Seat belt question

[Klayfish]

I'm a far way off from either of my Spiders being drivable, but as I was looking through my car(s), a question dawned on me.

In the car that has its' interior complete, I noticed it only has lap belts. I'm a huge "safety first" guy with belts. I won't leave my driveway without a 3 point belt on. Heck, I work in the auto insurance claims business, I've seen waaaay too many nasty results of no seat belts. I know...these cars aren't bank vaults when it comes to crash safety anyway, but a proper belt certainly helps. In the years 4BC (before children) to 1AD (after delivery) I used to have a FFR Shelby Cobra 427 replica. They're incredibly tough, there were stories of them rolling on the racetrack, then being put back on their wheels and still be drivable. But they can't overcome the laws of physics. Small car, no roof, light weight, sharing the road with SUVs. Even with that said, the majority of people who got seriously hurt or killed in them weren't properly belted in.

Has anyone put in 3 point belts in their cars, or a 4/5 point safety harness? Is it something easy to do? If I ever get one of these cars drivable, or buy one already in driving condition, I'd want to be fully belted in.

[wikkid]

You can buy nice aftermarket belts assemblies, but you would have to affix the system to the car, probably in a similar way that the newer cars have done. No idea if the older cars have steel where and how it would be needed, though.

[azruss]

if you're doing dual shoulder belts, you better plan on a roll bar.

[Klayfish]

If I can find a reasonable way to put a traditional 3 point lap/shoulder belt in somehow, that would be great. If not, I guess I'd have to look into mounting a roll bar for a harness.

[Red76]

Ok, don't laugh too hard. I had the same thought, this is my TEMPORARY fix to the lap belt problem. I know I need to refine it a bit and clean it up some. All I needed was an S-10 to donate the belts, a few pieces of plate steel, some hardened rod and a welder.

http://s613.photobucket.com/albums/tt21 ... 134632.jpg

http://s613.photobucket.com/albums/tt21 ... 134654.jpg

[81SPIDERMATT]

huh?? what did you attach the end of the shoulder strap to

[Red76]

Will post more pics tomorrow but its mounted to the floor just like the stock belts.

[Klayfish]

Definitely take more pics if you can. I'd like to take a look at what the different options are for getting this done, and making sure it's safe.

[FMO]

Hi!

I have done it almost the same way
look at the pictures
http://home.online.no/~ellholt/fiat124s ... =&pExPic=0;


regards
fmo

[Red76]

That is almost exactly how I did mine

[azruss]

I have a lot of questions about the whole seat belt issue. the purpose of the shoulder harness is to keep your nose out of the dashboard in a front end wreck and that is a good thing. with the belt attached to the floor, it would put a huge downforce on your shoulder leaving your shoulder and back in serious peril. personally, i would rather deal with a busted nose than a busted shoulder blade. This is the reason the shoulder belts are fastened to the door piller. To get more complicated, the hinge on the seat back is fragile and the chance of that seat back coming loose in a big hit is quite high. now you are strapped with the seat back and getting hammered with it. Last, if the car ever gets upside down, the shoulder harness will keep you upright and i dont even want to think about the consequences. If you are doing a shoulder harness, secure it to something high and install a roll bar.
I'm still trying to decide if a simple lap belt isnt the best in a spider with no roll bar.
Only been in one serious wreck with my spider and it had the old-style "u-shaped" belt clip. kept me firmly planted in the seat while the perpetrator was removing the rear quarter of the car. was even able to drive after we separated so avoid hitting a couple of other cars.
would be interested in other's take on this dilemma.

[Exit98]

Azruss & Klayfish,

I've been pondering this problem too with my 76. My year came from the factory with just seat belts. Not sure when they went to shoulder belts (78?).

I've now seen a few with an aftermarket three point mounted to the floor. And here is one I found on the internet:

http://www.discountbodyparts.com/catalo ... g%20Sensor

At first I was feeling that the floor mount was better than not having a shoulder belt at all, but the more thinking I did about the potential stress on the shoulder from the downward force in the event of a colision the less inclined I am to go this way, although I know others have.

By the way, the belt offered in the link above is meant to be affixed to the side of the vehicle, according to the book, at at least shoulder level. There's no place on our Spiders to put it. Subsequent Spiders had the shoulder belts anchored to the rear bulkhead and the belt passes through a slots in the seat back. I don't doubt you could retro-fit an eariler Spider with some welding and so forth. Not a good option for me as I have recovered seats in an odd color and would never be able to match up the vinyl material which I'd need to recover the seat once the slits were made.

[dhagood]

the purpose of the shoulder harness is to keep your nose out of the dashboard in a front end wreck and that is a good thing. with the belt attached to the floor, it would put a huge downforce on your shoulder leaving your shoulder and back in serious peril.

this. any hit with the shoulder belt secured to a point lower than your shoulder will compress your left upper torso to an unknown extent. i'd personally worry more about compression fractures to the spine than i would breaking a shoulder blade/collar bone.

also, keeping your face off the steering wheel is more than merely cosmetic (ie, breaking your nose). a very good friend of mine died when his ferrari hit a cement wall. his head hit the steering wheel, breaking his nose and driving pieces of bone into his brain with fatal results. i'm sorry this is a little graphic, but it's a good illustration of the impacts and loads involved.

to me, this is really easy: shoulder belt firmly attached at a point higher than your shoulder. if that requires a roll bar, so be it. having a roll bar in a convertible is high on my list of necessary safety devices in any case, regardless of whether or not a shoulder belt exists or does not exist.

[Red76]

I agree, mounting the shoulder strap higher than your shoulder is best. But untill I get a roll bar in mine I will stick with my current set up. I feel is it better than just a lap belt. Besides, I was getting tired of being pulled over every other day because an officer thought I was wearing no belt at all.
An just no one thinks otherwise, I know the local law enforcement officers are just doing their job. I have no issue with them what so ever.

[Estaban]

I have off and on thought about this with my 850.

Does anyone know were you can get a roll bar for a '71 850 Spider? Preferably with the hard points for a 3 or 4 point seatbelt.