I've had it with my original belts. All the springs in the retractors are worn out and just today I smashed the belt buckle in the door and tore a nice chunk of paint off right under the door panel.

I just painted the whole interior of the truck too. Whatever - I'll touch it up, wetsand it, and rub it out - but still these damned original belts gotta go!

I would like to get some racing harnesses - some decent looking 3-points, not the 6-point pro-mod jobs but so far I can't find anyone that makes them with a shoulder strap that would mount where my shoulder belt retractor is and have lap-belts that are long enough to use with the bench-seat.

Any ideas are appreciated! Thanks bro's! (Or gals )

 

There's a company called Retrobelt that you should take a look at. I got all my belts for Buford through them, and the look just fine. They're the old fashioned chrome lift buckle like you find on aircraft belts. I got a set of two point retractable (back seat sides), a set of two point non-retractable (middle seat front and rear), and a set of three point retractable for the fronts. They look nice and the mechanism will fit into the retractable unit spot in the wall where the original was located. I think mine cost in the neighborhood of $400 for everything, but I could be wrong.

Anyway, if you google you can find them. That's my $0.02

 

They do look nice! Only problem I see with them though, is that the stock 3-point system in 76 has two retractors - one on the wall and one on the floor whereas the Retrobelt kits have one retractor on the floor and a slider on the wall. How did your Retrobelt 3-points work with the plastic wall cover that goes over the original mechanism?

 

Mine are not installed yet, but I did test fit them. Firstly, while the stock belts had two retractors, the Retrobelt setup has a single retractor with a LONG belt, so it will reach the clasp without a problem. Secondly, the mechanism did fit well under the plastic cover under the wall without an issue. The only real difference is that you just bolt the end without a retractor to the floor where the stock retractor went, and that's it.

Another way to look at it is that with only one retractor instead of two, you have less to go wrong. Besides, a retractor that is 30+ years old is going to have a lot of wear regardless of how well the truck was maintained (unless, of course, noone ever used the seatbelts).

 

Oh I think I get how it works now! So the end of the long belt (from the retractor) bolts into the floor using the same bolt as the retractor's held down with? Does it look like you have to open up the hole in the cab wall cover to allow the belt to double through?

 

You don't have to alter anything. The belt will run from the retractor mounted in the wall (and it will fit), up through the hangar on the top of the wall... then alllllllll the way down where the end of it bolts to the floor using the original bolt-in position of the original equipment retractor on the floor. That way, from the seated position, you just grasp the clasp, and pull across your body, and the belt will extend from the retractor in the wall only.

 

So if the retractor goes in the wall, then where's the hanger go?

 

The hangar goes exactly where the orignal hangar went. It bolts into precisely the same spot (you're not out looking at your truck, are ya). The only mod you'll need to make here, ONLY if you have a supercab, is that you'll need to add a couple washers for the hangar to clear the seal on the quarter window if the seal is new. That's it. So, for clarity sake, I'll put it in order.....
1. Install new retractor mechanism in wall where stock retractor was under the plastic cover.
2. Run the belt up and install the new hangar where the original hangar was near the roof...meaning, remove the old hangar as it was part of the original belt assembly as well.
3. After hangar has been bolted into place, run belt alllllllllll the way down to the floor where the end of it will bolt directly into the location were the original floor retractor was installed. In all three locations, you will want to use the original bolts that hold these items into position, as they're a fine thread, weird shaped, Torx head bolt (I'm sure DOT had some sort of input on those things).
4. Install the clasp belt in exactly the same position where the original clasp belt was located.

That's it.....nothing else......nada.....zip.....zilch.....bupkis....... now, quit overthinking it!

 

I have pics in my gallery of an aftermarket seatbelt install I did a number of years ago...

 

crazyeddie. why not go with three four-points, and then use the now empty upper seatbelt mounts to mount some speakers? just gotta cut out the heavy steel, and you can fit a 6.5 in there. i just use the lap belts myself.

 

Ah but this is where I got goofed up and started scratching my head... my truck doesn't have hangers! I have two retractors, one on the floor that runs straight up to the one in the cab wall - no hanger.

I would put speakers in the cab recesses but I don't wanna chop up my cab. If I could find some 3 or 4-point racing harnesses that would mount in my cab recess that would be sweet because it would look somewhat original. I can't find anything long enough to work though. Plus I can't run just lap-belts - apparently it's illegal since the truck originally came with 3-points.

CrazyAirman, gonna go check out your pics.

 

who says its illegal?? i just cut the top belt off of mine and run the lap part! lol. the shoulder retractors smelled like something had drank a lot of milk and died... ugh...

 

again safety, you can't just modify the seat belts like that, if it came with the 3 point seat belt harness then you have to put that back or upgrade to something better, you can't just cut the top belt off, i am sure the lap belt is way safer compared to no seat belt, but the 3 point seat belt is superior in safety as it doesn't try and cut you in half in a collision, personally i don't like the feeling of almost being cut in half, and from what i have been told it is illegal to down grade a safety item in a car or truck, you can only improve or upgrade,

also many racing seat belts are not rated for street use, because many aftermarket manufacturers don't have the money to get them rated by the government to get the qualification, even though the racing seat belts are generally always better than stock, i think racing seat belt manufactures can't get the qualification easy because the owner is the variable, where the original Ford seat belts where rated and tested, thus they meet the governments standards since Ford standardized the installation at the factory, where a custom seat belt setup can vary, as some will do a half @$$ install, and some will take the time and do it right, thus they can't have them legal for street use,

but i would look into getting a new 3 point seat belt, the lap is fine, but if you had the 3 point in your truck already, or your safety and your passengers safety is a concern, go with the 3 point setup,

"keep it safe"

-Brent

 

CrazyAirman, I checked out your pics. Your install looks clean. Like I said in the previous posts, my truck has a different setup - there's not a hanger.

That's why I got goofed up Behemoth - if the retractor for the Retrobelt goes in the wall like you said, where would the hanger go? I might be able to use the Retrobelt kit like CrazyAirman did and mount the retractor behind the seat and bolt the hanger in the wall of the cab, and put the cover over it. Although I still don't know if the geometry of the Retrobelt system will work with the wall recess cover.

Agreed Brent. Besides the fact that I'd like to keep stuff looking as OE as possible, getting skimpy on safety isn't an option.

 

OK....then evidently you have three point belts I've not seen before. Does the belt to the shoulder just go directly from the retractor in the wall over the shoulder and to the clasp? If so, the retractor would have to be set awfully high in the wall for that to work well. Now you've got me going out to look at my truck again.......

Nope....mine has two different locations on the wall...the retractor is behind and a little above the striker plate for the door latch, and the hangar is up, just under the cargo light switch. I guess I don't know how your truck is set up without pictures.