Has anyone installed after market seat belts? I'm looking for belts for my '56 Parklane and interested in opinions, including any tips on mounting, especially if there are issues with installing the belts in the back seat of a 2 door wagon. thanks!

MplsMike
'56 Parklane
Minneapolis, MN

I got set belts from JC Whitney. They had a nice selection of colors and came in a couple of different lengths.

For the rear, I got the stiff plastic coverings from some cars in a scrap yard and located the belts so the plastic covering just shows between the upper and lower parts of the seat. These plastic pieces prevent the belt from going down between the seat parts. Get the longest covering you can find and then trim them to fit where you want to anchor the belt. You want to locate the anchor so it is about a direct pull when fastened around the passenger.

54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

I think the three main Suppliers have them, that'd be Concours, Mac's and Carpenter. But I really like the idea of JC Whitney. If you plan to race, eventually an official might ask for the dates on the belts. Supposedly they have to be newer than 7 or ten years old. They've never checked mine, guess they figure the car's too slow to worry about it.

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart) 

I got a few sets of OEM belts for mine since I wanted to keep my car as original as possible. It took some searching but it wasn't that hard to find the OEM belts. I didn't like the way the aftermarket belts were anchored nor the way they looked. The OEM belt brackets have some extra reinforcements for them to attach to the floor pans. The front brackets were the hardest to find and I think I paid nearly as much for them as I did for all the belts together. I still don't have the rear seat brackets but they look like they are basic enough to make them myself plus they're hidden from view once installed. Th front ones are not hidden and are somewhat visible so that is why I bought OEM ones.
If you are interested, I can post the installation instructions.

~DJ~ AKA "Bleach"
1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan 30K original miles

I bought sets from someone on line....they have the correct webbing, aircraft-style buckles, and hook mounts. I think i got them from andover industries (?) but i dont remember for sure.

Problem is that they all come with eye bolts to mount to the floor, which dont look great, and i also question the strength. If you can find the OE mounts they are indeed pricey.

I ended up using the seatbelt mounts for 2 seat t-birds that i bought from Casco. They were inexpensive, and I had them chromed for something like $50 for the set of 4 brackets. Now that they are installed, they look like they could/should be OE, even though the correct ones for the fairlanes are kinked/bent. Hope this makes sense....

Ron Grove

Wauconda, IL

The CASCO mounts are exactly what the OEM rear seat mounts look like for rear seats.
http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb.dll?Parta~ShowPicTxt~Z5Z5Z50000219a~Z5Z5Z5AABPZ

~DJ~ AKA "Bleach"
1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan 30K original miles

Yes, those are the ones I used for the fronts. They look "stock enough" in that they don't stand out as being obviously wrong, especially chromed, compared to the giant eye bolts most mfgs provide.

The OEM front ones are hard to find. Plus, they aren't supposed to be used with the clip type replacement belts; they should be wrapped, etc.

The rear ones kind of don't matter; nobody can see them anyways.



Ron Grove

Wauconda, IL

These are the front brackets I bought. Yes the belts are supposed wrap around the "eyes".





~DJ~ AKA "Bleach"
1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan 30K original miles

So YOU are the guy that bought them! Did you win it on ebay about a month or two ago? I was watching them, as i hadnt seen hardly any sets of those come up for sale over the years...

Ron Grove

Wauconda, IL

Thanks for all of the tips. DJ -- it would be great if you could post the instructions. I hadn't even thought about OEM and the CASCO part looks like a good substitute.

MplsMike
'56 Parklane
Minneapolis, MN