Restoring OEM Seatbelts

[1rippen6]

Laso ones

[TKCR]

1rippen6, PM returned. Disregard the 1st PM, I saw & responded to it before I saw the pics here.

[TKCR]

A little progress on the 1987 Belts from posts #298 & #299. The retractors have been rewebbed and are on their way back, can’t wait to see them. I did get the Buckles completed.
Before & After

[TKCR]

These were completed for a board member. 1987 Mahogany color. He also wanted an extender to strap down the cooler on the seat, so I made up an extender since they are usually too small, and only come in black.
So here are the Before pics.

[TKCR]

After pics

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by TKCR

Been working on someone’s 1987 Charcoal Black belts. My my my, these needed quite a bit of work. I’m not finished with them, since the retractors were sent off to get rewebbed. One side, the housing was melted. Not sure what happened there. And the other side, the webbing has about a 1/4” cut. So new webbing is the only way to fix these.
So before I sent these off, I got the retractor mechanisms throughly cleaned and lubed. Removed the rust from the mounts, which were pretty rusty, especially the extra tab that is used on the 87.
I also replaced the melted housing with one that I had. Also got both the housings off, throughly cleaned and dyed. Had to get these done first and sent with the retractors. When they get the new webbing, they can route the webbing thru the openings before they sew the latches on.
Here are the Before pics. I had to use the ones that were sent to me, from the owner of the belts. Dummy me, got busy on them and totally forgot to get pictures.

Originally Posted by TKCR

While the retractors are off getting rewebbed, I worked on the center belts. As you can see from the pics in the above post, he sent extras. The center belts were really rusty, so the extra center belts he sent were used for parts. When the covers are that rusty, they need replaced with better covers or new covers.
Everything was cleaned and the rust removal process was done. Then I picked out the best covers & buckle emblems. Then the belts were throughly cleaned & dyed.
The tab mounts that are used just on the 1987 retractors, were very rusty and pitted. I got all the rust off, sandblasted them, primed and painted them. The pitting still shows some, but all the rust is gone.
Once the retractors come back, I’ll update the post with the final pictures.

Originally Posted by TKCR

A little progress on the 1987 Belts from posts #298 & #299. The retractors have been rewebbed and are on their way back, can’t wait to see them. I did get the Buckles completed.
Before & After

So here’s an UPDATE. Got the belts back from rewebbing. Boy did these turn out awesome. They started out very rough, but look amazing now!

[TKCR]

Next up, someone sent me a big box of 67-72 belts. He wants all of these cleaned & restored, all the same color of Dark Saddle. I don’t normally do these year of belts, and this many at one time lol, but he twisted my arm.
So to start with, here are all the Before pics.

[TKCR]

First order of business, disassemble the buckles from the belts. Then through cleaning of the belts. All the buckles get a good scrubbing. And the metal parts of the buckles get soaked for rust removal.
All these pics are prior to cleaning.

[TKCR]

After cleaning. And all the emblems will be replaced with new.

[TKCR]

Everything is dyed to match and new emblems installed

[TKCR]

The 3 small retractors for the right front passenger belt, 2 of the 3 housings were pretty brittle & cracked. New replacements are available, so those were swapped out with new.

[TKCR]

Time to do some dyeing again, from the new black to Saddle Tan. Stay tuned, next post should be all the buckles reassembled back on the belts, and then they should be done!

[TKCR]

Got the entire set completed.

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by TKCR

The 3 small retractors for the right front passenger belt, 2 of the 3 housings were pretty brittle & cracked. New replacements are available, so those were swapped out with new.

Glad those plastic bits are available new. Makes restoration affordable for the moment.
Kinda makes you think a bit about more modern vehicles with a lot more plastic interior and exterior parts that I and some of my buddies have in our collections. I have two GXP V8 Pontiacs (LS4 & Northstar) without any repair parts available should they get hit in the front and some fairly model specific interior trim bits.

Our hobby takes some thinking ahead at times.

BTW darn nice work on the belts as usual.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by hatzie

Glad those plastic bits are available new. Makes restoration affordable for the moment.
Kinda makes you think a bit about more modern vehicles with a lot more plastic interior and exterior parts that I and some of my buddies have in our collections. I have two GXP V8 Pontiacs (LS4 & Northstar) without any repair parts available should they get hit in the front and some fairly model specific interior trim bits.

Our hobby takes some thinking ahead at times.

BTW darn nice work on the belts as usual.

Thanks you! That was some time consuming work. I’m used to just doing a set, like for our single cab trucks! This was an equivalent of 6 sets, with rear belts. Although the rears, there’s not much to them, 2 lap belts.
So on that little cover, luckily I could make out the part number on the side. Did a search and was able to find them new. They are a pain to get on. Not so much off, because the old covers are getting pitched anyways.

[hatzie]

Hope you charged accordingly. They got top notch work. Well worth paying for.

[TKCR]

This is a set of 76/77 1st Style 3pt belts. Cleaned & restored these for someone. I don’t see too many where the plastic sleeves for the center belts are completely intact. One of them had just a little crack up by the buckle. Not bad for 76/77 belts. Lap belt latch was missing the cover, but that is pretty common on these guys, but I have acquired a few extras.
Here are the Before pics

[TKCR]

Through cleaning, rust removal and the buckles were disassembled for cleaning also. New buckle emblems were installed.
Here is the completed set.

[TKCR]

Here is a set of 1973-1974 Charcoal 2pt seat belts. These were cleaned, repaired, and restored. One of the retractors was missing the metal mount, was able to repair that with my spare parts. All the emblems were missing, so they received New Emblems. Buckles were disassembled for debris and rust removal. One of the buckle housings was pretty rusty, wasn’t sure if it was going to clean up, but it did!!
Here are the Before Pics

[TKCR]

After

[smupser]

Originally Posted by TKCR

After

Glad you were able to locate a set 😜😉

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by smupser

Glad you were able to locate a set 😜😉

And I have you to thank for that, lol!

[TKCR]

Just finished up a couple of sets of Charcoal Black for people.

[smupser]

Originally Posted by TKCR

Just finished up a couple of sets of Charcoal Black for people.

I have this exact set I need to send you along with many others 😉

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by smupser

I have this exact set I need to send you along with many others 😉

Sounds good. Now that I did that big set of Blazer Belts, now I know what they look like. Just happened across a set. Can’t wait to do them.