[Vetteman61]

Hello,

Safety is the biggest concern here because my wife will be driving this '37 Chevrolet.

We're building a '37 Chevy to be a daily driver with a 5.3 LS. I have two different ideas to choose from.

I can either mount a 3 point seat belt on the B pillar and keep the original seats or I can get seats from a later model car with the seat belts built into the top shoulders of the vehicle.

I would really really really like to keep the original seats if possible because we're trying to keep the whole car as original as possible but I'm not sure if the positioning of the B pillar is safe for the '37 4 door car.

Opinions?

Thanks,
Brandon

[matts37chev]

id go with the b pillar

[DanTwoLakes]

Yes, I would go with the "B" pillar too. Those seats with built in seat belts are great until something goes wrong, and then it's very expensive to fix.

[39 chev]

I used seat belts from a Toyota or Nissan pickup probably late 70's or early 80's.I don't have pictures,but i cut a triangle shaped plate out of 1/4 steel and put it inside the pillar on my 39 chevy coupe.this anchors the upper part of the belt.I mounted the retractors to the reinforcement at the bottom of the quarter panel.My coupe is a business coupe,so I have no back seat.I used a piece of 3" channel under the floor pan to mount the lap portion of the belts..I am not using the stock seat,mine is from a buick regal( 1970's).

[Vetteman61]

Ok, I was hoping for a good report on the B pillar idea. I'll be going with that then. Thanks for all the advice. Does anyone have any pictures on the best way to install the plate for the shoulder harness? I'd like to see how and where I should weld it.

Thanks,
Brandon

[blorgo]

Julianos site has a nice writeup of installing their seat belt products in old an car/truck. They sell a thick mounting plate with a nut welded in place. Shave this plate no more than needed to fit into the pillar and weld it into place.

http://julianos.com/how2.html

One thing I'd look at is the strength of that pillar itself. Is it just sheet metal with wood inside (to hold upholstery tacks) or is there some extra strength there?

[Vetteman61]

Thanks for the responses guys. I finally got some belts ordered. Now comes the hard part.

Brandon