Convertible shoulder belt mount

[jmcasaleiz@gmail.com]

When shoulder belts became required where did they put the mounting point on Corvair convertibles? Thank you, Duke

[terribleted]

I have never seen a Corvair Convertible with a shoulder harness mount. I do not believe that shoulder harnesses were mandated during Corvair production.

[jmcasaleiz@gmail.com]

I believe they were mandatory in 1969 possibly as early as 1968.

[66vairguy]

Well folks ---- not to start anything, but yes Corvair GM did in fact show how to install shoulder belts in a convertible Corvair.

I'm not sure if they were ever mandated. I'll have to look through my old notes and see what I find.

I was surprised they had "shoulder" belts in a convertible, but they were the multi-piece units like in the 69 coupes were a separate belt and buckle was used for the shoulder. In the coupes the extra belt was held onto the headliner by clips until you used it. I had a 69 Camaro and while I used my seat belt, I NEVER used the shoulder belt. Just too awkward and time consuming to use.

The person who invented the single 3 point seat/shoulder belt hopefully got an award.

From a "just like factory" you can install shoulder belts in a convertible Corvair, but most install the new three piece seat belt. On a convertible they often use a modern seat with the seat/shoulder belt integrated into the seat. Warning -- your really have to secure these seats to the floor with serious anchors.

[Dennis66]

We bought new '68 Belaire wagon and it also came with the ceiling mounted shoulder belts. We never used them. We never even used the lap belts. We also had a '69 Impala and same story. My '68 Chevelle convertible, and my kid brother's '68 Impala convertible did not have shoulder belts. I do recall some older GM convertibles and strange routing for shoulder belts. It was like a clip on the outboard side of each front seat. Dennis

[davemotohead]

Seen this on a Convertible I worked on

[66vairguy]

Here is what I found in my notes:

Starting sometime during the 1966 model year, all Corvairs with fixed roof bodies had a support installed in the roof frame for a shoulder belt anchor bolt. Those cars had a modified Fisher Body code tag with a HOLE punched in the tag on the lower left. See attached

I found the GM 1969 installation instructions for REAR SEAT shoulder belts in a Corvair convertible. I haven't found the instructions for the front seat shoulder belt in a convertible. Probably in the 68 or 69 Assembly Manual. Maybe Brad has it.

[66vairguy]

Here is a summary someone compiled at one time about Corvair seat belts for all years.

BTW - The Federal regulations required front shoulder belts in 1968 - although documents are not clear as to if this was the 1968 model year (started around September of 1967) or the calendar year 1968.

I found the person responsible for the modern three point seat belt. In 1958, Swedish engineer Nils Bohlin invented the 3-point lap and shoulder seat belt for Volvo, the first implementation of what closely resembles the modern lap and shoulder seat belt we use today. The U.S. automakers could have done this in 1968, but we got a half-@##%$$ setup that was annoying to use. A typical "meet the rule, not the intent, penny pinching solution".

[66vairguy]

I found this comment about a 69 convertible -- not a great picture, but a good description.
See

LM 69 convertible front shoulder belts.pdf

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