Restoring OEM Seatbelts

[lks dcvn]

Are you able restore a set of parchment 1969-72 seat belts? I think fawn was the only color available for 67-68 (I could be wrong though).

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by lks dcvn

Are you able restore a set of parchment 1969-72 seat belts? I think fawn was the only color available for 67-68 (I could be wrong though).

Most likely, as long as I can get dye in that color.

[Pontiac1976]

TKCR: I have a question. Have you found a set on factory looking alum rivet for the 81-87 tall re-coil covers. Are are you using just rivet.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by Pontiac1976

TKCR: I have a question. Have you found a set on factory looking alum rivet for the 81-87 tall re-coil covers. Are are you using just rivet.

These rivets?
The 87 belts, in the last photo, those take a longer rivet.m

[TKCR]

This set of 1987 Burgundy started out pretty nice, compared to a lot I see. It did have some minor fading. These got the usual treatment of being throughly cleaned, plastics freshened up with dye. Buckles disassembled for cleaning of debris. New emblem were installed.

[LT7A]

Nice! Good to see this stuff being rejuvenated and put back into use.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Nice! Good to see this stuff being rejuvenated and put back into use.

I cringe, thinking about all the belts I left behind in the trucks at the Pic-N-Pulls. I would pull the seats for restoration, but left countless belts behind, until I tried restoring a set that I did find. That's what got all this started.

[LT7A]

I hear you. I think we all have those thoughts. But at least we're doing what we can with what we have access to now.

[TKCR]

Restored a set of 87 Burgundy Belts for someone. These weren’t working correctly, so a through cleaning of the mechanisms was in order, now they work. They had a lot of gunk buildup which was keeping the counter balance weights from swinging. Rust & debris removal from the buckles. Emblems and covers were cleaned and polished.
Here are the Before pics.

[TKCR]

And After

[TKCR]

I have several Charcoal Black Seatbelts that are beyond my help. The webbing is frayed, so those just have to be re-webbed. So I finally made myself get a set out and send off to the professionals, that know more about re-webbing seatbelts.
Once they come back, then I’ll work my magic on removing the rust on the mounts, lubricating the retractor mechanisms and then restoring the retractor casings. Can’t wait to see them.

[TKCR]

Just completed a set of Charcoal Black belts for someone. Full restoration of rust removal, buckles disassembled for debris removal and then a through cleaning & dye. Retractor mechanisms cleaned & lubed for better retracting.

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by TKCR

I have several Charcoal Black Seatbelts that are beyond my help. The webbing is frayed, so those just have to be re-webbed. So I finally made myself get a set out and send off to the professionals, that know more about re-webbing seatbelts.
Once they come back, then I’ll work my magic on removing the rust on the mounts, lubricating the retractor mechanisms and then restoring the retractor casings. Can’t wait to see them.

Just like anything else there's likely to be good and bad outfits re-webbing belts.
Plenty of leg work to find a good one.
I'm interested to see what kind of results you get.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by TKCR

I have several Charcoal Black Seatbelts that are beyond my help. The webbing is frayed, so those just have to be re-webbed. So I finally made myself get a set out and send off to the professionals, that know more about re-webbing seatbelts.
Once they come back, then I’ll work my magic on removing the rust on the mounts, lubricating the retractor mechanisms and then restoring the retractor casings. Can’t wait to see them.

Well I got them back already, today! And I am more than happy with the new webbing.
Now it’s time for me to do my magic. Rust removal of the mounts. Through cleaning of the mechanisms & re-lube.

[LT7A]

They turned out nice!

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by LT7A

They turned out nice!

Yep the webbing did, but I still need to restore the casings. Then they will really look NICE!

[TKCR]

Well here they are! I got them finished up today. Restored the casings. Rust removed from the mounts. Cleaned & lubed the mechanisms. These are paired with a NOS set of center buckles & lap belt, and new upper anchor covers.
NEW WEBBING

[TKCR]

So I also have been working on a set of Charcoal Black retractors. These are someone’s belts from Canada. This is all they had, was the retractors. And they needed some mechanism help. They were rusty and had a lot of dust/hair debris, so that was the major part of the restoration.
So here are the Before pics.

[TKCR]

And then some of during restoration. Rust removal, cleaning and dye.

[LT7A]

If you're not careful, you could make the whole rest of a guy's truck look bad in comparison to those seat belts, haha.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by LT7A

If you're not careful, you could make the whole rest of a guy's truck look bad in comparison to those seat belts, haha.

When I was packing those belts to go to their new home in Texas, I had to stop on last time and stare at how nice they were. They were like new! Almost wanted to keep them for my truck, even though my belts are pretty darn nice too. This particular set, a guy is getting these for his brothers truck, which has been completely restored. The only thing he didn’t like, was the aftermarket belts, which I fully understand that one. So he was getting these for a Christmas Gift for his brother. He knew this would make his brother very happy to have stock belts back in his truck.

[TKCR]

Here’s a set of 1987 Blue retractors to we’re restored for someone. They didn’t have centers, so I had a set of NOS Buckles & Lap belt, to make it a complete set.
Completely restored. Throughly cleaned and dyed. Mechanisms cleaned and lubed for better retracting. Rust removed from the mounts. The extra mounting tabs were also restored.
Here are the BEFORE Pics.

[TKCR]

And the AFTER Pics

[TKCR]

Been working on a set of 1976 Blue seatbelts for someone. He is in the process of restoring a Spirit of 76. So he sent me his belts in hopes of being able to do something with them. At first, I was pretty skeptical. These were in pretty bad shape. Faded, and DIRTY is putting it nicely. Some rust on the mounts, the inner buckles and the upper anchor, since these were chrome. You don’t see too many of these.
So here is what I started with.

[hatzie]

Those look great as usual.

The big deal on the Spirit of 76 is the low production numbers seat upholstery and the white door cards. Supposedly only 500 of them were built.
Do you have a source that could duplicate that seat cover?