Replacement Seat Belts

[SteveJ]

I finally replaced the seat belts in my 260Z. A few years back I replaced the belts in my 240Z with belts from WESCO. Pleased with doing business with them, I purchased more seat belts from WESCO. This time I went with the Roadster Retractable Seat Belt, WELR-N. It uses the roof and floor mounting points. The hardware kit (a $9.95 option) also includes two 90 degree angle brackets for the bucket seat end. These brackets put the bucket seat end in a good position for use. Installation is so easy that I'm not even going to put pictures up. Frankly, I prefer the roadster style over the 140 inch 3 point belt.

It's just something to keep in mind. Z car seat belts are old and may not provide full protection in a crash. I have more peace of mind with the new belts.

[mgmoreau]

Steve,

Did you replace just the belts or the entire mechanism? Are these new belts three way retractable as opposed to the seperate lap and shoulder belts found on the 240Z's? Did you consider the set MSA sells to replace the stock two piece belts?

[Arne]

Other sources, both of which have a more vintage style lift-type latch available:

http://www.seatbeltsplus.com

http://www.ssnake-oyl.com

The second link will also do a top notch restoration of your original belts, with all new webbing, etc.

[SteveJ]

Did you replace just the belts or the entire mechanism?

The belts are a bolt-in replacement.

Are these new belts three way retractable as opposed to the seperate lap and shoulder belts found on the 240Z's? Did you consider the set MSA sells to replace the stock two piece belts?

These are retractable belts. I purchased a set of belts for my 73 from WESCO before MSA offered them. They are the same design as what MSA sells, anchoring behind the seat. (I wouldn't be surprised if MSA didn't go through WESCO or WESCO's supplier for their belts.) It can be awkward to get the belt to extend with the MSA type, especially for us old farts who have less groping capacity than when we were young. For my 74, I purchased the "roadster" style. It mounts at the top anchor point and uses one of the bottom anchor points. It extends and retracts better than the set in my 73.

These seatbelts don't look stock. They are not a restoration of your existing seatbelts. They are a great option for those of us not concerned with originality.

If you want the MSA type, you can see pictures of my install in my gallery.

[Inf]

Does anyone have any experience with the 3-point non-retractable belts sold by either Wesco or the other two sellers Arne mentioned?

I've seen a lot of posts about people retrofitting retractable belts, but I've grown to love the fixed belts. I like that planted feeling I get, and I never need to mess with the adjustment much anyway.

I also really dig being able to adjust the lap and shoulder belts separately.

I got the driver's side belt from a series 1 in a junkyard in Ft. Worth 7 years ago when the driver's side lap retractor went south. Now the passenger side retractor is acting finicky, and I figured I may as well replace that one too.

Edited January 19, 2010 by Inf

[SteveJ]

Does anyone have any experience with the 3-point non-retractable belts sold by either Wesco or the other two sellers Arne mentioned?

I've seen a lot of posts about people retrofitting retractable belts, but I've grown to love the fixed belts. I like that planted feeling I get, and I never need to mess with the adjustment much anyway.

I also really dig being able to adjust the lap and shoulder belts separately.

I got the driver's side belt from a series 1 in a junkyard in Ft. Worth 7 years ago when the driver's side lap retractor went south. Now the passenger side retractor is acting finicky, and I figured I may as well replace that one too.

I bought a set of non-retracting belts from Courtesy Nissan a few years back. I think they are hiding in my garage. They were in my 73 for about a year or so in the garage. I didn't drive it much. Send me a PM if you are interested. We could probably work out a deal.

[BTF/PTM]

I'll chime in with an update on this thread for anyone interested. I ordered a set of the MSA retracting seat belts with the "Z emblems". Was utterly disappointed when I opened the box. The "Z emblems" are just little round stickers that you apply yourself, and the contour-sleeved push-button buckles in my '72 were to be replaced with cheesy airplane style flap buckles with no sleeve at all. My existing seat belts work quite well now that I've removed them and thoroughly cleaned them, the retractors and shoulder strap adjusters are in good shape.

I do agree that the 38-year-old seat belts should be replaced for peace of mind, but I'm not going to trade the existing equipment for something that isn't at least a close replacement. I'm going to put fresh mounting bolts in now that I know what size they are, and I'll keep my eyes open for closer replacements.

Just my two cents, I'm no purist when it comes to keeping the car period correct but I do want stuff that at least *looks* like it was designed for the car.

[SteveJ]

That is part of why I decided to try the WESCO roadster style belts. They fit my definition of what you said better than the type belt MSA sells. The buckle strap is in a sleeve. The big reason why it works with the sleeve is because I opted for the hardware kit that WESCO sells that includes a floor bracket to facilitate mounting. The retractor mounts on the ceiling, and I can deal with that. It's not too different from the 260Z design in that respect.

[hogie]

I am planning on getting the wesco belts, but was digging around to see if the factory bits were available still. As far as I could tell the belts are available from $104-144 a piece. At least the _-73 years part numbers were on courtesy nissans website. In the car fiche these look like non-retracbles. The page for Aug 73+looked like the retractables that were in my 72 also appeared to be available.

[Arne]

Has anyone besides Chris (26th Z) considered having their originals re-webbed?

http://www.ssnake-oyl.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=Ssnake-Oyl&Category_Code=RS

[SteveJ]

I passed on re-webbing my 73 for two reasons.

1. I wanted the comfort of the upper part of the belt retracting.

2. I didn't trust the other components of the seatbelts due to age.

For the 74, I just thought it would be easier to repeat what I had done before.

[Mike B]

Has anyone besides Chris (26th Z) considered having their originals re-webbed?

http://www.ssnake-oyl.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=Ssnake-Oyl&Category_Code=RS

I've considered it, and ssnake-oil is probably the route I will go, but I haven't looked into pricing yet.

-Mike

Edited April 2, 2010 by Mike B