Seat belts or not

[Crosley.In.AZ]

do you folks install seat belts in the old cars for street use?


Lap belts or combo shoulder - lap belts?

There are some offerings of new seat belts now , not a real need to get a 25 yr old  set from a car sitting in a junk yard


I am some what curious how safety minded folks are on seat belts... we worry about brakes that work well , good steering , etc

[CQQL33]

I believe it depends on what kind of "vehicle" you are driving......If it is a T-bucket, seat belts won't do you much good.   You actually sit outside of the frame and there is nothing else around you for any type of protection.
If you are in a steel coupe or sedan, yes you should have seat belts.   If it is a glass car body with good steel tubing reinforcement also yes, seat belts are a great idea.     Some of the glass car bodies I have seen the added seat belts may make you feel safe but they will not protect you very much..............that is my opinon and I an sticking with it...

[Bugpac]

Even if a seat belt tears away on impact, IE mounted to a fiberglass body... its still gonna absorb some shock load to your body, rather than not running any at all....

[t-vicky]

Depends on the car.  I get it my econoline PU and it is automatic to snap them on. (worry about being the first one there.)  Same way with the wifes late model. Her 40 Chevy has belts but we only use them on trips.  My 40 Olds dosent have any & I don't worry about it. My 26 Ford vicky don't have any, but I don't worry about getting thrown out of it. I can barely get in & out.

[wayne petty]

seats belts are designed to keep you in the seat..  this allows you to maintain control of the vechicle when things get bumpy or out of control... imagine hitting a dip that you did not see.. and you are airborn... and you cannot reach the pedals.. or you come down on the go fast pedal..

they also keep people from being ejected from the car..............................

when i worked the the brother hood raceway back in the early 80s a few teams brought out their top fuel cars...  for testing... one was a brand new car.. only a few passes on it..  with a borrowed engine and lenco... (out of a funny car)  the bracket for the morse cabe to the reverser was not at the proper angle... and it kept binding and popping out..  i ask them to fix it .. it popped off as after turning onto the track and backing into the burnout box...  i saw the lever go forward after the driver was struggling with it...   before i could point out the problem he hit the gas for the burnout..  it was in reverse...  the tires started spinning backwards and the drivers eyes got huge..  as the rpms came down as his hand was on the brake leverpulling as hard as he could. the tires hooked..  he took off backwards  and slammed into the huge stack of shipping containers.. the car flipped up like an ironing board and the front end bounced off the containers and slammed back to the ground..   his belts were no wear near tight enough..the submarine belt was loose....  .. he did break his neck but lived.. and is paralized..

[UGLY OLDS]

I put them in everything & use them ALL the time...I went through the "Dip" senario that Wayne explained.. I hit a banked 1/4 mile turn-off road at 125 MPH back in my "racer" days..Car launched just like the Duke's of Hazzard.....Landed on the front bumper & front wheels ...Thankfully... All I really remember was my head being "stuffed" into the roof ....And I was TIGHTLY belted in   .....I wouldn't take the chance of being without them..Wife & Kid do the same... In fact the Kid wizzed of the driver examiner when he took his driver's test 'cause he refused to start the car unless the examiner put his seat belt on..  

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Great responses so far...... this makes me wonder about glass bodied cars.

Do some manufacturers offer seat belt attachment spots in the glass  bodied cars with metal tube work inside them?  Open or closed glass cars?

[Bugpac]

glass cars are easy, you just need to make sure they get bolted thru to the chassis, all tho, a seat belt is worthless if the seat itself can get torn loose, the seatbelt would likely kill you if the seat moved....

[Charlie Chops 1940]

All my cars get them. The tupperware cars I have done I have attached to the body, not to the frame. I usually bond a 3/16 - 1/4" plate of some size to the bottom side of the floor for the belt anchors and to the jamb if they are 3 point.

There has been a lot of discussion on whether you want to stay with the chassis or the body. Yes, I know race cars have the belts attached to the chassis, but at one time it was recommended that street cars be attached to the body. Still is OEM practice for the most part I believe.

That's still my practice. Your results may vary.

Charlie

[model a vette]

I've never owned a car that did not have belts starting from the time I got my license in 1967.
I even installed them in my Dad's '62 Rambler when he got it in 1963.
I always believed in them after my Mom was bounced out of the door on the family's '46 Chevy in a T-bone accident.
I was too young to put them in the '56 Plymouth that Dad owned between the '46 and the '62, otherwise the '56 would have had them too!.
My roadster had belts installed before I fired the engine for the first time.

[Pep]

I haven't heard a good reason not to have them. Apart from Wayne's scenario, they also help your head not going through the windshield and steering wheel in the event of a sudden stop. It is mandatory to have and wear them in Australia. They have saved many lives and prevented a lot of potential crippling, disfiguring injuries.

[bucketmouth]

Seat belts I hate the bloody things,they're uncomfortable,look ugly,have to be fitted and are uncool. And legaly I don't have to have belts fitted to any off my rods. No good reason to have them.

Then one night while out cruisin Gary takes off in his bucket from the lights,goes around a slow car in front, hits a puddle and he goes sideways out of control into a tree. He hops out shaken but not hurt and saids if it wasn't for the belt he would have been thrown out on impact even though he was hanging on for grim death. The car is a wreck that takes a complete rebuild. Lucky escape No1.

Dave doing 80kph (50mph) and something breaks and sends him out of control hitting the curb and he rolls his bucket 1 1/2 times and ends up upside down.
He's still strapped in with a broken neck which apart from two fused bones in his neck he's now recovered from. Car is a write off. Now drives a Camaro that he hates.Lucky escape No2.

Well the belts that were under the roadster seat have now been pulled out and we wear them all time. With the two lucky escapes my friends had I have changed my opinion on belts. I reckon lap belts should be a minimum standard at least.

[Leon]

I've had lap belts in my 54 wagon since I got it on the road till last summer when I built the new chassis.  I welded supports into the door pillars and added 3-pt belts.  I feel better with them and the collapsible column that I put in it.   My Torino got 3-pt belts and my T had lap belts.  The lap belt in the rear seat of the wagon saved my niece going over the seat when the car had a "sudden stop" about 15 years ago.   I won't ride without them.

[chopped]

Have shoulder belts in the 36, wouldn't move without them.

[HotRodLadyCrusr]

Yep, lap belts in Big Olds and I always wear them.

You don't have to be going fast, or far from home, to get ejected outta a car without seatbelts on.