Restoring OEM Seatbelts

[TKCR]

Restored this set of Charcoal Black seatbelts for someone. They were dirty, had some fading and rust of the mounts. These were the plastic buckle Charcoal Black. Replaced the emblems with new ones, since the old ones were starting to peel off.
Here are the Before pics

[TKCR]

After pics!

[TKCR]

Been busy! I have several sets of seatbelts to restore, along with some interior pieces.

[TKCR]

I gotten a few 2 point lap belts sets done also.
Black and a Charcoal

[TKCR]

Something slightly different, but these are very similar to the 2point belts in our trucks. The retractors are slightly different, but the belts & buckles are the same.
So anyways, someone asked if I would do a set of 1970 Chevelle belts for him. Since I really like these style of buckles, I said yes. Well after I got the box of belts, I almost wished I had said no, lol. These things were FILTHY! They had so much dirt & filth caked on them, they could literally stand on their own! But I enjoy a good challenge.
The belts were soaked numerous times, before I even attempted the scrubbing process. I dumped and changed the water countless times. The water was literally black the first several soakings. When I finally got it down to looking like tea, then I started scrubbing.
The buckles were disassembled for through cleaning, and soaked for rust removal. 3 of the 7 were too rusty, so I replaced them with some spare parts I had. So here are all the Before pics.

[TKCR]

And here are the After pics.

[Jeepwm69]

Originally Posted by TKCR

And here are the After pics.

Looks amazing as usual. I'll bet the owner is tickled pink with them.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by Jeepwm69

Looks amazing as usual. I'll bet the owner is tickled pink with them.

I hope so!

[hatzie]

If that guy isn't happy he needs an attitude adjustment with a 2x4 right upside the head.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by hatzie

If that guy isn't happy he needs an attitude adjustment with a 2x4 right upside the head.

I’m sure he will be. I’m just always apprehensive on how someone will react. I had a set of Mahogany belts that I did for someone. He insisted that I start out with a really nice set, which I had to find. What I did have wasn’t good enough for him. Then he wanted all the bells and whistles. New buckles and new emblems. He ran the cost up, and he was aware of that every time he wanted something extra. After I get them completely for him, he doesn’t want them. WT...?! He obviously wasn’t happy with them. And that makes me nervous when it’s a color that not everyone is going to want, because now I have to hope someone else will purchase them, which someone did thankfully!
I’m not sure if I ever posted that Mahogany set, but this is them.

[hatzie]

Mahogany dash, armrests, carpet, and belts are the right color to go with the light sandy beige seats, trim plastics, door cards, and headliner.
Red and dark green over Frost White or Ivory 2nd color exterior with that interior combo turns out looking really nice.
Ivory, White, and root beer brown metallic works with that interior but dark green/white or dark green/ivory or red/white or red/ivory 2 tone metal and tan/brown interior really pops.
Black and Gray are the only other colors that go well with red sheet metal and those are pretty common.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by hatzie

Mahogany dash, armrests, carpet, and belts are the right color to go with the light sandy beige seats, trim plastics, door cards, and headliner.
Red and dark green over Frost White or Ivory 2nd color exterior with that interior combo turns out looking really nice.
Ivory, White, and root beer brown metallic works with that interior but dark green/white or dark green/ivory or red/white or red/ivory 2 tone metal and tan/brown interior really pops.
Black and Gray are the only other colors that go well with red sheet metal and those are pretty common.

That’s good to know. I did do a set of Mahogany belts for a board member. He wanted Dark Saddle belts, for his Saddle interior. But of course there’s no such thing as Dark Saddle seatbelts. I wasn’t sure if they would look good or not, but he seems happy with them. I always wondered how Mahogany would look in a tan truck. Because Mahogany is a brown. At least a lot of people call them Brown.

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by TKCR

That’s good to know. I did do a set of Mahogany belts for a board member. He wanted Dark Saddle belts, for his Saddle interior. But of course there’s no such thing as Dark Saddle seatbelts. I wasn’t sure if they would look good or not, but he seems happy with them. I always wondered how Mahogany would look in a tan truck. Because Mahogany is a brown. At least a lot of people call them Brown.

I think GM actually used the light color armrests with the light color door cards.
The Saddle (beige) headliner, door cards, kick panels, headliner trim, and seat came with Mahogany Brown dash cover, belts, and carpet in my Orange 1976 K20.

[Jeepwm69]

My 83 had light tan seat, door panels, belts, kick panels, and dark brown dash pad, so my guess is GM did a lot of mixing and contrasting over the years.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by Jeepwm69

My 83 had light tan seat, door panels, belts, kick panels, and dark brown dash pad, so my guess is GM did a lot of mixing and contrasting over the years.

The 81-87 Saddle Tan interior did have all light saddle tan, but the dash was dark Saddle. They did that because of the glare from the windshield.

[TKCR]

Completed a set of 77-78 Red Seatbelts for someone. Badly faded and one of the buckles needed replaced. Trimmed up the broken sections of the plastic sleeves. New upper anchor caps.
These were throughly cleaned and dyed with the correct 77-78 Red.

Also did a set of hinge garnishes. Whoever did his seat, which was NOT me, didn’t seem to think the garnishes needed done or replaced.🤷*♀️
This is a perfect example of an Upholstery Shop. They normally do nothing else, except for the cover. But as you can see, even the small items make a difference.
Here are all the Before pics.

[TKCR]

And here are the After pics.

[sk8rgui]

Man… All of these all look great. I bought a replacement set from LMC Truck and was a bit suprised at how different they were than my OEM 82 Red Seatbelts. Mine are pretty faded, but clean. The bigger issue is that they don’t really retract well.

I swapped out the driver side on my truck as it’s the one that gets used. I’d like to restore mine and was wondering what you do for slow to no retraction on yours? I much prefer the look of the originals compared to LMC’s aftermarkets.

Sorry if this was already mentioned. I didn’t see it in the several pages of this thread I looked at.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by sk8rgui

Man… All of these all look great. I bought a replacement set from LMC Truck and was a bit suprised at how different they were than my OEM 82 Red Seatbelts. Mine are pretty faded, but clean. The bigger issue is that they don’t really retract well.

I swapped out the driver side on my truck as it’s the one that gets used. I’d like to restore mine and was wondering what you do for slow to no retraction on yours? I much prefer the look of the originals compared to LMC’s aftermarkets.

Sorry if this was already mentioned. I didn’t see it in the several pages of this thread I looked at.

Sorry you fell victim to the aftermarket belts from LMC. I had aftermarket belts myself for a few years. They at least “looked better” than LMC’s belts. But when I finally found a Black Charcoal set, I decided one day to see what I could do with them. That is what has started this little venture.
So what I do is throughly clean the retractor mechanisms and lube them. A lot of what causes the retractors to slow down is a lot of built up of debris. Everything from dust, dirt, hair, coins, gum wrapper, petrified French Frys. You name it, I’ve probably have found it. It literally had one that had a huge mud wasp nest built inside a retractor. I have had a few where the counter balance was broken, but I was able to replace them with the spare parts.
I also do the same with the metal buckles. They get disassembled for cleaning of debris.

[sk8rgui]

Originally Posted by TKCR

Sorry you fell victim to the aftermarket belts from LMC. I had aftermarket belts myself for a few years. They at least “looked better” than LMC’s belts. But when I finally found a Black Charcoal set, I decided one day to see what I could do with them. That is what has started this little venture.
So what I do is throughly clean the retractor mechanisms and lube them. A lot of what causes the retractors to slow down is a lot of built up of debris. Everything from dust, dirt, hair, coins, gum wrapper, petrified French Frys. You name it, I’ve probably have found it. It literally had one that had a huge mud wasp nest built inside a retractor. I have had a few where the counter balance was broken, but I was able to replace them with the spare parts.
I also do the same with the metal buckles. They get disassembled for cleaning of debris.

Thanks for the info I appreciate it. I might be contacting you if I don’t have any luck to get a rough estimate from you.

[lks dcvn]

Are you able restore a set of parchment 1969-72 seat belts? I think fawn was the only color available for 67-68 (I could be wrong though).

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by lks dcvn

Are you able restore a set of parchment 1969-72 seat belts? I think fawn was the only color available for 67-68 (I could be wrong though).

Most likely, as long as I can get dye in that color.

[TKCR]

Just completed a set of 1977 Green seatbelts for someone. He’s going to use these with bucket seats versus a bench seat, so the lap belt was was deleted from the set. Upper Anchor caps were MIA, so new ones were used. Throughly cleaned & dyed.
These are the Before pics.

[TKCR]

And After

[TKCR]

Restored these for a forum member. He had a left side retractor that needed replaced. He did get a set from someone, hoping for a useable left retractor. Sadly they were in worse shape than his own. I went thru my stash, and was able to find a retractor that was useable. So with that, I was able to put together a set to restore. He also needed new upper anchor caps, since they were MIA. Belts were throughly cleaned & dyed. Retractor mechanisms were cleaned and lubed for better functionality. The buckles looked like a dog had chewed on them, so there wasn’t much I could do about the teeth marks, since they were plastic buckles. But they did get new emblems, since the others were coming off.
These are 79-80 CarmineRed. Here are the Before pics