Three Point Seatbelt Installation

[510_dreamin]

I am in the process of purchasing a seat of three point seatbelts from seatbelt planet and was wondering where the retractor and belt all mount? I see where the roofline mount is, as well as for the latch but can’t figure out where the retractor and belt bolt in to. I only see one lower mounting point. 
 

Thanks for any help

[Draker]

They didn’t have retractors so it was just a lap belt or 3 point without retract.  
 

in my 510 I mounted the retractor in the stock location and then mounted the other lower mount to brackets I made for recaro seats.

[Draker]

You can mount through the floor, just make sure you have huge washers or plates on the bottom so it doesn’t pull out in an accident.

[510_dreamin]

2 hours ago, Draker said:

You can mount through the floor, just make sure you have huge washers or plates on the bottom so it doesn’t pull out in an accident.

So I’d need to drill a new hole through the floor to run them this way?

[edekalil]

Hear are the places mine bolt up to.

 

At the headliner drivers side

 

Lower left side of drivers door

 

Right side floor behind drivers seat

 

Sorry for the dirty car

Edited October 4, 2020 by edekalil

[510_dreamin]

1 hour ago, edekalil said:

Hear are the places mine bolt up to.

 

At the headliner drivers side

 

Lower left side of drivers door

 

Right side floor behind drivers seat

 

Sorry for the dirty car

Thanks much. Are these retractable? Did you drill the hole behind the driver seat or is that the factory mounting point? 

Edited October 4, 2020 by 510_dreamin

[Draker]

15 hours ago, 510_dreamin said:

So I’d need to drill a new hole through the floor to run them this way?

 

Correct, or mount fab up a mount to the seat rail.

[edekalil]

On 10/4/2020 at 12:10 PM, 510_dreamin said:

Thanks much. Are these retractable? Did you drill the hole behind the driver seat or is that the factory mounting point? 

The holes are factory iv had the car since 79, the belts are original non retractable. You have tighten them up. The top belt clicks in to a slot of some sort I'll have to shoot a pic.hope it helps the passenger side is the same I have 3 two door cars and they are all the same. Even my Goon.

[510_dreamin]

Non retractable belts seem to be the way to go, will fit the factory holes perfectly. 

[datzenmike]

Take the time to find retractable belts that work. Seat belts were on most late '60s cars and they were mandatory in the early '70s.Until auto makers got their shit together it was common to see cars with people who didn't wear their belts hanging out of closed doors. Belts hanging out of closed doors in parking lots, would be period correct.

[MikeRL411]

Shoulder belts were not required in USA on import cars until the 1968 model year.  I have had to point that out several times to overzealous seat belt monitors.

[Jesse C.]

I am going the retractable belt route on mine. I had the regular style belts and they can be a pain trying not to get them caught in the door or sitting on them when getting in the car. 

 

Some folks go with Racing Belts for that cool factor, but they become a pain after a while. 

[datzenmike]

19 minutes ago, Jesse C. said:

I am going the retractable belt route on mine. I had the regular style belts and they can be a pain trying not to get them caught in the door or sitting on them when getting in the car. 

 

Some folks go with Racing Belts for that cool factor, but they become a pain after a while. 

 

Wise move

 

Racing equipment. Always a down side to using them. High side bolsters always make you sit on your nuts getting in and out. Seat belts awkward to get in and out of webbing. Still in any Datsun, much much better than what was minimum legal back then

[yenpit]

On your 1971 510, which originally had 3pt "rigid" belts, I would use the same factory mounting point (captive nut) on the rear of the inner rocker panel, as shown in the pics........although the pics also show a simple lap belt bolted in.  In 1972-1973 510's, the retractor unit was mounted down there, on the same captive nut.  The problem we had with Honda seats installed, was that the aftermarket retractor unit was in the way when pushing the seat all the way back.....my buddy is tall.  The first time he slammed the seat back, he broke the black plastic case of the brand NEW retractor unit!  It continues to function just fine, but to me it looks like crap!  If you weld, you could potentially weld a new captive nut further back on the inner rocker, to relocate the retractor unit, giving more room for an aftermarket seat to slide back without interference.  Hope that helps!

[Draker]

drill hole, insert nut into hole, weld plate to inner rocker. Or just double up both ends of the belt to the same mount point like yenpit said.

https://www.morrisminorspares.com/miscellaneous-c82/accessories-seat-belts-mirrors-etc-miscellaneous-c86/seat-belt-mounting-plate-captive-nut-p831198

[carterb]

I have installed retractable 3pt seatbelts on a few of my 510s and I use the stock outer mounting point for the retractor and the end of belt and it works just fine.  You could certainly have a conflict as yenpit describes depending on what seats you run but otherwise, there is no issue.

--carter

[yenpit]

1 hour ago, Draker said:

drill hole, insert nut into hole, weld plate to inner rocker. Or just double up both ends of the belt to the same mount point like yenpit said.

https://www.morrisminorspares.com/miscellaneous-c82/accessories-seat-belts-mirrors-etc-miscellaneous-c86/seat-belt-mounting-plate-captive-nut-p831198

 

Funny, I was (still am I suppose) involved in the British shitbox industry since the mid 80's, worked in various shops & later wholesale parts, which is where I got me feet wet in modifying, improving, interchanging of parts, blah blah blah where needed...............seatbelts was one of those areas, just carried it over to Datsun stuff last 20+ years!  That plate, along with the captive nut, is necessary to strengthen the anchoring of a seatbelt, ultimately in case of an accident.  The captive nut, simply welded to the OEM sheetmetal will hold the seatbelt in place, but it's the potential massive amount of force of a bad accident where that really can come into play, pulling only a welded captive nut out of the sheetmetal, defeating the purpose.................safety first!, as the British always say!  The only other thing I would suggest, is to "countersink" the captive nut, otherwise it pushes the retractor unit out away from the inner rocker, creating more of a potential issue with the unit being in the way of sliding the seat all the way back.  The last time we modified a seatbelt mounting point, we used a "flanged nut" & dropped it in the hole backwards, so the flange stopped the nut from falling thru the hole, and welded it that way.  Me............I'm of shorter stature, so I rarely have my seats all the way back! 🤣

[Draker]

10 minutes ago, yenpit said:

 

Funny, I was (still am I suppose) involved in the British shitbox industry since the mid 80's, worked in various shops & later wholesale parts, which is where I got me feet wet in modifying, improving, interchanging of parts, blah blah blah where needed...............seatbelts was one of those areas, just carried it over to Datsun stuff last 20+ years!  That plate, along with the captive nut, is necessary to strengthen the anchoring of a seatbelt, ultimately in case of an accident.  The captive nut, simply welded to the OEM sheetmetal will hold the seatbelt in place, but it's the potential massive amount of force of a bad accident where that really can come into play, pulling only a welded captive nut out of the sheetmetal, defeating the purpose.................safety first!, as the British always say!  The only other thing I would suggest, is to "countersink" the captive nut, otherwise it pushes the retractor unit out away from the inner rocker, creating more of a potential issue with the unit being in the way of sliding the seat all the way back.  The last time we modified a seatbelt mounting point, we used a "flanged nut" & dropped it in the hole backwards, so the flange stopped the nut from falling thru the hole, and welded it that way.  Me............I'm of shorter stature, so I rarely have my seats all the way back! 🤣

 

In the latest series from bad obsession motorsport they used this technique on their racecar. It's part of a sanctioned event so I figure, if it suitable for that application with a high risk of accident, it's probably safe otherwise. Especially if you lay a bead all the way around the mount plate. But still, the metal is pretty thin around that area. If you mount nut into the sheetmetal it would still kick it out a bit, but not too much. Not a big deal if mounted further back. I have this issue right now on my 1200 and am trying to find a safe way to relocate.

Seatbelt mounting at 8:00