<VV> Shoulder belts

[craig nicol]

Mark, Bob, etal: I did put shoulder belts in my '67 four door using roof
mounted belts from a mid-70s Nova. They were in lots of cars including
Vegas, Monte Carlos and the related bodies from other 2-dr GM cars from that
era. In addition to the blue set I put in the '67, I also acquired red and
black sets for use in my other cars, though they have not been installed. 

 

What I built was a thick welded sheetmetal box/bracket (probably 1/16"-3/32"
thick) to carry the fairly large retractor. The side of this box bolted to
the factory bolt holes in the top rail. The floor retractor and inner buckle
were bolted to the factory locations for the original lap belt.

 

This arrangement provided a fairly attractive and convenient shoulder belt
but carried the following issues: 

 

1) The plastic cover over the retractor didn't reach the headliner, there
was about a 3 / 4" gap.  

 

2) The center line of the belt was about 4" from the rail so if there were a
major collision, the sheet metal mounting box would definitely be deformed.
It was welded well and I don't think it would fail, but it would likely look
like the guy who built it (me) did something wrong in the process. Next time
I do this, I will do it with the headliner removed so I can put a metal
brace from the rear of the retractor diagonally to the roof rail.

 

3) I had the seat relocated 3" to the rear and the retractor rubbed against
the seat when it was all the way back where I needed it. This wouldn't be an
issue with a normal seat location 

 

4) The retractor and belt were about 25 years old and at the end of their
design life.

 

While I would consider doing this for my own car again, I think there are
too many issues to feel comfortable making a bracket or recommending this
modification because of the issues mentioned above. 

 

If the retractor were re-webbed and a diagonal brace installed, they would
be much better; leaving only the gap between the bezel and headliner as a
cosmetic issue.

 

When I get home (I'm on a business trip), I'll post a picture of the
install.