Brian B

Anybody ever try to swap out the rear two point belts for the later three point belts (with the shoulder belt)? I have a booster seat for my son, but its the type that uses the seat belts from the car and I feel kinda unsafe just putting him back there with the lap belt.

(I'm getting a sinking feeling that I'm looking at a huge job to change the belts)

Anybody have any other suggestions?

Mark

Do a search of the archives. IIRC - there was some discussion on this a while back.

Brian B

Ok, I'll check it out. Thanks!

Mark

try this!

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ear+seat+belts

Chuck Schreiber

Brian,

Been there, tried to do that. It will not work in your 79. The receptacle that holds the retractors on the later cars is larger than the one on our ob's. The 88 to 87 swap will work (I sold the rear belts I bought to a rennlister who did it) but earlier than that, I'm not sure. The provision is there for the C piller, but again, the retractor on the 3 point harness is too big to fit into the whole in the body of the car. Wish I had better news for you.

Just know that there are tons of guys who drive their kids around in the back of old muscle cars and they can't upgrade the rear belts either. Not sure if that made you feel good, but I just keep telling myself that and maybe someday I'll believe it.

Brian B

Thanks, Guys.

I've been making myself nuts trying to figure out how to get the booster seat to work. It was easy when my son was small with his first baby seat. That just strapped in using the lap belt. This new seat needs a shoulder belt, too.

Its frustrating because my son (and wife) want to take the shark out on trips, but I get nervous with nothing but the lap belt on that booster seat. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to leave them home! Like that might happen...sigh

Bill Coleman

Don't know if it will work for you, or if you even want to try it - and it's probably not legal - but...

My '87 doesn't have shoulder belts either, so when my kid's new booster needed more than just a lap belt I got a heavy-duty ratcheting tie-down strap and looped it through the back of the booster and around the seatback. I knew in case of an accident it wasn't going to break and I assumed the seatback was going to hold up.

But now that she's older and doesn't need the booster I really should retrofit the shoulder belts...

gruffalo

You have two options:
1. fit the later retractable ones. With some light violence the retractors will somewhat fit in the holes, mut you have to fabricate an adaptor plate/bracket, since the mounting holes do not match. The fact that the retractors does not go all the way in their holes doesn't matter, since there is room to spare behind the panel.BTDT.
2. get non retractable rear belts. I did that, after deciding against fabricating the mounting brackets (as described above.) I got mine form Hemco in Australia, they were very reasonably priced too. You might have a challenge in getting them to ship internationally, though.

I'm away from home right now (so I'm doing this over my cell phone) but I can e-mail you pictures of my current setup, once I'm back. (Yes, I am driving the shark, and have the whole family w/ luggage with me...)

MM

jpitman2

I went same route as gruffalo, nexessary to pass inspection for an import in Oz. Same belts, just a little untidy without retractors, but functional.
jp 83 Euro S AT 49k

Brian B

Gruff, that would be great if you could e-mail or post some pics of the rear belts. I'm not big on trying to fabricate mounting plates, so non-adjustable might just do the trick!


Thanks!

jpitman2

Brian, What sort of pics do you want? I have the exact same belts. The inner receiver base needed a little bend in it for the socket to stick out the hole in the centre cover, but apart from that, they go in fine.
jp 83 Euro S AT 49k, near the home of Hemco in Oz

Brian B

JP,
Any pics you might have of how you set up the rear belts (where you mounted them, how you did it) would be great. I'm trying to get a handle on how I would do this and how extensive the mods would have to be before I start pulling things apart.

Thanks,
Brian

Gary Knox

Brian,
IF you are interested in pursuing this, I posted the following a day or so ago.
Gary Knox
----------------------------------------
I have two sets of three point rear seat belts taken from low mileage '88 S4's that are for sale. Anyone who needs one, or a pair of these, please contact me (direct is better than private post, as I read e-mail every day, and Rennlist every 2-3 days). We are asking $25 each, or $45 per pair plus shipping. Cheap insurance to protect your child!!!
e-mail is: kittyandgary@verizon.net
Gary Knox
West Chester, PA

jpitman2

Brian, there are some pics here
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/biggle...lbum?.dir=d473
of the belts (at the end), amongst others of my car. Sorry one is a bit fuzzy, but you should see enough to visualize the result. At least the white background doesnt conceal any detail, or dirt. A little untidy, but I dont dwell on it. They didnt do belts in white. Usually Oz delivered cars with 3 point belts came with a wire frame coming out from behind the quarter panel, up near the rear seat back, to keep the belt off the floor, and looking tidy. Not going to pull the leather rear quarters just to fit that!
Gruffs pair were A$132+postage ~=US$100+post, which I forget...How big was the box again , Gruff?
jp 83 Euro S AT 49k.

Gary Knox

Just a quick note that both pairs of 3 pt rear belts have been spoken for. I'm glad they will be used for giving some child(ren) added safety protection. THAT was the primary reason for the very attractive pricing.
Gary Knox and Earl GIllstrom