Rear shoulder belts in a 1970 Charger

[Kern Dog]

It was determined that a 7/16” bolt would work to retain the retractors. I wanted to reinforce the area so I used some square washers…

I cut some off the bottom to get the hole closer to the bottoms of the bracket.

MIG welder…

I added a small plate up above the bolt to reinforce where this tab comes through.

I welded the bolt to the back side so the front side sees it as a mounting stud. From there I just put a washer and a Nylock nut on it.

The retractors will come off next. The brackets will get welded in then the retractors can then be bolted in place. This will be the arrangement for the left side.

Upper left corner is the floor mount using the stock mounting point normally used with a small retractor. Now all the retracting is done in the trunk at bottom of picture. To the right hip will be a fixed section of belt with the receiver.

 

[OneWheelPeel]

Not sure if these have been mentioned, but a vise brake might help with the fab work, they are cheap enough you could modify as need as well.

 

[Kern Dog]

That is an interesting suggestion. That looks useful for small scale jobs like these. Thank you.
I’m probably overthinking this but I decided to reinforce the face where the retractors attach.

The two holes are needed for the 7/16” bolt and the dowel.

If you decide to use belts like these from a LX series car like a Charger or 300, this mount needs to come off.

In stock form, the retractors are mounted on the upper edge of the quarter panel at the C pillar. The belt runs straight up to the swivel bracket as seen in this Picasso level artwork…

I have four brackets made now, a pair for each Charger. I’m using the Jigsaw Charger as the test mule.

 

[Coelacanth]

I have four brackets made now, a pair for each Charger. I’m using the Jigsaw Charger as the test mule.

Do you have some crash-test dummies?

 

[Kern Dog]

I’d donate these to be tested in Camaros and Chevelles. There are plenty of those around.

 

[Coelacanth]

I’d donate these to be tested in Mustangs. There are plenty of those around.

Fixed it for you.

 

[Kern Dog]

The belts are in the “test mule” Jigsaw Charger.

I just put the shoulder belts in the left and right sides and left the stock lap belt in the middle.

Backing up a bit….
The left side was first. I cut the lower right corner to clear the diagonal brace.

I attached the mount to the body with a couple of self tapping screws while I plug welded the holes that were punched in the flanges.

Yeah, the bracket is slightly out of plumb. Welding while laying on my side in the trunk of a car is not an ideal set of working conditions.

The base is plenty wide thought and there is room to pivot the retractor assembly to get it plumb.
Right side….

Plenty of welds to hold the bracket in place. I really hope to never actually test the strength of these.

The retractor is within 1/16” of plumb.

 

[Kern Dog]

The left side was bolted in plumb too.

Just like Ma Mopar could have done.

The other end of the belt just attached to the lower corner anchor point where the stock belt used to attach.

I may have mentioned that a retractor was there. I had it wrong. All the belts in these cars had sliding adjusters, no retractors. The lower bracket in the newer seat belts was smaller than this step in the bolt:

I just took a file to it and took it down a fraction until the bracket could slide up closer to the hex of the bolt.

Boom. Rear shoulder belts for under $100.