Anchor point for shoulder belt?

[Milesdodge]

Hi all, despite a quick search I didn’t find info. I’ve recently acquired a ‘67 Coronet 440 and wish to add modern seat belts. My question is, has anybody been able to fit an anchor on the B pillar area or does the rear side window glass/mechanism prevent this?

 

[F4R/T]

You have a hardtop, so it’s pillarless. The only way you could do it is to swap in a modern bucket seat assembly with seat belts built it. But make sure your seat is mounted correctly and doesn’t have seats just mounted in sheet metal. Imo

 

[Milesdodge]

You have a hardtop, so it’s pillarless. The only way you could do it is to swap in a modern bucket seat assembly with seat belts built it. But make sure your seat is mounted correctly and doesn’t have seats just mounted in sheet metal. Imo

Sure, I had a ‘73 Roadrunner that I was able to weld a seat belt anchor into the B pillar which allowed a shoulder belt fixing, was hoping to do the same but not had time to delve into yet to investigate.

 

[493 Mike]

If you add a roll bar it's pretty easy. When I realized how very little metal was attaching the roof to the body I decided I needed a bar.
Mike

 

[Dan64]

I believe that Seatbelt planet or maybe Seatbelts plus has a 3 point conversion. Would require removing the headliner ( to some degree) to access the area that needs to weld to the roof rail. I know they have them for 1964's as i almost bought it , pretty sure they have them for 66-67 .

 

[Milesdodge]

Thanks for the info, was hoping not to disturb the headliner as it’s in good condition and shipping for interior items here to the UK is prohibitive at times, cost wise. Options do look limited though. I guess I’ll take off the interior trim and see what’s possible.

 

[66 Sat]

If you want 3 point fixed belts instead of lap belts then it's easy. I did it myself recently, no welding required. You do have to remove the headliner first - drill a hole larger than the anchor bolt diameter and there's enough room to slide the anchor plate in behind the inner roof structure and then bolt the shoulder attachment bolt in. I siliconed the anchor plate to stop it moving if the bolt is removed (if you removed the bolt once the headliner was back in the plate would drop out of position) , but the silicone is obviously not structural, the integrity of the attachment point is from the bolt/plate. I can post a photo later that shows the exact location to drill the hole. I used a local seatbelt supplier so no shipping costs and compliant with local regulations.

 

[MoparLeo]

Just remember that if you don't reinforce the area down the the subframe/rocker area. It is little more than ornamental. The later cars had the shoulder belt were engineered to be an attachment point and the roof supports were reinforced to comply with US Federal Safety roll over standards. A truly safe attachment area would be, as said before would be to a roll bar. Safety is not always glamorous looking.

 

[66 Sat]

The below picture shows the location point for mine. The anchor plate fits through the convenient hole to the left. I put a few dabs of silicone on the mating face of the anchor plate ( I put the plate in flat side in with the nut side facing the outside of the car), then held it in position with my hand while I bolted the anchor point in. The bolt hole I drilled was about 3/8" I think. Once the silicone goes off you can remove the bolt and the plate won't move. It would only be an issue once the headliner was back in as there would be no way to access the hole.
There is one of the reinforcing hoops that form the roof structure right near where I located the anchor point, so there is decent strength in this area.
I wouldn't worry too much about a properly "engineered" solution. These cars were not designed with crashing in mind anyway and unless it is done holistically when the car is designed (like modern cars), you'd be just guessing anyway.

 

[Milesdodge]

The below picture shows the location point for mine. The anchor plate fits through the convenient hole to the left. I put a few dabs of silicone on the mating face of the anchor plate ( I put the plate in flat side in with the nut side facing the outside of the car), then held it in position with my hand while I bolted the anchor point in. The bolt hole I drilled was about 3/8" I think. Once the silicone goes off you can remove the bolt and the plate won't move. It would only be an issue once the headliner was back in as there would be no way to access the hole.
There is one of the reinforcing hoops that form the roof structure right near where I located the anchor point, so there is decent strength in this area.
I wouldn't worry too much about a properly "engineered" solution. These cars were not designed with crashing in mind anyway and unless it is done holistically when the car is designed (like modern cars), you'd be just guessing anyway.
View attachment 1205991
View attachment 1205992

Interesting solution, but my headliner is good and I know full well that there’s no way of removing a section without losing the lot.
Safety certainly doesn’t come easy with these old wrecks

 

[Joseph Giamanco]

If you want 3 point fixed belts instead of lap belts then it's easy. I did it myself recently, no welding required. You do have to remove the headliner first - drill a hole larger than the anchor bolt diameter and there's enough room to slide the anchor plate in behind the inner roof structure and then bolt the shoulder attachment bolt in. I siliconed the anchor plate to stop it moving if the bolt is removed (if you removed the bolt once the headliner was back in the plate would drop out of position) , but the silicone is obviously not structural, the integrity of the attachment point is from the bolt/plate. I can post a photo later that shows the exact location to drill the hole. I used a local seatbelt supplier so no shipping costs and compliant with local regulations.

can you provide pics?

 

[66 Sat]

The only photos I have are in post 9 sorry.