Seatbelt upgrade in early 911

[Reg]

I'm just wondering about any of you early drivers out here if you had upgraded your seat belts to the newer 80's type tension shoulder belts.My original belts are ok, but it seems a pain to adjust them for different passengers.

Questions are this: Will they bolt in without changing my car, and do I have to modify any mounting points in any way?

I want to upgrade, but not without being able to go back to original.

Thanks!

[campbellcj]

I did the update on my 70E Targa and am very, very pleased with it. Really transforms the car from an entry/exit/driver comfort convenience standpoint compared to the early non-retractable belts. The new webbing of course looks nicer and is most likely safer/stronger too.

I used TRW/Repa parts obtained in a kit from PEP (www.peparts.com). Not cheap at around $150/side but good OEM stuff. NEW...you could probably save money using boneyard parts but I view junkyard/ebay seat belts kind of like used underwear. You never know where it's been.

The mount points are there from 69- IIRC. The install on my car required zero modification to hard parts; the only thing was to put the slots for the belt pass-thrus in the upholstered rear quarter (side) panels. I was redoing the whole interior at the time anyway so this was a non-issue for me.

Pics of my setup are here (partway down the page):
http://www.nosubstitute.org/911e/interior

[jkeyzer]

I upgraded to 924 seatbelts found at the local junkyard. The retractor fits in the stock location after a pin is unscrewed. I had to weld in mounting points for the lap belt and receptacle because my 72 had none. Works well but you do have to be a little careful with where you put the mounting points as the belts are not overly long.

[curtisaa]

Chris...I had a chance to go thru your site and it's very well done. You must be one of the Motormeister "sucess" stories. I was very interested in your selt belt upgrade, I have a 70 S coupe. I suppose my upgrade would be a bit different from your Targa conversion ?? I like the 16" fuchs on your car ( black). Can you fit the 7X16 in the stock wheel wells??

[GeorgeK]

I have to chime in there:
ANY belt should be declared unsafe after 10 years at the very least. The webbing is subjected to UV rays, dirt, humidity, abrasion... I would hate to crash with a 10+ year-old belt...
After all, a climbing rope is thrown out after 6 years, even if NOT used. A Racing belt has a limited life too.
We should all do ourselves a favor and ditch every seatbelt that is over 10 years old. I know it is a lot of money, but dental work and Intensive Care Units cost a tiny bit more...
GeorgeK

[campbellcj]

Originally posted by curtisaa
Chris...I had a chance to go thru your site and it's very well done. You must be one of the Motormeister "sucess" stories. I was very interested in your selt belt upgrade, I have a 70 S coupe. I suppose my upgrade would be a bit different from your Targa conversion ?? I like the 16" fuchs on your car ( black). Can you fit the 7X16 in the stock wheel wells??

I must admit my engine seems to work pretty well. I don't drive the car much, but when I do, I don't baby it. I ran it at Willow once where it survived a whole hot day of 5000-6500 RPM's with zero problems. It probably made a difference that I am local to MM and monitored the process closely via phone, email and physical unannounced shop visits. I have my doubts about the mail-order approach and wouldn't do that myself. I am also a quite vocal & prolific poster on the big Internet Porsche boards, so it would not surprise me if my job may have gotten some 'special attention'. Personally I suspect one of the issues at MM is inconsistent training and supervision of the engine builders. It is a big shop - somewhere around 10-15 employees - and some are clearly better than others. There may be turnover issues as well. Would you rather have your engine worked on by a new guy who's done 3 before yours, or a guy with 15 years experience? Never know which you'll get at a mass-production shop like MM. My work was done back in 99 too; I couldn't say what has gone on there in 2000-2002. From what I've heard lately, I probably would not go back next time around. Since that timeframe I have learned a lot, and met other mechanics and shops that I would rather use.

Anyways, back to seat belts. I don't think there is anything too different about the seat belt retrofit on a coupe, other than the side panels possibly being a different piece. The threaded mount point should still be there on your coupe. Easy enough to check, just pull off the upholstered side panel and look under the rubber sound matting.

The 16" black Fuchs in a few of my pics were loaner wheels, 16x6's. They did look kinda cool, I agree. I previously had a set of polished 16x6's (sold). Now I just have the restored original 15x6 "deep" Fuchs. If I ever do any track events with this car (doubtful) I'll pick up some late style 15x6's or 16x6's again. Supposedly 16x7's can fit in the rear but I like the looks and handling of 6's all around on the early narrow body cars.

[brittbolen]

(bringing a thread back from the dead!)

What if you don't want to modify the side panel, would the peparts.com kits work? where would you anchor the belt retractor?

Does anyone know a source for 3 point fixed belts? What about mounting a brey-krause harness truss in an early (aka 1970) car without hacking up the interior?

Can you tell I've decided that the "Repa/West Germany/1969" tag on my belts no longer seem llike a good idea after going sideways through hog pen at VIR today?

Britt

[DaveE]

Originally posted by GeorgeK
...... A Racing belt has a limited life too..........

SCCA regs are 2 years for SFI belts and 5 years for FIA belts.

[tabascobobcat]

Originally posted by jkeyzer
I upgraded to 924 seatbelts found at the local junkyard. The retractor fits in the stock location after a pin is unscrewed. I had to weld in mounting points for the lap belt and receptacle because my 72 had none. Works well but you do have to be a little careful with where you put the mounting points as the belts are not overly long.

Jeff,
I need to do this too.
Where did you weld the mount points in at ??
Can you send a picture or 2 or 3 ??
It would be a great help.
PM me for my home email
Thanks
Dave

[Nitrometano]

I'm interesting in that modifcation too for my '72 911. Or maybe use 4 points seat belts.