Seat belt restoration

[R63ss]

Paul,those look great.I tried calling Snake Oly to feel them out about pricing and turnaround time.I understand they need to have them shipped to them before they can quote,but I was looking for a ballpark price.Got an answering machine instructing me to leave a message and they will get back to me.The corvette guys rave about seatbelt sity.A gentleman in NJ who does 90% corvettes but does do and know other gm cars.I gave him a call and he was very knowledgeable and a hoot to talk with.He verified what I have are original early 63 belts.I also have a couple of possibilities with sets that have already been restored.

 

[Iowa 409 Guy]

Like I Said ....View attachment 140088

I'm a touch stubborn, but if my 56 Poncho didn't have a seat belt in 1966 I wouldn't be typing this.....that night was the first time I had it on.

Lost a Brother in 1983....seat belt would have saved him.

But I still don't like the government telling me what to do.

 

[327]

I have no problem wearing seat belts in my daily drivers. My '62 did not have seat belts in it when I bought it in 1978. Previous owner did not pay for the option in 1962. I have been cruisin for the last 46 years with no problems.

 

[pvs409]

Paul,those look great.I tried calling Snake Oly to feel them out about pricing and turnaround time.I understand they need to have them shipped to them before they can quote,but I was looking for a ballpark price.Got an answering machine instructing me to leave a message and they will get back to me.The corvette guys rave about seatbelt sity.A gentleman in NJ who does 90% corvettes but does do and know other gm cars.I gave him a call and he was very knowledgeable and a hoot to talk with.He verified what I have are original early 63 belts.I also have a couple of possibilities with sets that have already been restored.

Corvette belts for 62 & 63 do not have the same buckles and they do not have the same front seat mounting brackets as full size 62 & 63 Chevys
The differences in factory belts were explained to me about 8 years ago by Vern Frantz - a absolute expert in original full size Chevy belts. He never mentioned early 63 belts - he explained differences in the panels of the belt webbing ( 3 vs 4 panel ) and flush and recessed buckle emblems - he clearly stated that there was “no way to tell when GM changed the 62 & 63 factory seat belts”.
I have his comments in writing…

Snake Oyl is sending me 2 estimates to restore 62 ( or 63) belts I sent them last week - I should have the cost estimate this week. I sent them extra seat belt parts to pick from ( rust and pitting affects restoration cost)
Another member here had a set of 62/63 factory front seat belts I sold him restored in the last 2 months by Snake Oyl.
He could provide me what his cost was. His set had zinc plated original mounting hardware that sold him saving on restoration costs.

Paul

 

[Murphdog]

I'm a touch stubborn, but if my 56 Poncho didn't have a seat belt in 1966 I wouldn't be typing this.....that night was the first time I had it on.

Lost a Brother in 1983....seat belt would have saved him.

But I still don't like the government telling me what to do.

If/when it involves you it can be an enlightening experience. The wife & I were headed to Byron Il to the drags to watch a customer in 1994. We were about out of city limits when suddenly a big red Buick was staring me in the face. Our 1984 Olds Omega didn't fare well. 13 days in the hospital. Morphine is good! Luckily we had seat belts on, we were going on a trip and thought it might be a good idea. Been a believer since!
Jeff

 

[RPOLS3]

Another vote for Snake Oyl here

 

[La Hot Rods]

I remember dad having seat belts installed in the 67 barracuda when he bought it new. We all had to wear them. When the state of Missouri made it a state law to wear them ,he quit wearing them.

 

[R63ss]

I decided to have Charlie from Seatbelt Sity restore my original 63 seatbelts.I am totally impressed with how they came out.I talked with Charlie almost everday and he gave me many options during the process.The man knows his stuff.Charlie mostly does corvette belts but he will do other GM cars.His turnaround time was under 3 weeks,and the pricing was under 500.If you want an alternative to Snake Oyl give Charlie a call.I highly recommend him.
Some before and after pics

 

[327]

R63ss ...

 

[pvs409]

I have some questions - not criticizing just comparing what Snake Oyl does to Charley Seatbelt Sity

i see new stickers on the buckles.
looks like the buckles were polished but not bottom part of buckles we’re not rechromed?
The 8 piece hook style connectors to the bottom webbing that were factory plated - were they re- zinc plated ?
Where the original chrome tongues rechromed ?
The 4 round fine thread floor bolts do not look like they were re- zinc plated - just cleaned?
I assume the black webbing was replaced - it looks like it was reused - I see original white labels ? the webbing looks original

All of the items I am asking about “are part of a Snake Oyl restoration” ( including new webbing), to compare costs
my last Snake Oyl set was $500 with rechroming 4 buckles and 4 tonques, new webbing and zinc plating the original 8 piece connectors & 4 round bolt floor mounts (all re zinc plated by me and sent in with the original belts ) and cleaning and restoring the original black boots( or the correct original color boots to match the interior - red, black, green & white).

I am selling two sets of original 1962-1963 Chevy factory front seat belts to friends that need to be restored -

I told them to use Snake Oyl to restore the belts as noted above with new webbing, rechroming buckles & tonques, zinc plating the mounts, restoring good rubber boots, and new stickers for about $500.

Paul

 

[R63ss]

Paul,the bases and tongues were not rechromed.The buckle tops were the Chevrolet sticker goes are Nos that he happened to have and I purchased from him(part of the 500 price).The original 63 webbing was cleaned.Because I wanted as close to original 1963 seat belts as possible I decided to reuse the original webbing.Keeping the original stitching was important to me and I would not let him cut the belts,he supplied and stitched on an original Chevrolet tag.The down fall to this was the s hooks on the bottom could not be removed to zinc plate,of course the nylon rivet that connects the s hooks is not reproduced and I couldn’t find anything even close to it online.He media blasted the s hooks and I touched them up with Eastwood clear zinc.The eyelets where originally cadmium plated so we decided just to clean them and save the original nylon rivets connecting the s hooks.These belts,with the exception of the clear zinc on the s hooks,are original to the car and as close to how they came from American chute co.
I remember my son and I walking down the row of judges and ram air Gto’s at the Pontiac National convention.He said to me that all the really nice cars had reproduction parts and the all original part cars looked beat.He was right,to see nice looking with original gm parts is incredibly rare.Most people don’t know,but if you do the differences between original and reproduction are glaring.
The reason I started this thread was to try and figure out 1 if my original seatbelts could be restored,2 how much all this was going to cost,and 3 how long was it going to take.
I think snake oyl turns out a really nice belt and are the go to guys when it comes to seat belts.But I am just saying you have other options.Hopefully this thread makes it easier for the next guy that wants his seatbelts restored,so they can avoid going down the google rabbit hole searching for information.I have spent a crazy amount of time researching what was correct and since day one was always the goal with the restoration of my convertible.
Paul I know you said in your first post you had sent your belts in,did you get your quote?Not that it matters at this point but I am a little curious as to what they are charging now for a resto.

 

[pvs409]

I had two sets of rear factrory seat belts without the rubber boots done by Snake Oyl( rear belts did not have the rubber boots).
The new belts included.

New three panel webbing matching the original 3 panel webbing - I selected the length ( original belts tend to be too short)
rechromed buckle bases
polished original buckle top with new sticker matching the original
replacement chrome tonques ( my tonques were too rusty to be rchromed) $50
new chrome triangular flat floor mounts ( for under back seat) 4 - $100 - I selected these mounts vs using the treaded mounts that loop the belts through slots in the

total cost for each set as noted above = $470
+ shipping back to me

for front seat belts I have the loop anchors and the special hook mounts re-zinc plated to send to Snake Oyl which save some $

I would state that out of the approximately 15 sets of original belts (purchased over 20 years) I only had “one set of belts” in saddle color with black boots - - “good enough to restore the existing belts”—- saving the webbing, saving the buckles and saving the original zinc plated floor mounts. All the webbing on my belts was faded, ripped, frayed - not reusable. Also some had the chrome parts to rusted, and buckles pitted. I have about 6 - 10 sets of restorable as noted above how they were restored factory correct 1962-63 seat belts.

Original factory 62-63 or even 64 belts are just very hard to find or good restorable original condition ( good parts cars with good condition factory seat belts …are not out there), like they used to be.……

I have a friend that has a set of original not restored 62-63 black, black boot front seat belts for sale for $300 ( tonques are rusted, buckles need work, black rubber boots look ok, black webbing might be ok). So after Snake restoration or the corvette guy you used, you would have close to $ 900 in restored belts

Paul

 

[R63ss]

I know Paul,it is crazy to spend that kind of money on seat belts.But what are you going to do?Have the perfect looking interior and lay out a set of crappy looking belts.You really have no choice.
Charlie told me that the 62-63 webbing sucked.As it was used and the length adjusted in the buckle it frayed and became pillowy in the center.Once that happens the webbing hangs up in the buckle and can’t be adjusted.I was lucky that mine didn’t have that going on.

 

[R63ss]

My seatbelt guy kept saying that the finish on the s hooks really didn’t matter you were never going to see it.After pulling the plastic boots back down I know what he means.

 

[Murphdog]

So to remove from a donor, do you just unscrew the bottom eyebolt part from the floor? I would guess an aqua interior car would have aqua belts, but would the boots be aqua or black? And how about a red interior, red belt with ??? boots?
Jeff

 

[R63ss]

The front seatbelts yes if you have original floors or the original brackets were transferred.The backseat belts did not have a bracket and the hole had to be drilled.
This is a post made on another site by Verne about the revisions made in 62-63



“62
Phase 1. All belts were 4-row black webbing. The buckles had a plain polished aluminum latch (first, it was painted black, then polished) with no emblem. The sleeves were black


Phase 2. Buckles changed to ones with the large Chevy emblem glued on top of the latch. These had a small font IC-5000 on the back. Still 4-row black webbing with black sleeves. Also, the floor hooks did not have the little hole in them for the plastic rivet.


Phase 3. 4-row colored webbing was offered and beige sleeves were used on colors other than black.


Phase 4. Buckles now had a machined recess in the latch for the Chevy emblem and a larger font IC-5000. Color matched sleeves were offered and the floor hooks were punched for the plastic rivet. Webbing was still 4-row.


Phase 5. Very near the end of '62 production, the webbing was changed to the "'63" style 3-row. Everything else remained the same.


The linen patches went through some changes too but they are hard to pin down. The final '62 & '63 versions were printed with "Chevrolet" on them.


It's hard to pin down dates when these changes went into production because there were just not enough cars to document to narrow down the gaps. So, the phases run from early to late. For an example, an early April built car would have Phase 3.


Another reason why changes are hard to pin down is that owners took their cars back to dealers to have belts installed, in which case, the actual belts used could have been earlier versions in stock or versions that came out later than the build date of the car they were installed on.”
Verne

 

[Murphdog]

"This is a post made on another site by Verne about the revisions made in 62-63" Can you reference that post so I could look it up?
So from what I see so far a 4th week Nov 62 car would have black belts & boots? And my 63 Belair built 4th week of December will be all red, or red with a black boot? There is a listing on ebay, ( https://www.ebay.com/itm/126140510875 ) that says early 63. From the pics I am guessing it is the 3 row type. The "Chevrolet" sticker/emblem looks to be on the surface and not in a recess.
Jeff

 

[R63ss]

Jeff,here is the thread I quoted Verne from

1963 Impala Seat Belt - Chevy Message Forum - Restoration and Repair Help

Chevy Forums FREE technical assistance for your restoration and repair. Model specific subject matter experts, classified ads and more.

www.chevytalk.org

The one on ebay looks original.But it is missing the nylon rivets and threaded eyelets.They don’t show the Chevrolet tag but they might not even know the tag is under the boot.It looks to me like the buckle is recessed for the sticker.

 

[pvs409]

Jeff,here is the thread I quoted Verne from

1963 Impala Seat Belt - Chevy Message Forum - Restoration and Repair Help

Chevy Forums FREE technical assistance for your restoration and repair. Model specific subject matter experts, classified ads and more.

www.chevytalk.org

The one on ebay looks original.But it is missing the nylon rivets and threaded eyelets.They don’t show the Chevrolet tag but they might not even know the tag is under the boot.It looks to me like the buckle is recessed for the sticker.

That post done by Verne was in response to what I posted on seat belts, note my list of original belts that I listed that I had or had at one time.

See these pictures I posted earlier in this posting on the belts. I have had about 20 sets of original belts over the last 30 years.
5 -7 sets I had restored by Snake Oyl and put in my 62 frame off restorations.

Most belts had black boots - very few red boots( tried find red boots) and one set of green boots and one white boot
Many sets of black webbing. None of the belts I had were the 4 panel belts -all 3 panel belts that I found.

Snake Oyl sells the nylon rivets with their front seat belt restorations, I have them
I have about 5 extra sets of the round threaded eyelets

Note that all the factory front seat belts had large round washers under the round fine threaded eyelets for front seat belts(see pictures below) - I found this when removing the belts from unrestored cars or parts cars Most of these washers were too pitted to reuse so I found exact replacement washers

Paul

 

[Murphdog]

Asking for general opinions. I am not trying to do a points car. I want something that looks somewhat period correct. Would it be totally wrong to figure out an attachment point and put something later in that has a shoulder restraint? I know it won't look correct but it would be safer. I have personally witnessed the benefit of lap/shoulder belts when a big red Buick decided to use my lane.
Jeff