So I did a lot of research and REALLY wanted the cool shoulder harness type seatbelts but found that the safest option that will still allow access to the rear seat is a 3 point system with the top mount up in the spot where metal overlaps in the roof behind the driver. I believe this to be the case anyway...anyone disagree?
So with that assumption I bought a kit and needed to mount the bracket for the top mount. The recommended process is to remove the headliner and use a hanger to thread the bracket up into the correct spot via one of the holes you find behind the headliner.
Well I have an original headliner that is in pretty good shape and didn't want to remove it so I cut the stitching along the seam closest to where the bracket would need to end up with the idea being that I'll stitch it back up when I'm done (you should be laughing but I wanted to give it a try).
That went well...the seam is right where it needs to be and now I can see right where I need to be able to work.
I then removed the back seat and the panel (where the rear window is) and that gave me access to a hole that I could use to thread the bracket without having to mess with my headliner any more. Again, all is well...I threaded it up using some wire and it took no time at all.
Now that it's there though I realize there is a lot of room up there so the bracket keeps flopping out of position and I'm guessing it's going to be a bear to thread that bolt when the time comes. Anyone have any tactics for making that part of the process easier?
Also, with the seat out I found rust etc that is leading me to believe that I'm going to need to replace the floor pans. Anyone have a good article on knowing when to cut and weld as opposed to sanding and patching? I'm new to the body work side of things but I know rust when I see it and it feels pretty punky in some spots leading me to believe that if I sanded it to bare metal I would see the ground first.
I've included a pic without the seat just for fun. Comments welcome.
The bracket that I had was rectangular and had smaller holes around the perimeter to secure the bracket. you may want to consider drilling another, smaller (say 1/8") hole in the proper position to temporarily pin the bracket while you tighten up the bolt. Perhaps using an ice pick so you tear up your headliner
JamesWnew, I'll drill another hold and give that a shot. With the ice pic comment were you encouraging me to just rip it out and move on? I'm still deluding myself into believing I can sew it back when I'm done.
I managed to do it without doing any harm to the headliner, I peeled back the narrow segment just below the bolt hole and was able to get the bracket up and into place. I made the bracket myself with a welded on nut. The process was a bit of a PITA but all good in the end.
__________________ N/A 408 c.i. G-Force 5 spd. 10.x through the mufflers
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Installing 3pt seatbelts in my 66
