I am trying to sort out which 3 point belts will fit my truck (1966 Chev Short box fleetside) with a minimum of modification/fabrication. I have looked at some Chevy s10, Ford Aerostar etc. at the wrecking yard but they all seem to be too short - requiring a fabricated braket raising the base 3-4 inches off the floor. Am I missing an obvious donor vehicle or are there any other suggestion out there? By the way my budget is junkyard at best (I have seen some expensive sets advertised at "sibling's" site). Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated. As soon as I get these in my wife and son can join me for rides in the truck ...
howziit guy! in the meantime, before you find the 3-point seatbelts, buy some new generic two-point seat belts, at your local FLAPS. that's the FIRST mod i made to THE PINK LADY, for the very same reason. JMO, buy QUALITY 3-point seatbelts. you don't want to trust your family's lives on this junkyard item! the "generic" belts i bought were made by "BELL", a highly-regarded company who specializes in race-car safety equipment.
I have a 66 Stepside and purchased 3 point seat belts from Southern Rods in Greer,SC. They were easy to install and work great. My new bench seat has a smaller seat in the middle, which would work great for a small child. Paul
I purchased a set from Julianos. Their seat belts come with a 2in x 4in plate that mounts under the cab and behind the inner cab wall. I liked having the bigger piece of metal holding me in rather than a 2in flat washer. The retractable belts mounted easily to the floor beside the bench seat. I ran my arm up between the inner and outer cab to hold the mounting plate in place while a friend inserted the bolt and tightened it. Have someone hold the seatbelt upper end in various places to get a good feel for placement, then mark a spot for the bolt hole. Be sure to hold a block of wood between the cabs while someone else drills. This keeps you from drilling clear through both cabs to the outside! These belts come with the large plates for under the cab and a retangular mount that they recommed you weld into place on the car pillar. No pillar, no welding. I ordered an extra set of large plates and bolted the belts through the inner cab, so I have an extra set of mounting plates left over. The passenger side was easy. I had to remove the gas tank to get my arm between the cabs on the drivers side. Be sure to run the tank nearly empty, or you WILL spill gas in the cab, and it's heavier with gas in it. Be careful disconnecting the sending unit. Mine was rust welded and I disconnected something internally when I remove the sending wire. Also a good idea to disconnect the battery. I don't want any stray sparks. The pads under the tank disentegrated upon removal, so I replaced them. Chevy Duty sells them. I went over to a house undre construction and asked for some roofing felt. That worked OK for me. This might be a good time to replace the rubber filler neck and grommet on the gas tank. They aren't much and they may leak fumes when you put the old stuff back in. I bought my truck from a fellow who thought it was a cool looking truck, his kids would love riding in it, and the guys in the hunting club would all be envious. His wife wouldn't let HER kids ride in that thing without seat belts, and besides, it was too ugly to park in HER driveway. He kept it at work. His hunting buddie did think it was a cool truck, but when he drove it to the hunting lodge on a cold wet December it left him there. Some pleasures in life just cost too much.
Sorry for the delay in responding to all. thanks for your input on belts. I have looked at full size vans, and find that all they have around here are newer ones with the verticle retrators, which need to be placed at least 4 inches behind the seat to function properly. That's a no go because the retractors is too wide for the space because of the gas tank. - I guess I will just have to change the tank out to under the bed and get some new belts - time to save some money. I will have a look a Juliano's and Bell's offerings Thanks for all the tips.
