Question on 3 point front seat belts 71 Mach1

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Joined
Jan 13, 2012
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Location
Washington
My Car
1971 Mach1, 351 Cleveland, Ram Air (not factory), C6 Automatic, AM/8 Track, Bright Red.
For Safety reasons I'm considering replacing my front seat lap belts with 3 point seat belts with shoulder harnesses.

1st Question- were those an option for the 71 Mach1?

2nd questions is any particular set recommended and any installation tips would be appreciated.

Thanks guys.

Jim

 
72 and 73's both had the 2 piece belt systems. I thought that the 71 did too, but I can't say for sure. I recently did mine. I used these belts

http://www.ebay.com/itm/360142046772?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

I cut the the rear interior panels for the belts to pass through. The retractor can bolt to the sheet metal panel behind the panel and doesn't require a backing plate or any welding. The remaining points from the original belts were used. I am 95% happy. It is very important to get the retractor as far forward under the panel as possible to minimize binding. Also the upper bolt has a shoulder to keep the belt slide pivoting freely-it needs to be a bit longer or you can do like I did and just locktite the bolt and not tighten it the last couple of turns (which still leaves complete thread engagement.)

If your car does not have the upper belt or a mount for it, it would be a much more complicated install.

PM me a reminder and I'll post pictures.

 
71 did have a shoulder belt that clipped into the lap belt. I don't use mine since it's fixed at both ends, causing it to hold you tight against the seat. Trying to reach and adjust knobs on the radio is impossible. A retractable shoulder belt is they way to go.

 
Re-posting this from an earlier thread as it may be helpful:

As Jim mentions above, Australian regulations specify "Australian Standards" belts. My car was registered for the fist time in Australia about two years ago and I needed an engineer's report on the car for it to be allowed to be registered. The engineer informed me that I needed new belts so I opted for a three-point retractable setup as per the pictures below.

 


The actual angle between the top and bottom mounting points is about 15° on a fastback, and it can be seen in the second picture that the retractor mechanism is mounted at an angle - this is so the belt will extend from the mechanism without rubbing occurring on the belt edges. A standard 0° retractor mechanism shouldn't be used as it can't be tilted to allow the belt to come out at an angle. A 9° biased retractor mechanism is what I used because when the belt is being extended and in use the belt actually pulls forward by about 5° on the roof-mounted drop-belt (so the 15° angle drops back to about 10° if that makes sense).


 


The setup works as well as any seatbelts in a modern car - and although the belts I bought are Australian made there is bound to be a range of US equivalents out there for sale.


seatbelt11.jpg


seatbelt9.jpg


seatbelt13.jpg


 
I did have to relocate the mounts forward for the retractor reels to smooth up operation, here's a picture.

This time I made my own trim plates and used some SEM to dye them as I had to cover the preexisting holes. you can fold two pieces of felt and glue to the underside of the panel to keep trash out.

IMG_20150924_085647404[1].jpg

IMG_20150924_085707589[1].jpg

 
My only comment I have about the shoulder harness is they are cool and a conversation piece at shows but other then that they are STUPID. Like I'm sure you've been told if you put them on you can't even reach the buttons on the dash (unless you have arms like rubber man). Mine won't stay fastened to the lab belt and are always swinging around and slipping out the door and being shut in them. I just keep them hanging in the storage position out of the way.

 
In one of the previous threads on the three point belts I put a link in. There was a recall on 1971 and 1972 models because the shoulder buckle would not stay snapped in place. The little plastic piece that made the buckle snap would break and fall out. The Ford fix was to put two O-rings over the post that goes into the buckle and that keeps them together. Just measure the diameter of the post at the small point and go looking for O-rings that are that diameter and try different diameters for the rubber. It worked in the recall.

David

 
In one of the previous threads on the three point belts I put a link in. There was a recall on 1971 and 1972 models because the shoulder buckle would not stay snapped in place. The little plastic piece that made the buckle snap would break and fall out. The Ford fix was to put two O-rings over the post that goes into the buckle and that keeps them together. Just measure the diameter of the post at the small point and go looking for O-rings that are that diameter and try different diameters for the rubber. It worked in the recall.

David
Great suggestion! I was wondering how to fix that.

One of my belts has the plastic intact but not the other.

mike

 
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