3 Pt Shoulder Harness Seat Belts - Juliano's Hot Rod Parts & Interior Products

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Juliano's
55' Ford Wagon 3pt Seat Belt How-to
1955

While sitting in the seat figure out where you are going to mount the shoulder portion of the seat belt. This is where a friend comes in handy, but it is not needed. As you can see Tom is making out just fine by himself. The shoulder mount has to be above and behind the shoulder of the occupant.

He markes the location with some masking tape and holds the mounting bracket in place. This vehicle never had seat belts in the rear, so we have to install the mounting bracket. We suggest that you either bolt or weld the bracket in place. Today, we are going to weld them.

We clean the area where the bracket is getting mounted. Sand all paint and rust away so you have bare shinny metal. The cleaner the metal, the better the weld will be. Something as important as a seat belt is worth taking the time to do right.

We are going to have to drill a hole, so when the bracket gets welded on , the bolt can come through.

Once the hole is big enough so the bracket sits nicely, we weld it in place. The welder can do a number on the interior fabric, carpet, and glass. To combat this we covered the seats with a flame retardant blanket and put cardboard over the headliner and windows. Once everything was protected, we welded the bracket in place.

Because this is a universal kit and every car is differant, sometimes you have to modify it a little. We had to make a spacer to move the mounting point out to clear the garnish moulding.

Next up is the retractor. Its going to get mounted on the wheel well. Make sure there is nothing under the floor that your going to hit when ever you drill into it.

With an anchor plate undernieth the floor and the L bracket on top, were ready to bolt on the retractor. Make sure all of the bolts are tight.

We give it a try to make sure it will work from this position. Run it in and out a couple of times and make sure the webbing is free from obstruction.

With that all set, Its time to mount the ending bracket. Nomally we would mount it to the same place as the rertractor, but in this case we cant. With the retractor being located in a unusual location we cant do that. Again he sits in the seat with the belt on to find where he should mount the end bracket.

He sees a spot and marks the hole using a sharpie marker.Now that the hole is marked, go ahead and drill away.

Now bolt the end bracket to the the car. This spot we found is very solid and strong.

Now the last of the mounting points has to be taken care of. The anchor plate has to go undernieth the floor again for therse middle belts. We hold up the anchor plate to see where it will fit nice. Take another look under the car to make sure there is room.

With the holes marked we drill them out. Make sure your not drilling into anything under the car. After you drill bolt the soft arm fixed ends into place. This car is getting a soft arm in the back because it has bench seats.

With all of the points attached and all of the bolts snuged up, try the belt on for size. Installing 3pts in a car that never had them is a little difficult, but installing these belts may very well save a life. The effectiveness of a three point seat belt is worth the extra work. Also some car seats require the shoulder harness belt for proper use.