Seat belts and saftey issues

[Rkroel]

Hello all.

I searched the forums and was unable to come up with a solution I am satisfied with.

I just purchased a '71 240z, with lap belts only. I am not willing to take the risk of driving around with lap belts only, especially with family members or my girlfriend in the car. So as a result I am trying to either:

A) Replace the lap belts that are 30+ years old and Install shoulder belts

Or

Replace the whole system with a harness or a new shoulder/lap setup.

I read somewhere that the shoulder belt is optional and will clip -onto the lap belt. Can a _new_ set of these be purchased somewhere? I have not found anything.

Someone also hinted at being able to retrofit belts out of a late model Z?

The car has an MSA style bolt in roll bar; I do not like the idea of bolting a restraint system onto something that is bolted in it’s self.

On the same note I would not want to bolt it to a strut bar either.

What are my options without going for a full cage?

Thanks in advance for your help, and if I have missed anything in the forums feel free to point me in that direction. :stupid:

-Ryan

[Zedrally]

Never heard of a zed with just lap belts?

Can't imagine that your car came from the factory with these.

A PO must have switched them out.

I agree that they are in-adequate.

[Rkroel]

Inadequate indeed. I read somewhere that the shoulder belts are removable. I wasn't alive when they first came out so I can't confirm that.

-Ryan

[Zedrally]

Try a zed wrecker for the original parts.

Unless you're into competition avoid a full harness. [Life issues with belts etc].

[Rkroel]

Replacing 30 year old belts with 30 year old belts doesn't fix my problem unfortunately. Adding the shoulder belt would be good, but wouldn't do much if it broke. Which is why I am looking for newly produced solutions.

Thanks

Ryan

[Walter Moore]

Yes, back in '71 the shoulder belt attached to the clip of the lap belt. It was considered optional. They were horrible from a comfort standpoint beause they didn't have retractors, and constantly cut into your neck. When cars came from the dealership the shoulder belt was clipped to the ceiling above the door. (Which is exactly where 90% of them stayed for the life of the car...)

There was a full set of belts for sale on Ebay that you could have looked at as a reference, but the auction ended today.

If you look above the side window behind the door post there is a bolt hole. (10mm or 12mm something like that.) This bolt was what attached the shoulder strap to the frame. If I remember correctly it is near the back of the window, almost to the opening for the hatchback. It will take really long seat belts to use the original mounting locations.

I have a similar problem. My car has NO seat belts at the moment. It isn't a problem since it doesn't run, but I will have to install aftermarket belts eventually.

I know that JCWhitney sells seat belt kits, but I haven't yet tried to seriously research other options.

[Rkroel]

Great, thanks for the info! Ill go take a look at the car and peruse JC witneys website. Ill let you know if I find anything of interest.

-Ryan

[Zs-ondabrain]

May be off the path but heres the original bolt hole and shoulder harness to rear of 1/4 window

[Zs-ondabrain]

And the clip on the lap belt

[Zs-ondabrain]

And finally the shoulder belt attached to the lap belt via the clip

[Rkroel]

Ahhh! I wondered what the other side of the clip on the lapbelt was. Thanks for posting those pictures!

Ryan

[Zs-ondabrain]

Nobody had posted pics and I figured you might want to have an idea of what they were talking about and if you go to buy one, you might want to know what you're looking for ( by picture reference, of course)

Hope they help!:classic:

Dave