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#326 |
Active Member
![]() Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Escondido, CA
Posts: 161
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
Just remember the 73-75 front belt retractors are the really short style, shorter than the style on the trucks and 69-72 style
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#327 |
Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: PNW
Posts: 3,587
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
I always like seeing the renewal. They look really good. What are you hearing back about durability of the dye? You get it through USA 1 correct?
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#328 | |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Ohio
Posts: 6,932
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
Quote:
I have had my belts for about 4-5 years now. They were the very first set that I had ever done, and it was almost a couple years after that, that I started doing other belts. During that time in between, I did a lot of research on the belts themselves, just trying to learn different things and the do’s and dont’s. I’m still learning a lot, and I have certainly have expanded on the cleaning techniques since my set, and some of the very first sets that I did. And USA1 is where I get all my supplies. They are literally the only place that has all the correct colors for our trucks interior. I do use SEM as far as the prep stages of dyeing. But when it comes to dye, SEM has discontinued a lot of our colors. And with so many different shades of one particular color, I gave up on SEM when it comes to finding the right color that matches. So USA1 it is!
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FB Page for my Seats Belts https://www.facebook.com/73-87-Chevy...9439407476735/ Restoring Seatbelts: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=809750 SOLD My 86 Build:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=654972 Past Restored Bench Seats:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=715398 PayPal link to pay for your items: https://www.paypal.me/TKCR |
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#329 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Ohio
Posts: 6,932
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
I’ve been making these color samples myself, because the color sample card sometimes doesn’t show the true color.
And of course there’s a lot of colors I have even had the opportunity to use yet.
__________________
FB Page for my Seats Belts https://www.facebook.com/73-87-Chevy...9439407476735/ Restoring Seatbelts: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=809750 SOLD My 86 Build:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=654972 Past Restored Bench Seats:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=715398 PayPal link to pay for your items: https://www.paypal.me/TKCR |
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#330 | |
Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: PNW
Posts: 3,587
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
Quote:
Thanks for the info! |
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#331 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Ohio
Posts: 6,932
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
1987 Charcoal Black. These were restored for someone in Canada. The lap belts was cut pretty bad, so I was able to replace them with a better set. The set also needed the upper anchor caps. These got the usual of through cleaning of the retractor mechanisms and relubed. Disassembled the buckles for debris and rust removal.
Here are the Before pics
__________________
FB Page for my Seats Belts https://www.facebook.com/73-87-Chevy...9439407476735/ Restoring Seatbelts: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=809750 SOLD My 86 Build:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=654972 Past Restored Bench Seats:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=715398 PayPal link to pay for your items: https://www.paypal.me/TKCR |
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#332 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Ohio
Posts: 6,932
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
After Pics
__________________
FB Page for my Seats Belts https://www.facebook.com/73-87-Chevy...9439407476735/ Restoring Seatbelts: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=809750 SOLD My 86 Build:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=654972 Past Restored Bench Seats:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=715398 PayPal link to pay for your items: https://www.paypal.me/TKCR |
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#333 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Ohio
Posts: 6,932
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
Here is another set of 1987 Burgundy Belts that were restored for someone. These needed a lot of help. Someone had already tried dyeing these at some point, so there was old dye that needed cleaned off, plus the overspray. The retractors were locked up, and found that the webbings were twisted under the housing. So after I got that sorted out, they retract as they should. The buckles were disassembled for debris and rust removal. These had quite a bit of debris, lol. If you ever wonder why your buckle release button doesn’t work, this is why.
Here are the Before pics
__________________
FB Page for my Seats Belts https://www.facebook.com/73-87-Chevy...9439407476735/ Restoring Seatbelts: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=809750 SOLD My 86 Build:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=654972 Past Restored Bench Seats:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=715398 PayPal link to pay for your items: https://www.paypal.me/TKCR |
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#334 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Ohio
Posts: 6,932
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
And After
__________________
FB Page for my Seats Belts https://www.facebook.com/73-87-Chevy...9439407476735/ Restoring Seatbelts: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=809750 SOLD My 86 Build:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=654972 Past Restored Bench Seats:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=715398 PayPal link to pay for your items: https://www.paypal.me/TKCR |
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#335 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Ohio
Posts: 6,932
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
1981-1986 Blue. These were cleaned and restored for someone that needed belts for their truck. Here are some Before pics.
__________________
FB Page for my Seats Belts https://www.facebook.com/73-87-Chevy...9439407476735/ Restoring Seatbelts: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=809750 SOLD My 86 Build:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=654972 Past Restored Bench Seats:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=715398 PayPal link to pay for your items: https://www.paypal.me/TKCR |
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#336 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Ohio
Posts: 6,932
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
And After
__________________
FB Page for my Seats Belts https://www.facebook.com/73-87-Chevy...9439407476735/ Restoring Seatbelts: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=809750 SOLD My 86 Build:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=654972 Past Restored Bench Seats:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=715398 PayPal link to pay for your items: https://www.paypal.me/TKCR Last edited by TKCR; 01-24-2022 at 09:32 PM. |
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#337 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Posts: 1,023
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
I hadn't paid much attention to the amount of things going on in a retractor until you just posted the blue set up......there's a lot going on in there. Great work as always, and the attention to detail is very impressive.
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#338 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Ohio
Posts: 6,932
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
I can’t remember if I had posted this part of the cleaning process on a Charcoal Black set I did previously. This is what is causing a lot of these retractors to slow down. Whether it’s from getting wet from the window being left down during its lifetime. Or something being spilled, or even someone attempting to clean them themselves. There are people that think laying them out in the driveway and spraying with a power washer is a way of cleaning them. But if the mechanisms get wet, that’s bad. And there is no way of drying them completely, without pulling up the casings and exposing the mechanisms. Those small springs get rusty and break, that’s bad! But here is another good example.
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FB Page for my Seats Belts https://www.facebook.com/73-87-Chevy...9439407476735/ Restoring Seatbelts: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=809750 SOLD My 86 Build:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=654972 Past Restored Bench Seats:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=715398 PayPal link to pay for your items: https://www.paypal.me/TKCR |
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#339 | |
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 679
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
Quote:
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#340 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Ohio
Posts: 6,932
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
No, not new parts. They don’t make new parts for these belts. There have been a few belts, that I specifically use for parts. Like this part, I had 2 different belts where this was broken. So I was able to swap this part out with my spares.
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FB Page for my Seats Belts https://www.facebook.com/73-87-Chevy...9439407476735/ Restoring Seatbelts: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=809750 SOLD My 86 Build:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=654972 Past Restored Bench Seats:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=715398 PayPal link to pay for your items: https://www.paypal.me/TKCR |
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#341 |
Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: PNW
Posts: 3,587
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
Great work TKCR. The male part of the buckle that has the grippy coating on it made me think of something. Griot's garage has a plastic cleaner that is actually a chemical based cleaner rather than abrasive. I remember them saying that it showed to be particularly effective on like the yellowed back windows of convertibles, the non-glass ones. I know you use griot's stuff to detail your truck and I thought I might mention it. I don't think leaving them as is takes anything away from the work you're doing, but it might be able to remove a little bit of that yellowing if you wanted to try it. I don't want to sound like I'm nitpicking your work, that's not the case at all. But you offer many of us helpful hints and ideas and thought I would try to return the favor.
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#342 | |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Ohio
Posts: 6,932
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
Quote:
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__________________
FB Page for my Seats Belts https://www.facebook.com/73-87-Chevy...9439407476735/ Restoring Seatbelts: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=809750 SOLD My 86 Build:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=654972 Past Restored Bench Seats:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=715398 PayPal link to pay for your items: https://www.paypal.me/TKCR |
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#343 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Ohio
Posts: 6,932
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
Here is a set of 1977, 1st Style 3pt belts, Saddle. These were restored for someone, and boy did they need some work. Very dirty!
Throughly cleaned, rust removed from the mounts & chrome pieces, buckles disassembled for debris removal. The buckles received new emblems also. Before Pics
__________________
FB Page for my Seats Belts https://www.facebook.com/73-87-Chevy...9439407476735/ Restoring Seatbelts: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=809750 SOLD My 86 Build:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=654972 Past Restored Bench Seats:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=715398 PayPal link to pay for your items: https://www.paypal.me/TKCR |
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#344 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Ohio
Posts: 6,932
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
After Pics
__________________
FB Page for my Seats Belts https://www.facebook.com/73-87-Chevy...9439407476735/ Restoring Seatbelts: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=809750 SOLD My 86 Build:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=654972 Past Restored Bench Seats:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=715398 PayPal link to pay for your items: https://www.paypal.me/TKCR |
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#345 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Ohio
Posts: 6,932
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
More after pics. I also did a set of Hinge Garnishes for his seat. So many upholstery shops don’t do the little extras, like I do. So on his seat, they just left them off, so I restored a set for him.
This is the truck everything is going in.
__________________
FB Page for my Seats Belts https://www.facebook.com/73-87-Chevy...9439407476735/ Restoring Seatbelts: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=809750 SOLD My 86 Build:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=654972 Past Restored Bench Seats:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=715398 PayPal link to pay for your items: https://www.paypal.me/TKCR |
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#346 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Ohio
Posts: 6,932
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
These are a set of 1977 Blue, 1st Style 3pt belts.
A couple of the plastic buckles were sun baked, but overall not into bad of shape. The lap belt was frayed pretty bad, but I found the correct color and was able to replace it. So they got a through cleaning and dye, to bring back the color. Check out the Before Pics
__________________
FB Page for my Seats Belts https://www.facebook.com/73-87-Chevy...9439407476735/ Restoring Seatbelts: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=809750 SOLD My 86 Build:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=654972 Past Restored Bench Seats:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=715398 PayPal link to pay for your items: https://www.paypal.me/TKCR |
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#347 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Ohio
Posts: 6,932
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
And the After Pics
__________________
FB Page for my Seats Belts https://www.facebook.com/73-87-Chevy...9439407476735/ Restoring Seatbelts: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=809750 SOLD My 86 Build:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=654972 Past Restored Bench Seats:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=715398 PayPal link to pay for your items: https://www.paypal.me/TKCR |
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#348 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Ohio
Posts: 6,932
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
These were restored for a board member. 1968 Chevelle SS. I’ve only done 1 other set for a Chevelle. But I love doing these, they are my favorite buckles! Overall, they weren’t in too bad of shape. 2 of the chrome latches were pretty rusty & pitted. Got lucky, and there’s someone on EBay that sells Chevelle belts, and he is only 10 minutes away. So I was able to get a couple of replacements right away.
So everything was throughly cleaned, and rust removed from the chrome pieces. Buckles disassembled for that same reason. The caps were cleaned and freshened up with black, and the emblems polished up. These are the Before Pics.
__________________
FB Page for my Seats Belts https://www.facebook.com/73-87-Chevy...9439407476735/ Restoring Seatbelts: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=809750 SOLD My 86 Build:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=654972 Past Restored Bench Seats:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=715398 PayPal link to pay for your items: https://www.paypal.me/TKCR |
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#349 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Ohio
Posts: 6,932
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
And here are the After pics.
__________________
FB Page for my Seats Belts https://www.facebook.com/73-87-Chevy...9439407476735/ Restoring Seatbelts: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=809750 SOLD My 86 Build:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=654972 Past Restored Bench Seats:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=715398 PayPal link to pay for your items: https://www.paypal.me/TKCR |
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#350 |
Senior Member
![]() Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Ohio
Posts: 6,932
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Re: Restoring OEM Seatbelts
Received someone’s 1987 Belts in the Mail. This is frustrating. 2 things happened here.
1) The seatbelts were packed in the box with no protection. That’s not a good idea. Please! I hate to see someone’s belts get damaged like this. If you send me belts, please protect them in the box. 2) The Post Office likes to play soccer with the boxes. So again, protect the belts by adding protection. So moving on. I did have a spare housing to replace the one that got broken. These are being sent to get new webbing. So I did my normal rust removal, throughly cleaning and lubing the mechanisms. So I did try my hand at some plastic welding. Thought I would practice on the broken housing. I’m surprised at how well it turned out. Not bad for a first timer! Tomorrow they will be sent to get new webbing.
__________________
FB Page for my Seats Belts https://www.facebook.com/73-87-Chevy...9439407476735/ Restoring Seatbelts: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=809750 SOLD My 86 Build:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=654972 Past Restored Bench Seats:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=715398 PayPal link to pay for your items: https://www.paypal.me/TKCR |
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