Interior: 1962 Lark 3 point seat belts

[1962larksedan]

Long story short: I stopped off at SoCal speed shop here in Phx and picked up a pair of 3 point seat belts to install into my 1962 Lark 4 door Y body.

I pulled down the trim off the B pillars and found a 1/2 hole @ shoulder belt height but no threaded nut. Well; I hate to say this but, I drilled through the outer part of the B pillar and will be securing the shoulder strap with a 1/2" Grade 5 bolt. What does concern me is how frail the metal is in that area despite the bolt passing through the inner and outer metal parts. Oh well. Although I did look at pics of several Australian Stude sedans and that's exactly how their shoulder belts were mounted.

I'm not using the OEM outboard mtg holes in the floor since I' going with ratchet style retracters which will be mounted on the bottoms of the B pillars, there happens to be a very convenient hole there just inboard of the lower rear door hinge which WILL be reinforced with a large washer.

Inboard buckle ends: they going to their OEM locations by the tranny tunnel.

If anybody has any ideas in making my mtg points stronger; please feel free to speak up. I figure my crude setup will be much better than no belts at all.

[JimC]

If you're willing to sacrifice appearance for safety (or at least the appearance of safety), just weld some angle iron on the pillar. That being said, systems that were not engineered to have seat belts on the pillar are probably never going to be as safe as those which were. Plus, you're in a Studebaker. They're way sturdier than most everything on the roads today.

[JRoberts]

You may be correctg about the three point seat belt in a car not designed to have them, but I still prefer to have them than not. We put three point seat belts in the front seats and the back seats as well. We used belts from Julianos Street Rods. They had to be slightly modified but work very well.

As far as the Studebaker being sturdier than a modern counter part, that does not automatically mean it is any safer. Even with three point seat belts I would much rather be in a serous accident in a modern car than a 50year old one. Not that I will stop driving my Cruiser because of that prefernce.

[1962larksedan]

I may wind up installing 'crush sleeves' (assuming there's enough room) between the inner and out B pillar panels to reinforce the shoulder harness mtg points.

[Rosstude]

Hello all,
Some time ago, I installed 3 point belts in four corners in our 57 4 door wagon. I used the set up from Juliano hot rods. The B pillar plate worked great, I had to shape one side a bit, fished up up with a welding rod, and used a combonation of tack welds and bolts to secure.
Hope this link works for you.

http://www.seatbeltstore.com/category-s/5.htm

[1962larksedan]

Hello all,
Some time ago, I installed 3 point belts in four corners in our 57 4 door wagon. I used the set up from Juliano hot rods. The B pillar plate worked great, I had to shape one side a bit, fished up up with a welding rod, and used a combonation of tack welds and bolts to secure.
Hope this link works for you.
http://www.seatbeltstore.com/category-s/5.htm

Bummer because I already drilled a 1/2" hole in both B pillars in line with the factory supplied inner holes.

[rickhmn2]

3 point belts

If changing out the seat is an option go to the "auto parts recycler" and find some seat from a gm with the shoulder belt on the seat. Did you change out the steering column? Getting speared by the column is at least as big an issue as lap belts only.

[1962larksedan]

If changing out the seat is an option go to the "auto parts recycler" and find some seat from a gm with the shoulder belt on the seat. Did you change out the steering column? Getting speared by the column is at least as big an issue as lap belts only.

I still have the factory column and; to be honest, I have my doubts about the floor being strong enough despite zero rust (Arizona car) so I wanted to distribute the seat belt stress loads over a wider area. The retractor and buckle ends; their mtg locations are dialed in, just still have to beef the B pillar up a tad.

[JimC]

rickhmn2 made a really good point about the non-collapsing steering column in the car. My thinking is that in a major accident, all that 3 point harness is going to do effectively is hold someone in place so the steering column can relocate their ribcage and whatever else it meets up with. Not my idea of a fun way to go.

[1962larksedan]

rickhmn2 made a really good point about the non-collapsing steering column in the car. My thinking is that in a major accident, all that 3 point harness is going to do effectively is hold someone in place so the steering column can relocate their ribcage and whatever else it meets up with. Not my idea of a fun way to go.

Yes and no. A 3 point harness would help keep a person from being thrown into the steering wheel and (probably) limit the injuries. Note I have my front seat all the way back since I'm rather tall.

[rickhmn2]

belts

din't mean to side track this onto the column. I still have the original column and figure driving my lark and going quick, it could be worse. I do like the three point belts though. My seats are GM take outs from a van customizer. From an Astro maybe?