Combo lap belt-shoulder belt restoration conundrum

[Henrius]

Apparently there were about 3 years, 1972 included, where the C bodies offered lap belts that could be used alone, or with shoulder belts attached. The shoulder belts were held securely over a peg by a white nylon washer, which aged and cracked with time. Once gone, the shoulder belt just flapped right off and was useless.

I have contacted several seat belt restorers and nobody seems to know what I am talking about. Maybe the more popular A, B and E body Mopars did not offer this option.

It would be nice to continue with the OEM application. but I have hit a brick wall and no one seems to restore these old buckles.

Here is the passenger side of my 1972 Newport. Top photo shows the shoulder belt to the left, next to the male that goes to the lap buckle. Bottom photo shows side view of male lap belt with the peg missing the nylon insert.

 

[Davea Lux]

I would go down to my local Ace hardware store and check out their assortment of nylon bushings. If memory serves me correctly, these were an "off the shelf" nylon bearing. The trick will be finding one that has the correct inner and outer dimensions.

Take your digital caliper or similar measuring device so you know the measurements and hope you get lucky.

Dave

 

[69bfan]

Contact AMS Obsolete in Fairmount, GA. to see if they might have an NOS one on the shelf. They have an amazing assortment of parts and who knows, you might get lucky. The number is 706-337-4606

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

My 72 Bel Air had the same arrangement. Check to see if the GM repro camp has something that might interchange....

 

[Henrius]

I would go down to my local Ace hardware store and check out their assortment of nylon bushings. If memory serves me correctly, these were an "off the shelf" nylon bearing. The trick will be finding one that has the correct inner and outer dimensions.

Take your digital caliper or similar measuring device so you know the measurements and hope you get lucky.

Dave

I doubt it. The original had a channel so it was configured more like a pulley. Plus the peg is a press fit/braze in the hole, and there is no way of getting it off even if I could find an identical nylon insert.

 

[Henrius]

My 72 Bel Air had the same arrangement. Check to see if the GM repro camp has something that might interchange....

Thanks. My 1973 Pinto had a similar detachable should belt system, but not identical. Can't find replacement pieces for it, either! I would be willing to use another make's buckle system as long as the buckle did not have a big "GM" printed on it!

 

[Big_John]

I was giving this some thought last night because I can see this is going to take some creative thinking to come up with a good solution. It's obvious that the plastic was installed when the buckle was assembled. The pin was probably pressed in and swedged over to retain it.

One solution would involve having some plastic bushings made, then splitting the bushings and using epoxy to fasten them in place. There might be enough of a market there to have some made and sell to cover your cost.

Another idea would involve cutting/drilling the pin off the buckle and having a new pin and bushing made. A thin nut on the opposite side to hold in place or it could be swedged like the original.

One more idea, would be to reduce the size of the hole in the other "buckle" by welding it up and reshaping the hole to fit the pin. While this isn't quite as elegant as replacing the pin, it's possibly the easiest way. Grind it up nice and send it out to be rechromed when done.

 

[Zymurgy]

It might not be the look you are going for, but if you wanted to gain the function of the shoulder belt counldn't you find an O-ring to do the job?

It sounds like the nylon insert needs to be improved upon to a more flexible insert that can slip over the post. If you are feeling ambitious have you thought about making your own insert. I did a like research on the samples I have. I feel like this would be a good product for the actual insert. It is flexible enough to fit over the post, but stiff enough to be durable. PMC®-780 DRY Product Information

If you think you might be interested let me know I can give you some tips. There are trial sizes of all their products and this can be done without any addition equipment.

 

[imperialman]

So is there a picture of this bushing itself?

 

[imperialman]

One solution would involve having some plastic bushings made, then splitting the bushings

That is what I would do. I deal with nylon, Delrin every day at work(machine shop). If OP wants to go that route and get me the dimensions, I would be glad to make up a couple of bushing for him . With the bushings split on a band saw, then epoxyed I would think they would look good and serve the purpose.

 

[commando1]

So is there a picture of this bushing itself?

What he said!

 

[Big_John]

That is what I would do. I deal with nylon, Delrin every day at work(machine shop). If OP wants to go that route and get me the dimensions, I would be glad to make up a couple of bushing for him . With the bushings split on a band saw, then epoxyed I would think they would look good and serve the purpose.

^This^

 

[commando1]

THIS is why I get annoyed when people won't post pics cuz "it's too hard".
There's a million readily available nylon roller bushings out there.
Posting a pic so that we know WTH one is talking about can trigger someone's memory for a substitute.

 

[Analog Kid]

This might help

 

[Henrius]

So is there a picture of this bushing itself?

No, drivers and passenger's bushing long gone. Wow, with the stress the bushing takes, plus the heat in a car, doubt a bushing in two parts epoxied together would last long.

I am really surprised with the number of different makes using this system there are not reproductions!

So far, the rubber O-rings seem like the easiest and most practical.

 

[Henrius]

View attachment 189430 This might help

Kid, is this this photo of an unbroken original, or a reproduction? If original, I bet someone didn't use their shoulder harness much!

 

[Davea Lux]

View attachment 189430 This might help

The white bushing looks a lot like a track follower to me. The ridge fits into a grove to keep some assembly from jumping the track.

Dave

 

[Analog Kid]

Kid, is this this photo of an unbroken original, or a reproduction? If original, I bet someone didn't use their shoulder harness much!

Yes...I believe it is original. My guess is that the shoulder belts were rarely used since they were very stiff and crusty when I pulled them down.

 

[Big_John]

No, drivers and passenger's bushing long gone. Wow, with the stress the bushing takes, plus the heat in a car, doubt a bushing in two parts epoxied together would last long.

I am really surprised with the number of different makes using this system there are not reproductions!

So far, the rubber O-rings seem like the easiest and most practical.

So how about this....

Take some #10 solid copper wire with the insulation stripped off and wrap it tightly around the pin. That should build up the diameter enough to make everything work right.

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

The bushing needs to be able to flex - when the clip goes over the bushing, it squeezes the bushing as the narrow part of the clip goes over it and then the bushing and post are in the round area behind the narrow area, and are held in place by that bottleneck. Without the bushing, the metal post is too thin and just allows it to fall out. Therefore, any solutions of using something to build up the post to create the correct thickness has to have a material with long lasting capabilities and some natural flexibility as well to be able to withstand the abuse of being connected each time, plus the pressures of being in use.

Some of the modern heat shrink tubing and sheet products are quite amazing - perhaps there's a heavy duty tube that can be pulled over the post and collar, and then shrunk to fit. I don't know if it's load bearing can stand up too long, but it's worth a try.

Alternatively, some plastic tubing is quite flexible when warmed but has a good memory of its' original shape when cooled - perhaps that's an idea too - heat up some plastic/nylon tubing enough to force it over the post and collar with the hopes it will cool and return to it's original diameter - if not, no worries, just cut it away with a sharp knife.