Seat belt back bench

[JimmyO1242000]

Hi All,
Newbie here. I have an 8 year old that would love to ride along with mom and dad. Though I survived 70's cars beltless in back... mom insists..... prob a good idea.
Anyone added a lap belt, shoulder or even a harness back there?
Who what where and how? Details please!

JimmyO
80' 124/2000
St.L MO

[stuartrubin]

I'm not much of a mechanic, but I did install rear seatbelts into my '75. It was pretty easy. It was also a little nerve-wracking to drill holes into the body of my car! The good part of that, is no one actually sees the holes, so all sloppiness is forgiven.

One tip that was given to me was once the belts are mounted, from the outside wheel well, spray over the hole, carriage washer, and bolt with some black undercoating spray. That keeps moisture / rust out, and also helps things from rattling loose.

The one thing I regret was buying cheap seat belts. I didn't really didn't thing that the quality would matter; it's just a fabric belt and latch, no retractable mechanism, etc. But I found that the latch mechanism was very hard for my kids to open. It felt cheap. And, finally, one of them would regularly get stuck and it would take a lot of work to get it open, which is a safety hazard. Amazon took it as a return some months later. So, I would avoid the dirt-cheap ones!

Good luck.

[njoconnor]

Before drilling holes, carefully check the rear floor pan for factory mounts, as Csaba suggested in the other thread. My 72 actually had (old, useless) belts, making it easy for me to install new replacements (seatbeltplanet was my supplier). This would be lap belts only; I can't think of a good way to install shoulder belts in the rear.

That said, our rear seat/belts are only used as hold down straps for the 4 "G's": Golden Retriever, groceries, golf clubs, and guitars. Grandkids ride in the front, once old enough for forward facing car seats.

Neil