Restoring OEM Seatbelts

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by hatzie

Those look great as usual.

The big deal on the Spirit of 76 is the low production numbers seat upholstery and the white door cards. Supposedly only 500 of them were built.
Do you have a source that could duplicate that seat cover?

No, not right off hand. I would imagine the materials would have to bought from SMS Fabrics, if they even have it. And then have it made. I bet it would end up being an $800-$900 just for the materials from SMS

[TKCR]

Just finished up a set of 87 Burgundy. Here are the Before pics.

[TKCR]

And After!

[TKCR]

Here’s a set of 1976 Saddle, 1st Style 3pt belts. These were done for a fellow forum member. They were pretty faded in spots. So they got the usual stuff. Through cleaning & dye. Retractor mechanisms cleaned & lubed, which these have 2 separate retractors. So the black housing for the upper retractors also were freshened up with Black.
Here are the Before Pics. Last pic is a close up the housings, one of the Before and After.

[1972K20]

I have a 1988 V30 crew cab 3+3 that's Air Force blue. The front belts (blue) need some attention to include the retractors. Also, the rear seats have laps belts only; however, there are holes with plugs in the pillar for what appears to be a shoulder belt mount. I'd like install matching shoulder belts for the rear. Can you help?

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by 1972K20

I have a 1988 V30 crew cab 3+3 that's Air Force blue. The front belts (blue) need some attention to include the retractors. Also, the rear seats have laps belts only; however, there are holes with plugs in the pillar for what appears to be a shoulder belt mount. I'd like install matching shoulder belts for the rear. Can you help?

I have several sets of blue 3pt belts. They would just need cleaned and restored. Send me a PM and I can give you the info on restoring your front belts also.

[TKCR]

Just restored this set of 1987 Blue seatbelts. These are NICE and clean.

[TKCR]

This set of Charcoal Black belts were restored for someone. Throughly cleaned, rust removal, lubed all the mechanisms for better retracting. Buckles were disassembled for debris & rust removal. New Emblems and New Upper Anchor covers.
Here are some before pics.

[TKCR]

And the after pics.

[LT7A]

Looks great! Plus, free string!

[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.

[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.

[1rippen6]

PM sent

[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.

[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