Reviving funky seatbelts... suggestions?

[SunSoaked]

As I near completion of my interior, I'm down to doing something with the seatbelts. I've had great success with recoloring everything using SEM but, I don't know how to approach the seatbelts themselves. They are tan or saddle with the usual grunge embedded in them. Is it feasable to try to restore them or just bite the bullet and buy new (LMC)? Can the fabric be dyed and made soft and flexible again? Dying them black is perfectly fine with me.

[hatzie]

You may be able to clean them. The guy in the video does them in the vehicle. I pull them out to clean em.

If they're too nasty, moldy, or frayed you can get them re-webbed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob0AJvTbR_k

[geezer#99]

I’ve had success using hand cleaner with pumice in it for seat belt cleaning.

[TKCR]

I’ve had pretty good luck cleaning seatbelts. I take them out of truck and pull the belt out of the retractor. You’ll have to clamp the belt, to keep it from retracting back in. I don’t place the retractor in the water, but place the belt in hot water with some type of cleaner. Just use your favorite. I’ve used Simple Green or Dawn. Let them soak for awhile in the soapy hot water. You can mildly scrub the belt, but not too hard, or you’ll make the belts rough. Rinse and hang to dry. On stubborn belts, I used my steam extractor next.
Now if you by new belts, don’t get them from LMC. They don’t come with a retractor casing. So they are pretty ugly. I got mine from the seatbeltstore.com
https://www.seatbeltstore.com/product-p/ju7387ct.htm
Now I only got new belts, because I did a color change on my interior, and I couldn’t find original Charcoal belts. Took about 4 yrs of searching, but I finally have a set. Here’s a pic of the belts I got from the seatbeltstore.com

[SunSoaked]

Thanks for the info.

My bigger question concerns re-coloring them from tan to black. How do you it properly?

If my wife rode in the truck and climbed out with a black streak across her shirt, that would be the end of me. I assume you don't use the SEM aerosol I used on the plastic and vinyl?

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by geezer#99

I’ve had success using hand cleaner with pumice in it for seat belt cleaning.

I'd steer clear of the pumice and the citric acid based cleaners. Pumice will stay in the webbing and beat up the belt. Citric acid is pretty harsh.

Dawn or the purple stuff from WalMart and darn hot water.

[Pontiac1976]

TKCR

Now if you by new belts, don’t get them from LMC. They don’t come with a retractor casing.

Did you try them to see if they fit the buckle (female) of the GM? How close is the stitching to stock belt webbing .

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by Pontiac1976

TKCR
Did you try them to see if they fit the buckle (female) of the GM? How close is the stitching to stock belt webbing .

No I didn’t try to see if they snapped to the female side, because the new seatbelts came with new buckles. They have the GM logo on them. They webbing and the stitching is the same. The only thing that looks different, is the retractor casing. This is the part, that LMC doesn’t have, it is all exposed.

[hatzie]

The stitching may actually be a Federal DOT or NHTSA regulated thing.
Not positive but I'd be willing to bet $1 that it is regulated.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by hatzie

The stitching may actually be a Federal DOT or NHTSA regulated thing.
Not positive but I'd be willing to bet $1 that it is regulated.

They are. And the retractors, have the ELR & maybe even the ALR built in. So they meet all the Safety Regulations.

[Pontiac1976]

You can re belt the factory retractor casing with the new belt. if your retractor casing cover are in good to ok shape.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by Pontiac1976

You can re belt the factory retractor casing with the new belt. if your retractor casing cover are in good to ok shape.

That is true. It’s expensive though. I had no choice, I was doing a color change in my truck, Burgundy to Charcoal. It took 4 yrs, but I finally found a nice set of OEM Charcoal belts. Just need to swap them in, in place of the aftermarket ones.

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by TKCR

That is true. It’s expensive though. I had no choice, I was doing a color change in my truck, Burgundy to Charcoal. It took 4 yrs, but I finally found a nice set of OEM Charcoal belts. Just need to swap them in, in place of the aftermarket ones.

I never looked at the pricing. Is it more $ than buying new pieces?

[Mpiersd]

I've seen the guy on the youtube channel AMMONYC do some pretty good work on belts with hydrogen peroxide.
It might be worth a shot.

[SunSoaked]

Originally Posted by TKCR

That is true. It’s expensive though. I had no choice, I was doing a color change in my truck, Burgundy to Charcoal. It took 4 yrs, but I finally found a nice set of OEM Charcoal belts. Just need to swap them in, in place of the aftermarket ones.

Get them swapped and give me a deal on your aftermarket ones. Win-win?-

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by hatzie

I never looked at the pricing. Is it more $ than buying new pieces?

That SnakeOyls place quoted $1000, they look new when you get them back.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by SunSoaked

Get them swapped and give me a deal on your aftermarket ones. Win-win?-

When I do, I will be selling them. It might not be until winter downtime, before I do them.

[Wgesnerjr]

Re-webbing my original retractors costs me around 450 plus plastic dye for the repaint of the housings. This also included the shop wrapping the buckle side belts with vinyl to try and give them some stiffness since the original plastic was shattered. I often wonder if replacement set would have been better.

[farmall]

I took care of SnakeOyls lawn in Dallas. He ran the business out of his house. The garage door was always open with UPS coming and going. I heard his daughter was running it now out in Tyler. It was mostly Corvettes back then. I did Amos Minters lawn as well. He ran it out of his house as well. It was a car guys heaven.

[calvin78612]

Just received my seat belts today from seatbeltstore.com. Couldn't be happier with their product, love the GM buckles. The covers on the retractors are black on mine because of color choice ( copper ) on some colors they are color matched to the belt. I may just leave mine black so it will have some contrast. If you buy from them you wont be disappointed.

[SunSoaked]

Originally Posted by calvin78612

Just received my seat belts today from seatbeltstore.com. Couldn't be happier with their product, love the GM buckles. The covers on the retractors are black on mine because of color choice ( copper ) on some colors they are color matched to the belt. I may just leave mine black so it will have some contrast. If you buy from them you wont be disappointed.

Pic, pics please!!!

[JHILDE]

Originally Posted by farmall

I took care of SnakeOyls lawn in Dallas. He ran the business out of his house. The garage door was always open with UPS coming and going. I heard his daughter was running it now out in Tyler. It was mostly Corvettes back then. I did Amos Minters lawn as well. He ran it out of his house as well. It was a car guys heaven.

Info about the daughter? I'm just north of Tyler and my belts are in desperate need of help.

[byeoficr]

I would use RIT fabric dye. I dyed my carpet with it and it came out great. Just be sure to follow directions and rinse thoroughly.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by JHILDE

Info about the daughter? I'm just north of Tyler and my belts are in desperate need of help.

https://www.ssnake-oyl.com/mm5/merch...tegory_Code=RS

[ShortHaul]

I figure this is related, so rather than start a new thread I'll ask the question here:
Anybody know where I can buy these plastic retractor covers? For a '75 Cheyenne.

Untitled by awesome_adawson, on Flickr

Mine are chalky and crumbling... I reckon they're beyond restoring, if I pull them off I bet they'll turn into dust! The only ones I have seen are for the 3 point belts...