How to install seatbelts in my 57?

[yossarian19]

I've got a universal seat belt kit that seems the right length, though it has no instructions.
It appears to me that I can weld mounting tabs on the bench seat frame for the lap belt and somehow thru-bolt the B pillar for the shoulder belt's high mount. Might be tricky to make the B-pillar mount happen without also making it ugly, but should be possible.
Anyone have pics / advice / info to confirm (or a better way to do it?)

[Kim57]

Personally for the lap belts I would go through the floor and use a large plate to distribute the load over a wider area.
Kim

[yossarian19]

I thought about it and still might. The common advice seems to be "go through the floor".
I looked at my Jeep and it has the female buckle bolted to the seat with a 10mm, so I figure, couldn't be *too* bad to do it that way. It looks like common practice for OEMs to attach the female half to the seat - Volvo does it, too...

[Russell Ashley]

This video might give you some ideas.

http://www.bobshotrods.com/howto/3-p...chevy-pick-up/

[yossarian19]

Yep, very helpful. I really wasn't sure what to do with the shoulder belt on the top side. Now I know!
Bought some extension brackets to get the seat belt high enough for the bench seat. In almost-immediate retrospect, I could have made my own and had them in hand both faster & cheaper. Oh well. Still not really used to making my own parts, it's pretty new to me.
Any case, I think I'm sorted out from here and will post pictures of the install.

[yossarian19]

Floor brackets + belts, backed by 1/4" plate & double-stacked anchor washers underneath the cab.

Here's the problem with going into the B pillar on a big window cab...


So, I'm trying to work out a solution. At some point I'll have to fill in that hole with weld & grind it smooth, too.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by yossarian19

....I looked at my Jeep and it has the female buckle bolted to the seat with a 10mm, so I figure, couldn't be *too* bad to do it that way. It looks like common practice for OEMs to attach the female half to the seat - Volvo does it, too...

Yeah, "common practice" on vehicles FIFTY YEARS newer!

I'm not saying you couldn't do it that way but then you've just transferred the potential "load" in a collision to the seat mounting bolts and I'm not sure their strength of connection is the same as a modern Volvo's.

[yossarian19]

Yep, Dan, that's what I came around to.
The seats in a newer car are designed for seat belts. The bench in the '57 would have taken a lot of reinforcement to make it work and I never would have felt really comfortable with it. That alone is worth the extra time / money. Nobody wants to wonder if their seat belts are up to snuff and damn sure nobody wants to find out otherwise

[blue57]

I used a piece of 1/4" plate under the floor and it's welded in. I have the small back window so it wasn't to bad getting the mount in place. As far as the big back window. The set I seen installed the pillar was cut and folded back. The mount was welded in and the flap was worked back into place.

[akdg87]

just found this little gem: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...66111022,d.b2U

[yossarian19]

^ that link is great but doesn't work for a big back window. The "B" pillar on a BBW truck is too thin and has a third rib in the sheet metal.
I'm kicking this one down the road until I have money for a small body saw. I don't want to try and do the surgery with a 4.5" grinder or SawZall.