Seat belts with shoulder strap 1962 hawk

[Jimmie]

I am planning to add seat belts with shoulder strap to the front seats of my 1962 GT Hawk. Not too concerned about access to the back seat. Any ideas as to where to attach the top end of the shoulder strap would be appreciated. Considering attaching to roof by way of a large chrome headed bolt through the roof. Hope someone can help.
Thank you,
Jimmie

[sweetolbob]

Depends on how much you would like a chrome bolt through the roof. You might also need a bit more reinforcement too.

A couple of thoughts: If you remove the headliner you will find an area with a couple of layers of metal. You could weld a threaded piece in there to accept the swivel necessary for the upper mount. I did this on my 54K until I mounted a rollbar and mounted the belts to that. That would require paint and bodywork on the roof.

Behind the door where the "B" pillar should be, you could run a piece of Stainless plate up the door jamb high enough to drill and mount the swivel at shoulder level and tie the plate into the door jamb under the upholstery for strength. In the above cases the retractor will probably be mounted like the Avanti near the bottom of the rear of the door jamb.

Lastly, some members have converted to Chrysler Sebring 'vert seats that have the harness mounted as part of the seat.

I applaud what you are doing but it's not easy when the vehicle wasn't designed for it. Whatever why you chose to go be sure you mount the upper swivel solidly.

Bob

[adamderosa]

Take a look at Wesco Performance. They have some info and parts for adding 3-point seat belts to vehicles that weren't originally equipped with them.

http://www.wescoperformance.com/retrofit-seat-belts-shoulder-mt-door.html#top

[Jimmie]

Thank you Bob for getting back to me with your ideas. I agree that the top probably wouldn't have the strength needed in a crash. Adding a piece to mimic the doorpost painted to match the car or stainless sounds like a better idea than the roof idea. Also, a rollbar would add to the "hotrod" effect too. I am going to see about the possibility of the Sebring vert seats too. Thanks again!

[Dan White]

I cannot get the wesco performance link to work?

I have toyed with this problem for a long time and just went with lap belts. However, I think the best idea is to go with more modern seats with integral shoulder restraints. You could have them reupholstered to match the Hawk interior. There are a number of seats around that have this combination, not just the sebring.

[345 DeSoto]

Try this. I had the same problem. http://wescoperformance.stores.yahoo...ench-help.html

[JoeHall]

Thank you Bob for getting back to me with your ideas. I agree that the top probably wouldn't have the strength needed in a crash. Adding a piece to mimic the doorpost painted to match the car or stainless sounds like a better idea than the roof idea. Also, a rollbar would add to the "hotrod" effect too. I am going to see about the possibility of the Sebring vert seats too. Thanks again!

I went with Sebring convertible seats in both of our GTs, and could not be happier. They are extremely comfortable, and the electric power options just sweeten the pie. I cannot take credit for the idea. Once I saw them in our forum member, Pat Dilling's 53 StuCool coupe, I knew I had found the seats for me. They sit a bit high, but I trimmed an inch or two off the headrests, which helped.

[alpayed]

This was my solution.

http://www.studebaker-info.org/Tech/atyler/seatbelts.pdf

Regards
Allan