>>Hi Steve, The guy with the belts knows a lot about Buick seatbelts, in fact, he is the same guy who sold me the deluxe sandalwood seatbelts. I'm going to ask him a few more questions about the belts before deciding whether to buy them or not - I would hate to pay $250 only to find out I cannot dye the belts sandalwood and have to replace them.
Chris, See what info. you can get. I e-mailed the company Mike Trom used. Looking to see if they have any factory reference material/blueprints. I'd send them a set of spares & hardware I have & have them make a rear set. Their site states no phone support. I think the only dimension we need is the length of the upper shoulder strap, from mounting plate to the end. The buckle assembles easily. Male end short belts are easy to get.
Hi Steve, The guy just got back to me again - he has a friend with a set of the rear shoulder belts in gold so he is going to see if he can trade a black set for the gold which I would then buy as it would be easier to dye to sandalwood. I also had him examine the factory photo you supplied - here is what he said: "The pics look accurate and I have all the hardware you see pictured with the exception of the anchor plates. You don't see the anchor plate when installed and you can use heavy duty nuts and large washer or a small metal plate."
>>That is good news Steve. The guy will be emailing me a pic of the belt set up when he gets it so I'll post it here as well and will then also post his info in case anyone else is looking for a rear shoulder belt set up.
Re: rear shoulder belts just got my new rear package shelf and i see that the old one looks to have had cutouts for the belts to mount through and the new one does not i will be keepeing the old one for future reference as this rear shoulder belt idea is a must for my kids in the back. do the belt kits have the trim that covers the brackets or do they just sit out exposed on top of the package shelf, maybe i missed this are their kits available oj just junkyard finds?
The drawing is from a Fisher Body Manual, as published for '71. The rear shelf mounting plates appear to have the same plastic/vinyl trim as the front seat shoulder straps. Without having seen one in person, this is pure speculation. Hopefully I can resolve it & possibly re-create a set-up for my '71 this year.
SOUNDS LIKE IF WE GET THIS FIGURED OUT AND A GOOD KIT PUT TOGETHER LOTS OF US WOULD LIKE THESE get someone at ta y1 or opgi to get involved and mass produce these in all colors or atleast a black and a white (dyeable)version if some one has original plastic pieces i remember someone on here offering to repop smaller plastic pieces if he had a sample to start with
If these were an option,and not many installed someone,somewhere is hoarding all of em' on a shelf and someday retire from the sales!:dollar:
Charlie, Not sure how many would buy the rear set-up. Add-on a neat option maybe. Add it to a stock resto, maybe/maybe not. Mine is a numbers matching car but I drive it often. I look for options like this to add. Everyone has their own direction. Mine is one of none ever built. :Brow: Key item right now is to get the reference material together. Blueprints/drawings that factory contractor may have used to produce them. Field measurements from an existing set-up will also help.
I think that guys here with small kids might be interested in the rear shoulder belts. My son loves my Skylark and I'm really looking forward to getting a car seat securely installed in the car so he can come with me to cruise nights.
Chris, I'd be willing to look at getting some sets made, but I'd need a bit of help. Interested? We would need an original set to copy or a set of factory drawings. You mentioned a fellow with a black set for sale? Speculation only: I think the rear attachment point on the belt is the same as the front shoulder belt. This includes the plastic trim cover. The rear shelf bracket that's installed under the package tray will be easy to reproduce. Flat plate with a given radius on the corners, 2-drilled & tapped holes. Buckle hardware is available now, or at least seems to be plenty of OEM parts available. Strap fabric is available thru seatbelt suppliers/restoration shops. No idea where a budget would land. Too early to tell. A number of members here already reproduce steel parts/brackets for our cars, this is telling me some/most of the tooling is already in place, in house. I sent an e-mail to the supplier listed here earlier but no response to date. My question was about reference material to reproduce these with.
Hi Steve, Sounds good. I'm currently waiting on the guy to get back to me as he was going to trade his black set for a gold set which would be easier to dye sandalwood. I know that a guy in the Long Island Buick club has a 1971 Riviera with the rear shoulder belt option - I'll give him a call to see if he could email me a pic or at least describe everything to me. The riv and Skylark may be different with the rear shoulder belts but I'm not sure.
>>That is interesting - wonder if it might be the same belt - though I think that the guy with the Buick set said the shoulder belt was adjustable.
Re: rear shoulder belts After seeing some car seats strapped in with only the lap belts, I'm considering passing on the shoulder belts from the guy I am in touch with but will post all his info here if anyone else is interested in purchasing a set of the rear shoulder belts. His name is Joe Orrechia from CA and he specializes in Buick seat belts. He is a very reputable guy and I've bought a number of items from him in the past. His email is: Joe Orecchia: Gmgold70@aol.com
Re: rear shoulder belts I think that I will make my own set of rear shoulder belts like Steve was thinking. I just scored a complete sandalwood set of seat belts so I will use the front shoulder belts for the rear - I checked inside the trunk and it looks like the mounting bolts from the shoulder belts will line up nicely with the holes in the trunk. The set of belts I got are even dated 1971 like my car - the sandalwood set in my car now are dated 1970. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140310409174
Re: rear shoulder belts Don't think the Mustang belt will work. Anchor plate will have two holes vs. one in the picture. Made contact with Joe O. on the sets he has. He is indicating both the shoulder & lap straps are longer than the front set-up. Without dimensions from an existing set I can't confirm. I also sent a request to GM Canada, a gent there verified a local Stage 1 convertible for me a few years ago. Car still away for another few weeks or I could try a mock-up using spare parts. I'll find a way to reproduce at least one set over the Summer.
