Restraints on a 50's vintage car.

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walterclark
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Restraints on a 50's vintage car.

Post by walterclark »

I have been contacted by a guy, who along with 2 friends would like to try out hillclimbs in their 50s-60s vintage American Iron. Looks like a 56 Belair and around 1970 Lemans and Cutlass.

Image

Image

Obviously the Chevy didnt come with any belts, the LeMans had a lap belt which has been updated to and OEM 3 point, and the Cutlass has a 3 point.

I dont see an issue with the newer 2.

What would we require they have for restraints in the case of the Bel Air with stock seats?
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sdwarf36
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Re: Restraints on a 50's vintage car.

Post by sdwarf36 »

Your (and Don's) call. I'm sure there are aftermarket options out there for a retro 3 point installation.
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walterclark
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Re: Restraints on a 50's vintage car.

Post by walterclark »

Yes there are, like this:
Image
http://www.bobsclassicchevy.com/1955-19 ... hrome.html

They look like 3 point belts OEM's have used but there appears to be nothing certifying them as tested and safe, and I would hate to suggest a solution that wasnt.

With stock seats, the options for anti-submarine belts in a harness are limited to things like sitting on the sub straps of a 6 point and having them routed to the waist belt anchors. That is a valid configuration.

There is also a model of Schroth that is a 4 point and designed to be anti-submarine (they call it ASM) because of some work done with the shoulder straps and they carry a DOT approval, but we usually dont permit 4 point race harnesses.

Image
https://www.schrothracing.com/tuning/rallye/rallye-4

And Schroth also makes the same ASM technology available in a 4 point FIA harness:

Image
https://www.schrothracing.com/competiti ... ofi-II-asm

I am looking for suggestions, then I will speak with Don.
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Super1303
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Re: Restraints on a 50's vintage car.

Post by Super1303 »

Dude that'd be sweet! :D Man, I'd love to see/hear that!
I'd be interested to see what the Belair has to do too, I've been thinking of running Herman, 64 Benz 220b, at one of the hills for fun.
That has A/M Lap belts but originally had none, one of the reasons I haven't yet.
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3rdgendennis
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Re: Restraints on a 50's vintage car.

Post by 3rdgendennis »

http://wescoperformance.stores.yahoo.net/resebe.html

Looks to be universal 2 and 3 point belts for buckets or bench seat.
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walterclark
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Re: Restraints on a 50's vintage car.

Post by walterclark »

3rdgendennis wrote:http://wescoperformance.stores.yahoo.net/resebe.html

Looks to be universal 2 and 3 point belts for buckets or bench seat.
"Federally Safety approved #209 & #302 and meets Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) J386 specs!"
That looks pretty good to me. Thanks.
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walterclark
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Re: Restraints on a 50's vintage car.

Post by walterclark »

After discussing the options with Don, we recommended the belt solution David suggested.
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