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Seat belt resto

IndySatLite

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1966 Satellite, bright red interior, belts faded, wanna get the right color and restore them. Mine look like a wine color after cleaning. Are they supposed to be a bit of a contrast, or match the color of the seats? Thought about getting RIT, and they had 3 different shades of red, including wine, at the local Michaels. I got the 66 parts catalog out and found the numbers "0464 AR7" listed under the bucket seat section. Also found an ad from buyamericanmusclecar.com with backseat pic included. The first pic is my belt, my seat color, and the ad from that website. Is that close or we both have bleached out belts? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

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1966-Plymouth-Satellite-backseat.jpg
 
I attempted the 'RIT' route on a set of black seatbelts (they looked green after cleaning). Never got them totally black, and the color would wipe off onto anything lighter in color.

You can do a search of 'seatbelt restoration' and find multiple services. You can also search for 'seatbelt webbing' and locate various sites that sell it in rolls. You do need to read the description (thickness and width), as newer belts are thinner and a bit narrower.

You also need to look at the 'lines' in the belt. Old (your) belts likely have 4 lines in the weave? Late model belt material has more (5 lines?), and they're skinnier, as is the belt itself. 'New' cars have no lines.

I ended up ordering a roll of correct belt material and having a friend (retired Navy 'Parachute Rigger') sew them up.

Good luck!
 
Thanks Dako! I expected more replies, but we can see that didn't happen. So I'm assuming the seat belts aren't porous, allowing the dye to soak into them. I just found a red seat belt color, which is quite dark, in the 1966 Belvedere sales brochure. Other than that, I haven't found anything online concerning the colors. I'm also assuming this webbing is what you're referring to as far as 4-line weave?IMG_3421.JPG Here are the red belts I was talking about; hard to believe that my belts were that dark at one time. I did see a good post under seatbelt restoration asking for opinions, back in early 2014. Seems SEM spray paint may be the easiest way to go, and someone else mentioned Jacquard dye, which they said may be easier to use than RIT. I just need to find out what color they were supposed to be from the get go. IMG_3429.JPG
 
I don’t know much about restoring seat belts. Sometimes you take a chance to see what works. Bill Edwards made a new burgundy set for my ‘68. There are a few recent discussions about different companies and here’s a few links. Good luck with your ‘66.


https://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/threads/seat-belt-restoration.207121/

https://www.ssnake-oyl.com/mm5/merc...de=Ssnake-Oyl&Category_Code=RESTORED_SEAT_CAT
https://www.herbsparts.com/products.php?cat=772
Thanks Haywire,
I'll check them out!
 
John rimmel re did my belts on my challenger and they came out perfect…. He does the date codes and everything
 
I sent an email to Ssnake Oyl Products this past weekend and Mary has been in touch with me. She said the belts normally match the carpet color. I sent her a pic of my carpet, which is different from the seats. She said it looked like "rust" color! I asked her what the color name is, and she said she would send me 4 color swatches of red. Hopefully I will be receiving some clarity soon.
John rimmel re did my belts on my challenger and they came out perfect…. He does the date codes and everything
E64496EB-3A15-4CB4-B158-F6DE8920FD15.jpeg
 
Bill Edwards does my seatbelts. He has original webbing and perfectly matches the thread stitching and will put new date codes on. Real nice guy that is good to work with.
 
Need to be cautious dealing with Bill. He is a nice guy and does (did) nice cost-effective work. But he has had a lot of issues the last 18 mo and may not even be doing this anymore.
 
John rimmel re did my belts on my challenger and they came out perfect…. He does the date codes and everything

Does he have contact information or a website?
 
Jacquard acid dye is made for dying synthetics and nylon. But yeah, the color may be hard to match.
 
I sent an email to Ssnake Oyl Products this past weekend and Mary has been in touch with me. She said the belts normally match the carpet color. I sent her a pic of my carpet, which is different from the seats. She said it looked like "rust" color! I asked her what the color name is, and she said she would send me 4 color swatches of red. Hopefully I will be receiving some clarity soon.
John rimmel re did my belts on my challenger and they came out perfect…. He does the date codes and everything
Jacquard acid dye is made for dying synthetics and nylon. But yeah, the color may be hard to match.
 
Surprisingly got the color swatches today. The first one looks closest to what the belts look like now. None of them are a perfect match for the carpet! If the belt color is supposed to match the carpet, has anybody ever seen carpet in color#1?IMG_3464 (1).JPG
 
I went to a car show at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway yesterday, in conjunction with the SVRA weekend event. There were only three Mopars there, a 1951 restored red Plymouth Suburban, with a modern tan interior, a 1965 Dodge convertible, with light blue(turquoise) belts matching the carpet, and a 71? Dodge Dart with a 340, bench seat, 4 speed, black interior. Unfortunately, none of these owners were present with their cars. I did talk to 3 or 4 other owners with cars in the 65-67 year car range.
Of cars from that era, some had contrasting seat belt colors, while others' belts matched the carpet. I talked to one guy with a '66 GTO, whose seat belts matched his seats. He had Ssnake Oyl restore his belts in the past and said he paid in the thousand dollar range for them. That's way over my head! I just want them to be the right color, because you know some knucklehead will point out the fact that they're not the right color at a show or wherever. I talked to another guy who uses belts from Juliano's. A quick look at their website looks like they have new belts, in many colors, at affordable prices. I looked at Bill Edward's website, allmoparseatbelts.com, and the only belts they show for a 66-7 B-body are black. I'm currently looking at Classic Mopar forums, in association with John Rimel, and it looks like it's going to take some time to find what I'm looking for. I'll post another thread on there if I don't have any luck.
At this point, I just want to know what color they're supposed to be and nobody seems to know that information. Thank you for the links provided so far. :thumbsup:
 
At this point, I just want to know what color they're supposed to be and nobody seems to know that information.

No one will know, because there is a good bit of variation Depending on plant of the build, date and even the shift, all can trigger color or part changes - painted buckles vs chrome, contrast or matching webbing. I wouldn't sweat it a bunch.
 
After 50-60 years your original color won't be the same as it was when it left the factory. Don't expect to find an exact match.
 
After 50-60 years your original color won't be the same as it was when it left the factory. Don't expect to find an exact match.
I don't want the belts to match what they are now, just want them to be what they were originally, if possible. So, if you look at the second pic I originally posted, they would probably be something in between the sets and carpet.
 
Take a seam ripper and cut open the end where the webbing is sewn together around the buckle. Maybe a rear one would fair better. Fair chance it will be less sun-faded. Google up "four-panel 2" webbing. At least i think it's 2".
 
Sharons Web - They're not cheap, but they look nice.
 
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