Hi everyone, I'm finally going to have my split bench seat removed from my '71 Skylark and bucket seats installed (with a shorty console). I was wondering if I can use the same seat belts I have in the car now? Do I just remove them from the bench and somehow install them on the buckets? My car has the lap belts and shoulder belts coming from the roof.
The lap belts are fastened to the anchor point in the floor regardless of seats. Reuse what you have & you may have some surplus as now only two occupants in the front. I had to find an extra buckle for the shoulder belts when I converted mine. One appeared to be missing or never installed.
I believe they different code number on them. Re-use the ones that are the same for both seats and eliminate the middle odd ball #s.
>>Hi Dave. I'm a bit confused by this. I have a split bench in the car right now and have four sets of buckles mounted to the floor (two for each side). One buckle is for the lap belt and one buckle is for the shoulder belt - if I emlinated any buckles then I wouldn't be able to hook up the shoulder belt.
Reinstall the belts just the way you took them out. Lap & shoulder for each occupant. A split bench seat car had no provisions for a middle occupant? Mine was a straight bench & I believe some parts were missing/removed when I got the car.
Thanks Steve! When I pulled up the original carpet I found an unused flare from the original owner, a 1974 nickle, and what looked like two lead balls - buckshot (the original owner lived upstate).
Steve, my memory may be failing but I think I have taken the middle belts out of split bench cars. The middle occupant obviously had no shoulder belt.
Dave, Your right about the middle position. I had to piece meal mine as there was a part missing....maybe I lost it at the shop....don't know. Mine was a straight bench.
>>I got my car from the original owner and the car's interior was untouched from the factory as the owner explained to me. No middle seat belt for the split bench in my car. By the way, the interior is now done with the new buckets, carpet, and shorty console - really looks good and I am very happy with it. I'll post pics as soon as I can get my film developed.
I finally got my pics developed though most came dark as the car was in the garage when I took them. For anyone interested, the bucket seats were out of a '70 GS (and originally were the dark saddle color with waffle grain pattern). The new '71 sandalwood covers were courtesy of Legendary Interiors. The new carpet is '71 sandalwood from OPG (sold in a kit with the underlay material and new door sills). The shorty console came out of a '68 Buick in California (and yes, I know it is a type I and not the type II correct for my car but I had a type II and sold it as I like the Buick crest better on the console). Just waiting for my sandalwood deluxe seatbelts to arrive and also those new repro rubber Buick mats from Legendary. I must give a BIG thanks to Steve C. as he gave me a lot of pointers on where and what to buy for my interior.
