Thread: Seat Belt Restoration Question

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I was fortunate enough to locate a set of non-retracting Hamill Deluxe Front Seat Belts with 1966 tags for my Camaro (exactly the right combination as the car was built early in the run, first week of Nov. '66, apparently before they started using retractors).

Anyway, they will need a minor cleaning and to have the webbing dyed from blue to black. I've researched this a little, and so far it looks like washing them in the top rack of the dishwasher, and using a spray on dye seem to be the leadiing ideas. Has anyone done this? Any specific tips would be appreciated, such as do you use any soap in the dishwasher cycle, and, any particular brand of dye? Or, are there netter ways to accomplish this?

Thanks!

I've never tried the dishwasher thing, I'd be concerned about the metal pieces. I suppose if you really worked at drying the buckles you might not have an issue. I've cleaned them with upholstery cleaner with good results, except for the light gold ones in my '65 Coronet, they were just too filthy. SEM makes an upholstery dye that won't transfer to clothing in use, available from most paint supply stores. If all else fails you can work with these folks: http://www.ssnake-oyl.com/ They have authentic fabric designs, colors, and can even do repop tags, a little spendy, and take their time, but do very nice work, including restoring the metal and plastic components.

Thanks for the input..I will definitely try the upholstery cleaner before the dishwasher, as see what is out there in the way of that type of dye!

In my opinion, you would be well-advised to follow Mr. Parmenter's suggestion about dealing with Ssnake Oyl and have them construct some belts for you from brand new webbing material using your original metal buckles.

Here's an article from SFI Foundation. These are the folks who test and certify aftermarket parts and pieces for the hot rod industry and the authority upon whom we technical inspectors rely for information and certification of drag race products. The chart included will show how the material degrades over time and is practically worthless after only 2 years. The article mentions sunlight, but degradation also occurs as a result of ozone in the air, so the belts will degrade just sitting in the garage as well as being exposed directly to sunlight. All drag race seat belts are tagged with a date code at the point of manufacture. At the end of 2 years, the belts are junk from a technical inspection standpoint and must be replaced with new belts.

If this is a trailer queen, then using 43 year old belts might be acceptable. But if you are relying on their strength and integrity to save your life in an incident on the roadway, you may not like the results.
On the left side of the page, click articles, then click seat belts....
http://www.sfifoundation.com/

Mister!!!???


:lol:

Cut him some slack, Bob. After our trip down memory last night I think Tech had a "senior" moment.

You're right Ken I should keep his advanced years in mind.............

Mom always taught me to show respect to my elders......

I'm with Tech---guess I'd be a bit more concerned about the integrity of the belt and buckles a whole lot more then the correct date code!!!! Just can't see where soaking a belt in water is going to do it any good.....

Oh yeah, and I also agree on the respect for elders.....'specially when there as elderly as Uncle Bob!!!!!! Heck, he's older then some of the rocks in my driveway!!!!!

I hadn't noticed that the link didn't go to the page I wanted to show. I've edited it to get to the proper page with a couple of clicks. Mr. Parmenter may be correct, I'm too old to check my own work.

Originally Posted by techinspector1

Mr. Parmenter may be correct, I'm too old to check my own work.

That would be me Joe. Can't even GET to my own work, much less CHECK it.