1968 Mustang Convertible Restoration

1968 Mustang Convertible Restoration

Okay so headrests are great at keeping our heads from snapping back when we get rear-ended but what about flying forward? Airbags would be nice but the best we can hope for in a 68 Mustang Convertible is to try to improve the seat belt situation. Currently, the car is outfitted with simple lap belts and a collapsible steering column in case "something" (e.g. - my face) impacts it. Well, call me chicken but I'd just prefer not to test the collapsible steering column at all. So, the plan for the day is some kind of 3-point shoulder belt. In 1968 shoulder belts WERE an option (yay!). But they were only in Fastbacks and Coupes (boo!). Even then, they were of a "fixed" style meaning that there was no retractor. Instead, the user had to simply lock his/her body to the seat back with no ability to lean forward without loosening the shoulder harness.

So, many companies provide after-market retractable seat belts but their installation into the car is still the responsibility of the buyer and, unlike their roofed brethren, there are no pre-made mounting points on a convertible for a 3-point belt. 3-Point belts require a total of four mounting points. The first is for the retractor itself. The second is for the end of the main belt. The third is for the upper belt guide. The fourth is for the female side of the belt latch which usually consists of a mounting point, a short length of webbing, and the buckle. There are many many combinations of possible mounting locations and lots of web sites with instructions for the recommended mounting of the various vendor's belts such as the image to the right (from Wesco Performance's web site). The installation of retractable belts was actually my intention waaaayyy back when I modified the inner rockers to contain an additional belt mounting point right in front of the back seat.

Note that the "shoulder sash guide", in the image above, that mounts to the B-Pillar is lower than the top of the driver seat back. I started reading this THREAD , and this THREAD on the VMF. Mustang convertible. Enter the 1992-1996 Ford Econoline van passenger side seat belt! It's claim to fame is its long, high tensile steel, extended sash guide. So, the first task was to actually acquire the seat belt in question. A 92-96 Ford van belt has surely been on the market for decades and thus is readily available in every parts house for pennies right? These are now NOS replacement parts for a nearly classic car in themselves. Not the kind of news a frugal man such as myself wants to hear. 169. I got them in and examined them and realized more and more that I wanted the Econoline sash, all premade with it's chrome loop!

I sent the the new belts back and hit the Pick-N-Pull yard. They actually had 3 or 4 92-96 Econoline vans in various states of disrepair and all had their belts. This is when I realized that only the passenger side used the coveted extended sash guide with the correct S curve at the end. Fortunately, two of the vans had identically-colored passenger side belts in tact. I went to pull them with my trusty tool kit and came to my next reality slap; the bolts were gianormous Torx! 38 (for both.. those FOOLS!) and ran home cackling with glee. Well, nothing is easy and these were no exception. They have various tabs that needed to be hacked away before they could be mounted; a simple job for my angle grinder's cutting disk. The reel's brackets contained annoying tabs. The sash section consists of a spring-steel strap with a rubberized sleeve. There was also a mounting bolt that was affixed to the strap via a retainer that when removed, allowed the sleeve to be slipped off, cleaned up, and dyed light parchment. Unfortunately, the sleeve was not without damage for it's years of use. I'm not sure if there's a way to repair it. The sash guide disassembled. The belt after preparation ready to be mounted. It's a bummer the sash cover was boogered up. I worked out a simple design for a mounting bracket. MD used an L bracket that came with a seat belt mounting kit and bolted it to the front of the top well.