sassc3

Hi,

Did all 72 coupe pillars come from the factory with the necessary reinforcement and mounting bolt hole to accommodate shoulder belts? Or only with the shoulder belt optioned cars?

TIA, Paul

GD70

Standard equipment on coups. Mine are also missing. Bubba $ucks!

baxsom

i have been wondering about shoulder belts myself.
my convertible has the holes in the seat as well as the trim for belts but no shoulder belts. i figured that someone just took them out.

sassc3

My seats don't have the seat belt holes and neither does the trim panel piece.

But now that I know there should be a good anchoring point on the pillar, couldn't I mount an after market single retractor there instead of on wheel well or are there other issues to consider?

GD70

As far as I know, there is no hard point to mount it on the pillar. You'll need to mount it on the wheel well. Look in your AIM, there's lots of detail there.
Glenn

JimT

I have the shoulder harnesses on my '72 coupe. The belts/recoil units mount on the wheel wells in the rear compartment.

sassc3

Do your belts go straight from the retractor on the wheel well to the hole in the seat or to a loop on the pillar then to the hole in the seat? I'm betting straight to the seat.

1stC3Vette

I did a bunch of research to find this out. It is my understanding that all the cars came with the reinforcement. If not all, then atleast all of the coupes. The seatbelt was an option that not all of the coupes had. There is a lot of dispute about this, but I have found too many cars that did not have them, and did not have the pass through in the seat back.

Pull the carpet back at the rear humps and you will find it. If you remove the rear wheels, you can find the pass through hole inside the wheel well area.

Good luck,
Dino

GD70

68-69 were optional, from 70 on they were standard and optional for verts. Don't remember what year they became standard for verts. Lots of people removed them because they were not in vogue, and weren't used much. Too bad in retrospect because now originals cost a small fortune. WIth all the repop belts, you'd think someone would make CORRECT style belts & buckles, not the generic stuff most of the vendors sell. How much more would it cost to cut & bend the metal differently and stick a stud on?

sassc3

Thanks guys, great info.

But, just to be clear, no 72 coupes used the pillar in the operation of the shoulder belt, and therefore, the pillar (not the wheel well) does not have any reinforcement and bolt hole, right?

RunningMan373

That's correct, in the following year ('73), the sholder belts were still on the 'top of the rear wheel humps'. The side pillars have 'No Hole', at all, from the factory. If you pull the carpet bacdk, roughly centered on the top of the wheel well is a threaded hole for a retractor for the shoulder-clip on belt. They used to be on the inner side of the wheel well '68-'69? i believe. Change was made by '72 though.

Andover Restraints http://www.andoauto.com/Corvette4.htm is your best bet for a comlpete set, a comlete set with all the bolts will set you back around 300. You can order them in Any Color, which is nice, lead time for any color, other then black, which they stock, is about a month. The 'Functional Replacements' are almost exactly like the originals, I can't see any difference (I have a set, installed), but the shoulder to lap belt steel stud clip design is differnt from stock. They have original belts also, but a bit more pricey. These would clip to your original belts, both types will bolt right up to the factory holes, though you will need the bolt kit if you go with the functional replacements, as there's a size mis-match between the factory shoulder bolt and the replacement shoulder retractor. Any set you get,, good luck,, , as a tip,, if you do get a set, turn the shoulder belt end clips over 180°, to push them through the seats, they donb't go straight up. C.

JimT

As the pictures show in one of the posts, my shoulder belts run directly from the recoil unit through the bracket in the seat back.

Paul L

GD70,
They never became standard in convertibles. For the last year of production (1975), only 646 of 4,629 convertibles had them.



This is the Andover unit.

Easy Mike

sassc3

You guys know your ****!

What year(s) did they mount the retractor to the pillar instead of the wheel well?

GD70

Yeah, I was curious and looked in my black book today and saw that.
Glenn

RunningMan373

After the '78 or '80 redesign. maybe an owner of one will chime in?

GD70

In the CORVETTE C3 buyers guide you can see them on the 79, which makes me think they were also mounted on the pillars in 78.