My attempt at restoring/cleaning a set of seat belts

[Thealien]

My Jimmy originally had a parchment interior. I would ruin a parchment interior so I am slowly changing everything over to black. I had been looking for a set of black seat belts for over a year and am still looking for some pieces/parts (plastic bolt covers for the rear seat seatbelts, Drivers side retractable seat belt, plastic seat belt hangers for console delete trucks. With all that out of the way I was offered these belts by NTR72GMC and I agreed





I recieved them and proceeded to take them apart. I still need a couple of the GM stickers for the pushbutton or the whole pushbutton with sticker attached (anybody have a couple?).

Here is where I started this morning

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Here I am cleaning them with simple green and a scrub brush

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Pretty dirty huh?

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I removed the tags from all but 2 of the belts. I left those two alone to compare and they were in pretty good shape after cleaning

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After cleaning I layed the cleanest belt over the faded belts

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Here is the rit dye and the tub I dyed them in

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[leddzepp]

You have done exactly what I did. Looks great! You are going to hear from a lot of nay-sayers about ruining the integrity of the belts...ignore it. Simple Green and Rit dye do no damage to the webbing whatsoever.

[67ss&99ss]

I cleaned my nova's black belts in a tub of warm water with woolite cleaner. They were really dirty like yours were, but afterwards, I did not have to dye them because they came out lookin new. The woolite helps preserve/restore the color in the belts.

[Thealien]

Originally Posted by 67ss&99ss

I cleaned my nova's black belts in a tub of warm water with woolite cleaner. They were really dirty like yours were, but afterwards, I did not have to dye them because they came out lookin new. The woolite helps preserve/restore the color in the belts.

Did you see what these looked like originally? I don't think "woolite" would have restored the sun faded color? Glad yours came out good.

[Thealien]

Originally Posted by leddzepp

You have done exactly what I did. Looks great! You are going to hear from a lot of nay-sayers about ruining the integrity of the belts...ignore it. Simple Green and Rit dye do no damage to the webbing whatsoever.

I don't wear them anyway! No worse than the sun dammage? I can't afford the $350 they want for the restored ones. I am into this for $20 for the belts, $5 for the dye, and probaly about $20 for the adhesion promoter and SEM paint/dye with shipping. When I am done I bet I could get a lot more than the $45 I'll have in them!

[nicolas72gmc]

I was wondering if the same thing could be done with blue ones? I know they could be dyed but I wonder how the well the dye would work on already blue belts. I need some new plastic covers also.

[leddzepp]

Originally Posted by nicolas72gmc

I was wondering if the same thing could be done with blue ones? I know they could be dyed but I wonder how the well the dye would work on already blue belts. I need some new plastic covers also.

I did this awhile back with my blue belts. They came out great, but the color was not the original GM medium blue. It would be hard to match it in the original color.

[Thealien]

Originally Posted by nicolas72gmc

I was wondering if the same thing could be done with blue ones? I know they could be dyed but I wonder how the well the dye would work on already blue belts. I need some new plastic covers also.

I think going from blue to blue or blue to black would work OK. Rit says to use a color remover (a RIT product) when going to a lighter color?

[leddzepp]

Originally Posted by Thealien

I don't wear them anyway! No worse than the sun dammage? I can't afford the $350 they want for the restored ones. I am into this for $20 for the belts, $5 for the dye, and probaly about $20 for the adhesion promoter and SEM paint/dye with shipping. When I am done I bet I could get a lot more than the $45 I'll have in them!

Exactly. You aren't going to cause any more damage to them that 40 yrs. of UV exposure hasn't done already.

[Thealien]

Here is the buckles and plastic pieces cleaned and ready for paint/dye



A before and after picture and the SEM product used



Here is everything dyed, dried, and painted



Just the plastic parts



The rusty brackets



And those same brackets after sandblasting



I don't have the cadium paint kit and you really cant see them so I am just painting the brackets chasis black. I forgot to take a picture as they are still hanging from a tree.

I will add to this thread when I reassemble everything (and hoping somone offers up the couple of parts I need. They didn't come out perfect but are a huge improvement over what I started with. I still have to get 2 of the ends sewn and I am debating sewing the tags back on (2 of them disintegrated?)

I hope I helped some of you out that might be considering doing this. If I was really trying to restore I would probably do a second rit dye job!

Mark

[Brad]

That looks fantastic, but I'm a naysayer because of the articles I've read and the type of material used back then as opposed to today's materials. I have put belts through a dishwasher and that works alot easier and better (no soap works just as well as detergent), but after reading some articles, I just won't be putting myself or my loved ones at risk. I'll see if I can find that post I wrote last year...
Here it is: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=326621

[Thealien]

Originally Posted by Brad

That looks fantastic, but I'm a naysayer because of the articles I've read and the type of material used back then as opposed to today's materials. I have put belts through a dishwasher and that works alot easier and better (no soap works just as well as detergent), but after reading some articles, I just won't be putting myself or my loved ones at risk. I'll see if I can find that post I wrote last year...
Here it is: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=326621

Thanks for that link I would want everyone to get all the information and make their own educted decisions. This is what I did! I read that link and it seems that UV is just as bad and I don't see many people running out and changing their webbing either?

If I had the extra money (I don't and believe many are in the same boat as me) I would spend the $350 on a restored set but until then this looks pretty good.

Mark

[mclairmo]

Looks awesome but I would not trust them to hold you in an accident. I bought all new 3 point belts for my Camaro and Truck. A lot of guys are doing this if they actually drive their vehicles and want to survive an accident. Old belt webbing could fail in an accident.

[Sinister]

Originally Posted by mclairmo

Looks awesome but I would not trust them to hold you in an accident. I bought all new 3 point belts for my Camaro and Truck. A lot of guys are doing this if they actually drive their vehicles and want to survive an accident. Old belt webbing could fail in an accident.

[Thealien]

I also ride a motorcycle for 30+ years now. I've gotten pretty good at being observant and avoiding accidents. Again I want everyone to get all the info and make their own choices. When I looked for this info there wasn't much out there so I thought I would share. What YOU decide to do is YOUR decision, make that choice wisely!!

[NTR72GMC]

WOW!!! Those look way better then they did when I shipped them out. And I almost threw them in the garbage a few years back. (I thought I did) I'm realy glad that you can put them to some use.

[Thealien]

Here are some pics of the finished belts, I think they came out pretty good. I installed the front ones. Still looking for some parts for the rear ones. I am looking for these plastic bolt covers here in black or? I'll dye them. I don't want to ruin a decent parchment set







Comparison of what they started as...........

[NTR72GMC]

WOW they look really good its hard to believe that they are the same belts!!

[Thealien]

I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't done it myself. Compare those pics to the first pics and it is a big difference!!

[unclewatts]

Hey Alien, those belts came out great! I really do not believe that some Simple Green and Rit dye would have any weakening effect on your belts either, but I wonder if nearly forty years of hot sun would.

[Elephanthead]

If you are concerned with the best possible safety, you should not drive one of these trucks. The belts look great.

[ELToro]

Originally Posted by Elephanthead

If you are concerned with the best possible safety, you should not drive one of these trucks. The belts look great.

So very true!!

I have alot of experience dyeing lots of materials and can tell you that RIT dye will NOT weaken any natural or synthetic fibers. The instructions call for very hot water but not boiling which definately can hurt both types of fibers. You can also safely use 10%-20% warm vinegar when dyeing to enhance the permeation of the dye. Vinegar is a mild acid that does a small amount of breaking down of natural fibers but has no affect on synthetics. Vinegar will also create a shade or two brighter color when you add it to your dye so be sure to test before using. The RIT Color remover is possibly bad for the fibers since it contains 'chelation' chemicals that actually can break apart molecules. I wouldnt use it myself.

Your main concern would be that not all the dye actually permeates the fibers and can rub off on your clean white wife-beater so be sure to wipe them down with a soft cotton shop cloth to pick up that residue.

[TonyJohnson]

Great job! This should be in the FAQ.

Tony J.

[bigdon-70blazer]

Beautiful, simply beautiful! I have my set of tan colored ones to do soon and this thread is helpful to me !

[72BlckButy]

Great write up on restoring these old belts.

I have a question, when you scrubed the belt itself, did you notice the fabric losing its factory appearance? (It's tough to explain, but did you notice the belts became a little more "fuzzy" after scrubbing?)