Mod 2 pt seat belt to 3 pt seat belt

[fredguaz]

Hello,
My 76 Spider came with 2 pt. seat belt. (no shoulder harness) Has anybody added the bracket behind the rear seat to convert to 3 pt? If so I would love to get details of that bracket, even if it's stock, such as thickness of metal used, close up photos, etc. Each bracket seems to be made up of two pieces that are tack welded together.
I have seen some photos of that bracket but not close enough to make out detail. Also it seems like my stock seat back (rear) can also be modified by removing some foam and adding a belt guide.
Comments?
Thank you,

P.S. As Kind of a newbie, I post here because there seems to be more traffic here in 'Fiat Spider Related', rather than 'Modifications'. I hope I am not violating some kind of forum etiquette ??

[baltobernie]

You'd think this would be an easy mod, but it's not. Both the attaching surfaces are curved, and fabricating a new bracket would require some real skill. The OE shoulder belt mounting box is a very robust piece of metal and difficult to access. One of my buddies occasionally cuts them out for your purpose, and it takes an hour with an air chisel and die grinder. You can e-mail j.erskine2@verizon.net to see if he has any for sale.

Yes, the rear seat back can be modified in the manner you've described.

Search this topic on the forum; I think there some guys who have found aftermarket solutions to this. Maybe a cable mount with a backing plate?

[vandor]

I would second the opinion that cutting the piece out from a later Spider is the best solution.
If you have a rollbar the belt could be mounted to that, but it would have to be done by some who really knows what they are doing.

[btoran]

resurrecting an old thread, but i just did this on my 1975 car.

i bought the brackets and top portion of the back seat very reasonably from folks on this site both came from donor cars)and had the brackets welded in. i had to dye the seat to match, but SEM sells a spray can that is a perfect match for the original black.

the most difficult part was finding someone interested in the welding (most are already involved in larger, higher paying one-off jobs). the most expensive part was the new seat belts. they are not cheap. i bought mine from seatbeltplanet.com and they have a setup that is specific to our spiders because of the way the retractors hang on the brackets. while i was at it, i added two point lap belts to the rear "package shelf", for occasional short trips with the kiddies.

it was a great upgrade. it's much easier to get buckled in and i feel much safer driving. of course, it's a little car, so it's never going to VERY safe. At least i'll stay in my seat now when an SUV drives over my car. wait, is that a good thing?

[fredguaz]

Thanks bt
Do you by chance have photos of the brackets installed?
I bought the brackets from juvius here but have yet to install them.

[btoran]

this is a picture someone from the forum sent me. it shows the bracket behind the passenger seat of a stock car.

[BERGFIAT]

One of the vendors should have some of those made up. Honestly, I wouldn't wear just a lap belt ( and I don't now) I'll take my chances getting thrown clear, do a quick tuck and roll and call my wife for a lift home.

[azruss]

I am an old enough guy that i learned to drive on cars with no seat belts. When I was 16, there were 5 fatalities in town that summer that resulted from collisions that were under 25 mph. the driver was thrown from their car and then run over and killed by their own car. Leaving a vehicle as at 25 mph projectile is something i'm not interested in doing. If you go flying out into a field with nothing to hit, you may be okay. In the city, there are way to many hard things to hit...curbs, posts, other cars, etc. To me, you are a lot safer strapped in with all that sheet metal to take the brunt of the force. Twice in my life, I have been saved because of wearing a lap belt because I remained behind the wheel where i could still drive the car and get it under control.

[BERGFIAT]

I am an old enough guy that i learned to drive on cars with no seat belts. When I was 16, there were 5 fatalities in town that summer that resulted from collisions that were under 25 mph. the driver was thrown from their car and then run over and killed by their own car. Leaving a vehicle as at 25 mph projectile is something i'm not interested in doing. If you go flying out into a field with nothing to hit, you may be okay. In the city, there are way to many hard things to hit...curbs, posts, other cars, etc. To me, you are a lot safer strapped in with all that sheet metal to take the brunt of the force. Twice in my life, I have been saved because of wearing a lap belt because I remained behind the wheel where i could still drive the car and get it under control.

Well, if these guys would have tucked and rolled, they would be here today defending their right not to wear seat belts.

[fredguaz]

Bt
Thanks for that photo. I saw that one online as well.
I was more interested in the photo of yours so that I can see how they welded it
Looks like it was originally tack welded.

[aj81spider]

I'd been thinking about converting my 74 to 3 point belts and this chain convinced me. I contacted John per Bernie's suggestion above and he had a set of mounting brackets he had cut out of a parts car. An hour or two of grinding to get the old welds off and a friend with a welder resulted in the successful installation of the brackets. The seat belts are in and work fine (bought them from Seatbelt planet - make sure you get the ones that don't mount to a B-pillar). When welding keep an eye on your undercoating. Mine smoked like the dickens and got me to actually pull my fire extinguisher as a preventative measure when the welding was happening.

My back seat won't go in now, but I'm building a custom package shelf so that didn't matter to me. Here are the brackets welded in:

Right



Left



and closeup:

[fredguaz]

Thanks for those photos, AJ.
I know what you mean about that undercoating. Just mig welding in patches in my floor, that stuff really wants to ignite!
Were your brackets welded in with mig or gas? I have a mig but that's pretty thick metal being welded onto pretty thin metal and want to make sure I do it right. In other words, hot enough to penetrate the thick metal will burn through the thin. Gas is probably best. I know there's a technique to it. May just hire that out, unless a Weldor wants to chime in.
Thanks again.

[aj81spider]

I know almost nothing about welding and had a friend do it, so can't help you too much. I believe he used a MIG welder with gas. He didn't seem too worked up about the thick bracket being welded to the sheet metal, but he's a pretty mellow guy so I'm not sure I would have known if he was worked up about it!

[spiderrey]

It can be even easier then that. Euro cars had three point belts very early on.I bought a euro 71 spider at the second or third BFI. It had three point belts. I put them In my 70. they bolted right up.

[vandor]

I have never seen any info on that. Do you have any pics? There is a mounting point on the wheel well, but I never thought it was a good place for a belt mount, as the top sort of folds on to it.
Maybe there were some countries in Europe that required 3 point belts early on? Italy was definitely not one of them