Seat belts

[hxcbill]

I'm looking to install at least a lap belt in the back seat so that I can take my daughter in the Henry j once in a while for ice cream and what not. I've never looked into seat belts before so know very little. Are there a certain type or brand that people like to use in these cars? As of now, I'm thinking just one set of lap belts for the back seat. I have no plans on the front as of yet.

[Henry's HenryJs]

Have not got that far on my HJ however on my 57 Chevy wagon I bought a generic set and made flat plates for under the floor. The plates are 2" square X 3/16 thick with two sides slightly rolled up. I will check my computer later for pictures.

[Aeroman]

I installed front and rear lap belts in Old Toby when my daughter was born. They were generics that I bought at Pep Boys.

[MarkH]

I've been looking at front shoulder & rear lap belts here. http://www.julianos.com/seat_belts.html
Haven't pulled the trigger yet but they're respected by a couple custom builders I've talked to.

[Fid]

I think it would be very difficult to mount a shoulder strap in a Henry J. I have lap belts in mine but I don't remember where I got them.

[Henry's HenryJs]

On the 57 wagon I made a flat plate with a nut welded on it to go inside the door pillar to mount the top belt. The floor anchor plates are like the ones I made.
This page shows the pieces needed for the 3 point belt.
http://www.julianos.com/retract_3point.html

[hxcbill]

Yeah I'm interested in lap belts. Don't think I want to get too involved with installing a shoulder belt setup.

Thanks for the link. I'll have to look through their catalog. Hoping to get this done this spring but I'm also in the middle of redoing a couple othe projects now.

[Gordie]

They used to sell shoulder belt kits but you had to drill a hole in your roof to install them.

[Terry T]

I was a seat and seat belt engineer for 5 years at GM.
I was the guy they came to to solve customer complaints, build problems, government inquires and LAW SUITS!!
I was witness to countless tests: component, air bag, sled crash, complete car crash, and so on.
I cannot go into the details of what can happen with an improperly belted "dummy", but rest assured, it isn't pretty.

That said, with all that I have experienced, I would NEVER EVER considering installing a shoulder belt in any car, other than what came from the OEM.

So, if any of you think that you can get a nondescript shoulder belt assembly, and pick a mounting position and technique thru the process of anal extraction, that would properly save you from mayhem at any speed, then get your resumes to every car manufacturer in the world.
You will be able to save them 10's of millions of dollars in design/test/validation let alone 3 years in development time.

Stick with a lap belt properly mounted and properly worn.

[DTort96646]

Terry, you have a way with words. Anal extraction must be an engineering term used at GM for several different engineering solutions.

[MarkH]

I was a seat and seat belt engineer for 5 years at GM..........
.............So, if any of you think that you can get a nondescript shoulder belt assembly, and pick a mounting position and technique thru the process of anal extraction, that would properly save you from mayhem at any speed, then get your resumes to every car manufacturer in the world.
You will be able to save them 10's of millions of dollars in design/test/validation let alone 3 years in development time.

Stick with a lap belt properly mounted and properly worn.

Surely you're not saying the potential downside of duplicating current geometry with a shoulder belt is worse than the likelyhood a lap belted driver will do a major face plant into a vintage non-collapsing steering wheel/column even at moderate speeds.

[BigDave LM6174]

Classic Industries is where I got my seat belts for both my cars.  They have flip up releases and common button type.  Just search under universal seatbelts.  With their online discounts, your looking at 15-20 bucks for a lap belt.  Kits come with the bolt, and big washers.  You can also get self retracting type.

Classicindustries.com