Installing retracting belts in an early car with fixed belts

[brittbolen]

So I've been asking about this for a while, and now that I've done it I can,
hopefully, write this up so others can learn!

So I started with stock, original 1970 seats with fixed (aka non-retractable)
seatbelts, the belts bolted to the sides of the seat, and to the B pillar.

I ordered the KT-101C belts from PEParts.com, this included the belt with
retractor and a receiver:







I was always wondering where/how the retractor mounted on a car without one originally present.

Inside the back wheel well you can see a bolt hole:



This is the mounting point for the retractors, from what I've learned this is in
911s back as far as 1967 even if they didn't come with retractable belts.
There is usually a short bolt or plastic plug in the hole, you'll want to remove
that now.

To install the belts you need to punch a hole through the side panels to bolt
the retractor in. This is the only permanet modification you have to make to
the interior.

I used a small philips screwdriver to punch a hole through the panel from the
outside. A smarter person would use a awl, but I did have one...

once I had the first hole, i used a big sharp skewer to punch a bigger hole
from the inside out. Then used a couple of allen wrenches to make the hole
big enough.

Then you just bolt the retractor in place like so:





The bolt the belts into the b pillar and then the seats.

In my case I was installing new seats with seat belt nuts attached to the
brackets, but you can remove the very short bolt from the stock seats and
install the new belts on the original seats. PEParts told me to be sure to save
all that mounting hardware because they are very specialized for the factory
seats.

Thats it, pretty easy.

Britt

[KNS]

Nice Job! Too many crusty, old seat belts out there that need to be replaced.

[brittbolen]

There are lots of nice things about new belts...

1) i can back out of the driveway with the belts on
2) i can lower the passenger window without unbelting
3) i can reach the glovebox without unbelting

Combined with the new seats it's a whole new driving expirience.

And unlike most of my projects, i didn't hork this one up!

the only downside is I don't get to help cute girls adjust their belts anymore!

Britt

[RoninLB]

very nice

[evren]

nice write up and pictues! i did the same a few years ago. does anyone know where to source the covering bits for the retractor mechanism? i've seen a few on ebay but wasn't quick or rich enough. Evren