Anyone have suggestions on what a good donor vehicle would be for seat belts for My 1954 F100?

 

I looked at some in junk yards and they were dirty, faded, and worn. I finally just bought a new set of 3-point belts from the supplier at the Pleasanton swap meet($70). They work good and match my interior. John

 

J.C. Whitney sells a variety of new belts for about $15-20 each. They have lap belts with and without retractors, and even a style that is vintage in appearance in a number of colors. I got new Bendix lap belts for my 52 F3 on ebay for $12/pair. I devised a way to mount them without drilling any holes in the truck. If interested, I can send you a drawing or post it in my gallery.

 

I forgot whether you had a bench or buckets, Paul. Either way, the best bet is to go for the new stuff. Unless you can score some nice donor belts from a 1st gen mustang for the time being. I lent my extra shoulder belts from my fastback to the panel, but plan on definately going the route the other guys have and buying new.

SteV8e, would you mind posting it in your gallery? (Kinda moot point for me now, but I'm interested in seeing how you did it.)

 

Gentlemen,

I bought my seatbelts from the salvage yard and got them for 20 bucks for lap belts with retractable except the center....the donor vehicle was a ford aerostar van....i am not going for the shoulder belts...this truck will be a daily driver and not a show vehicle....


James

 

i am not going for the shoulder belts...this truck will be a daily driver and not a show vehicle....

James


You forget to weld your upper mount in before you painted too?

BTW, Julianos has very good quality belts for cheap also.

 

In my slant cab, which I'm building as a daily driver, I swapped in the bench seats and (3) belts from a '94 Chevy Cheyenne from the slavage yard. I bent up some heavy metal stock for the shoulder mount point and welded it in the upper corner of the cab just over my shoulder. SOmeone makes them now because I saw them in Tennesse @ the SuperNationals. I drilled the floor for the other mounting points and used lighter stock to reinforce these as well... you can make lots of things work, so, if you are on a budget, go tto the wreckers looking for a colour that compliments the colour of your truck... only trick here is you need to haave decided on that!
53Merc

 

As a former First Responder, I must say:

Please install them properly
Make sure they are in good condition
Please use them

Rember, It is easier to scrape someting off the outside of the windshield, that the inside

 

I have a drawing of the interface I built for my safety belts, but the gallery will not permit .pdf, .tif, or .bmp files, so send me a message if you want a .pdf, and I will attach it to an email. Be sure to use Grade 8 hardware (bolts, washers, and nuts) and Loctite for your installation. And wear the belt. It will keep you in front of the steering wheel and the pedals.

 

Dick is absolutely right!

If you are not sure of your welding, or any part of it, get someone who knows how to do the work. The seat belts are not any good if they come riping out of some cheesey metal upon force of impact!

I know many don't instll them because they are certainly not original, and many just put lap belts.

It's my truck and more importantly, my family so I am building it to drive safe at highway speeds (and we seem to go a little faster up here in the great white north). That's why I have a modern drive line, 11" Front Discs and 11" rear drums to stop and a third brake light... they are NOT Stock but they make me feel safer.

BTW, where all 3 of the belts mount to the floor, (that's 2 high strength nuts and bolts per belt) I reinforced the floor top and bottom by welding plate stock and then welded the nut to the bottom of the cab... that was just for ease of installation.

53Merc

 

most any seat belts will do. I finally finished bolt in mounting brackets for the shoulder belts.

 

Okay fenders....

i got the truck already painted from cali....so my gain his loss....hehehe....also there are seats now with belts already built into them for 2001 and up....so i would suggest that getting a seat from the yard with those on it is a PLUS but a cost too.... F100connection.com has the setup that the fellas are talking about...like i told everybody before...this is only a cruiser not a show stopper...dont want to invest thousands of $$$$$$...

James

 

Does anyone know where I can pick up the oversized washers to mount the belts to the floor?

 

I suggest McMaster-Carr (www.mcmaster.com). You can order them on-line or by phone (630-833-0300) and they will ship them today. For this application, I recommend High-Strength Hardened Washers (C1040-C1050 steel) or Large OD Case Hardened Steel Washers (C1018 steel). For instance their 5/16" washer is 1/8"thick, 11/32" ID, 1-1/4" OD and sells for $8.79 for a package of 10. (Part number 92170A116).

 

If you are interested in that part number, the correct one is 92140A116. Sorry for the error.