The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors Seatbelts

I put retractable seatbelts from Julianos in my 55 3200 on weekend. Used Cletis's article and one from Classic Chevy for reference. My teenage son and I put them in a couple of hours. Nice kit - grey matches the inside very well and I got the airplane style metal buckles which are really neat.

Hopefully no one will eat the dash now.

Sweet

I need to do this too. ASAP! Every time I get in I reach for the nonexistent shoulder belt. lol.

Could you post a pic of them in your truck? I was looking at the taupe colored ones from Juliano's, thought they might be a perfect match.

Here's a picture of my GMC with the taupe color belts from Juliano's taupe

Seatbelts were the first thing I did to my truck or I could not take passengers, my kids especially. The installation was easier than I expected.

www.seatbeltsplus.com sells a full kit for installation in my 54 truck and other similar years. Worked great although the weak link is admittedly the connection / gauge of the metal the shoulder strap is bolted into (even with an inner plate). The plate helps spread the stress through the metal but I'm not looking to test the set-up anytime soon.

I have the Juliano's set for a bench seat in my '65 C10.

-W

I will post a pic tonite..mine were light grey but the truck interior is light grey as well. Pretty much a perfect match.

This is a great kit and very well made. Much better quality than the ones I put in my 55 Belair years ago. The reinforcing plates are meaty and not just round washers. The metal buckles are well finished, work well and look great in the truck.

PS - my wife was an insurance underwriter before she stayed home to look after the kids so shoulderbelts are not debatable at our place..LOL

What length did you guys with the lap belts get?

I got the retractable version so length was not an issue.

http://www.seatbeltsplus.com/category/Chevy-Seat-Belts.html

I'm not knocking seatbelts plus, but I'm wondering how thick their mounting hardware (under metal mounts) are compared to Julianos. the Julianos bracket mount and the "L" bracket are VERY heavily constructed compared to what I stuck in my Belair. I was impressed with Julianos,when I had to slightly modify one of the support brackets it took a zipwheel to buzz through it.

Otherwise, the belts look pretty much the same. Mounting hardware comparison:

Juliano's

Seat belts plus

but there is a BIG price difference as well in the mounting hardware that should be considered..

Some installed pics:

Pic of the retractor


Pic of the belts (with lap belt)

Have you seen the How-To on my website? I think for an AD series truck, that should be at least as good as any modern install. I had a really good experience with Julianos.

Hey..you are the Deve from that website? I've been looking at your site for years now - I bookmarked it eons ago! Good to hear from you. You have an excellent resource there - I've been through a lot of it including the OD documentation and heater restoration.

Big thumbs up!

I saw your seatbelt install on Juliano's website. Nice! I will be doing it with my 49 3600.

Yeah, for someone who is still working on their first restoration, I have a really big mouth. Hopefully in the next year, I will actually have a completed truck! Meanwhile, I just added frame riveting, and am working on a tuneup guide originally authored by the infamous Nathan Hall. Thanks!

With all of the vehicles going to scrap yards, why has'nt anyone here used seat belts from a donor vehcle? Just curious.

Not sure I would go with used seat belts for safety reasons. I've thought about this also, but after looking at the frayed edges and general wear, I would suggest a new pair that's dated and approved for the use intended.

Just my thought.

Agreed. Were the seat belts in a car that was in an accident? Were they stressed in that accident? You just don't know the history of them and there definitely is no warranty on them.

A lot of junk yard belts have been cut by the fire dept. to access people in wrecks. I have found all I want at swap meets.

Juliano's is sending me belt swatches next week so I can match the interior.

I put Juliano's three point in my 57 fire truck and the hardest part was figuring out where to drill the shoulder mount hole. I sat in all of my modern vehicles and measured the height of the shoulder pin and where it was comfortable for me and transfered it to the 57. After that it was just drilling 6 holes and bolting it in. To install the backing plate for the shoulder pin I taped a piece of scrap 1/4" metal rod to the backer plate like a big lolly-pop and stuck it up between the two layers of cab panels, installed the bolt and pulled the rod out. The entire install only took about 45 minutes!

I agree with the others...the cost of new is so low (less than $200), why not go new?

Mike B

Hey Mike. I like your suggestion. You should write up something for our tech tips, maybe with a few pics. I'm sure it will help others.

as mentioned, it took a bit of time to figure out where the shoulder mount hole went on the 55, I just made it comfortable and across my shoulders as per the Juliano's instructions.

I slipped the backing plate up with a yardstick with the mounting plate held to it with tape.

some pics are out of sync, but a good article

I used Cletis's measurement as a ballpark, it ended up pretty close.

For a TF look at the 1959 accessory install manual on how to.

easier to check the 1957 accessories manual, which is online, but they didn't use shoulder style belts

Bill