That scares me in a crash. Any ideas, suggestions, pictures of your set up? Please help, need to get done for our 2 hour trip to Torque Fest!!!

 

I've bee rollin a booster seat with a lap belt for years. My son is now 7. I've never worried about it, but I am a little extra cautious when driving. I got a 4000lb car. I know you can pick up an aftermarket shoulder strap if you are really concerned.

Good luck!

 

what he said. but I pretty much drive on back roads taking my kid to school every day. you can buy 3 point retractable ones from juliano's, but that's not an option for my car as there's nowhere to put the top anchor point.

 

you should see what my kids lived thru, a cloth seat with two aluminum hoops that hooked over the car seat.
nothing wrong with safety but old cars are made of steel not plastic and are driven like old cars. 71 years I've never been involved in an accident, so I might be biased.

 

A lap belt is all I have I the galaxie for my two kids. My wife and I were nervous about it to so we took the car to a highway patrol station and had one of there child restraint experts come out and look at it. It's an aftermarket system and I should him how it was anchored and he said it was plenty strong and as long as it was properly tightened on the child it's safe.


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Don't crash?

 

I installed a four point seat belt from WESCOPERFORMANCE. They have two shoulder straps and they come with chrome airplane style buckles that don't look out of place in old cars.

 

I went to the hardware store and got big steel metal loop hooks with big washers, drilled two holes in the floor and used the big washers and some lock nuts. Cranked down my daughters seat as tight as I could using the hook strap that came with the seat. I couldn't budge it at all once I tightened it down. I used my full body weight in the seat to hunker it down.

 

Great question, as I have two young ones and have no idea about installing seat belts for them or myself at this point. This reminds me of a picture I saw of my wife in her fathers police car in the eighties. Didn't have a car seat so he made one from a styrofoam cooler and put the seat belt over her...

 

If you want to go old school let the kid sit on your knee, "drive" the steering wheel and make motor noises with his mouth. In those days kids weren't too good to go through the windshield with the rest of the family.

Ha ha ha just kidding.

 

I had lap belts up front and one in the middle of the back seat which held the car seat for my son in my '35 Slantback.
Worked well and I sure felt better.

 

to actually answer your real question... your best option is to get a seat that will fit your child that has a harness. there are some that go up to 90lbs. recaro makes one. anchor it with anchors or the lap belt and you are done.

 

If it's for the car in your avatar, a well made child seat should work. As a hotrodder, i'm sure if you sit down and think about it long enough, you'll figure it out.

Also, you don't have the capabilities to actually crash test it, so in the end, you're going by gut instinct anyway. Find the best seat you can and figure out a way to strap it in. And slow down.

 

I ended up buying a 4 point racing harness. Its pretty cool. Looks like I can secure it pretty good to the car and just have the top straps coming over the top of the back seat and the bottom ones from under it. Should wprk well. But just in case it dont, i bought an airplane type one. Wish me luck.

 

Kids rode in cars for 70 years, without ANYTHING!
I remember climbing from the station wagon rear cargo area, to the back seat, to the front seat, all the time.
Today's obsession with safety is a bit overdone.

 

I was going to suggest that you find a 4 point harness. You can bolt the shoulder straps to the package tray and hook the belt to the floor.

Regular harnesses may be too wide, but the ones they sell for Junior dragster are only 2" wide, I think, and not too pricey. Not sure you would need the anti-submarine crotch belt, but its there if you can attach it.



There's also a 4-point harness that you could get from Wesco that looks more stock and comes in a variety of colors. The chrome lift handle matches the vintage of the car, too.

http://wescoperformance.stores.yahoo.net/4-pt-seatbelt-lift-help.html

Use some reinforcement thru any sheet metal.

I'm not convinced that the child seats are any more effective than just a properly fitted seat belt, but either way, I'm not letting my grandkids ride without belts.

 

You can't be serious? Nothing is more valuble to me than my child. Of course I'm going to look for the best safety belt option and install them. With all do respect, I dont think I'm overdoing it by trying to keep my kid strapped in during an accident. Not for nothing, but I wont be speeding or anything, but accidents do happen. ACCIDENT being the key word. I bet there are a lot of parents that wish they had strapped their child in. That wont be me of I can help it.

 

i have to agree with mustang six, i would use the 4 point harness, ebay has them if you search dragster. mount it to floor and package shelf. im sure you could go behind seat to mount top belt mount. i have a new grandson and been thinking about this myself lately.

 

I see your climbing around the station wagon and raise you sitting on the tailgate of the 1959 Edsel Villager Station Wagon with our feet dangling behind on our way back from the beach so we didn't get sand in the car.

 

I did all the same things when I was a kid.. Never was belted in and I lived through it.

BUT..... It is with no doubt that I say that my oldest son would not be with us today if it wasn't for a child safety seat. That's all I'm going to say about it.

 

All of us greybeards grew up without being buckled in,,that was then and people just didn't know what is known today,,do everything in your power to protect your children. HRP

 

I've been in accidents without safety belts and with . I do not intend to be "without" again nor anyone in any of my vehicles .

 

No one has suggested duct tape yet? Seriously, take a look at what is securing YOU in the vehicle and use that as a guide.