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 Post subject: Seat belts
PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2014 6:40 pm 
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Joined: Sat Feb 01, 2014 9:21 am
Posts: 973
Location: Somers CT
Are there any replacement seat belts available for older z's (70 - 75) ?
The ones that are in my car (75 280) are pre when they understood how to make effective inertia belts.
They are a chore to put on as many of you know.


Last edited by FM6 on Fri Feb 14, 2014 12:23 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2014 7:39 pm 
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Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 1:12 am
Posts: 2228
Location: Darien, CT
I have some that I removed from a 280Z if you are interested.

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Ross Williams
1978 280Z Black Pearl Edition 38k Original Miles


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2014 8:11 pm 
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Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 2:33 pm
Posts: 349
Location: Richardson, Texas
Ross,
Not wanting to trust my life to 40-year old belts and no longer wanting to deal with the non-retractable shoulder belt on my early car, I installed the Wesco Retractable belts - Roadster model. It is a perfect 3-point belt with the retractor end mounted above the quarter window at the stock mount point for the shoulder belt. They are super comfortable. If you choose these, get the 11" rigid sleeve for the buckle strap. Lots of folks on Classic Z Cars.com have made this same choice for their S30's. Good luck with your search.
Jim

http://wescoperformance.stores.yahoo.net/resebe.html

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Jim Arnett
Richardson, Texas
HLS30-15320 12/1970 (original owner)
ZCON 2015 Gold Cup - Street Modified class


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 8:36 am 
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Joined: Thu May 14, 2009 9:24 am
Posts: 1373
Location: Webster, NY
Jim, I am also looking at the Wesco belts, or the Motorsport Auto kit.

Why the ROADSTER belts and not the coupe?

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John Taddonio
1970 240Z
1977 530Z
1984 300ZXT
zcarnut@hotmail.com
FB: Zccr zcarclubofrochester


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 12:10 pm 
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Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 2:33 pm
Posts: 349
Location: Richardson, Texas
JT - I did a lot of searches prior to making a decision. I found consistent recommendations on the Roadster belt as the best fit for our cars. I think the other belts are suitable for a floor mount retractor - you can see they have a total of 3 hard mount locations plus the latch blade. We need only two hard mount locations plus the latch blade. The retractor mounts above the quarter window, the other end mounts on the outboard floor pan, the strap and latch blade then pull across your body to the latch on the tunnel side. Hope this explanation makes sense.
Jim

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Jim Arnett
Richardson, Texas
HLS30-15320 12/1970 (original owner)
ZCON 2015 Gold Cup - Street Modified class


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 12:47 pm 
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Joined: Thu May 14, 2009 9:24 am
Posts: 1373
Location: Webster, NY
Thanks Jim, makes total sense. I was hung up on the MSA belt kit which has the retractor on the floor next to the outboard lap belt mount point. This of course would require DRILLING another hole in the floor of my series one car, which I was not thrilled to do.

How does the retractor work in that mounting position, any issues? Why the 11 inch "capture" latch, wouldn't the 8 inch be plenty?

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John Taddonio
1970 240Z
1977 530Z
1984 300ZXT
zcarnut@hotmail.com
FB: Zccr zcarclubofrochester


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 2:38 pm 
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Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 2:33 pm
Posts: 349
Location: Richardson, Texas
Yeh, I saw all the same fitment complaints about the MSA belts.

The high mount retractor is great. You can re-use your stock bolts and they pivot freely. They are a bit sensitive and will lock with anything other than a slow or soft tug - that's a GOOD thing! A bunch of reviews mentioned the 11" buckle strap sleeve and I understand why - it keeps the buckle nicely positioned for an easy find with your hand. It's a long way back to the strap hard mount point. MSA has a yoke strap that installs under the console to help keep the belts from falling down along the tunnel, I'm probably going to add that to my set-up.

When installed, the latch blade parks about seat high in the middle of the quarter window, an easy grab over my left shoulder to pull it down to the buckle.

My car is at Autorama right now, I'll try to remember to get some pics of the belt set-up when I go to work the show tomorrow.

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Jim Arnett
Richardson, Texas
HLS30-15320 12/1970 (original owner)
ZCON 2015 Gold Cup - Street Modified class


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 5:03 pm 
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Joined: Sat Feb 01, 2014 9:21 am
Posts: 973
Location: Somers CT
Are they as sensitive when pulling them out as the stock one's are ?
Sometimes its a challenge to get either inertia tensioner on the stock one's to let you buckle. :x


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 5:54 pm 
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Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 2:33 pm
Posts: 349
Location: Richardson, Texas
FM6 wrote:
Are they as sensitive when pulling them out as the stock one's are ?
Sometimes its a challenge to get either inertia tensioner on the stock one's to let you buckle. :x


No basis of comparison as the early cars did not have retractors - you adjusted the shoulder belt to a fixed position and lived with not being able to lean forward!

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Jim Arnett
Richardson, Texas
HLS30-15320 12/1970 (original owner)
ZCON 2015 Gold Cup - Street Modified class


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 9:34 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:53 pm
Posts: 14778
Location: CT
Happily, some of us original 240 owners have arms like Orangutans, and the car is small enough inside to allow us to reach everything from the driver's seat while strapped in.

Z seatbelts are a new experience for me. The first time I owned this Z (70s and 80s), it didn't have any. Considering some of the insane stuff I did with my car while not physically attached to it, I'm pretty lucky to still be here.

When I bought my Z the second time, it had the first-generation belts installed in it. John T warned me I wouldn't put up with them for long, and would eventually break down and install retractables. The originals are a pain, always getting caught in the door and stuff. And when you're 'in', you're IN. But I can still reach almost everything inside the car.

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1970 240Z


Last edited by Frank T on Mon Feb 17, 2014 11:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 8:09 pm 
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Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 2:33 pm
Posts: 349
Location: Richardson, Texas
Here are the seatbelt pictures I promised. Sorry to take so long but it was a busy weekend. The first pic is the belt in the parked position, then there is the buckle held up and ready by the long sleeve, last is the 3-point connection.


Attachments:
Seatbelt-1.jpg
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Seatbelt-2.jpg
Seatbelt-2.jpg [ 458 KiB | Viewed 13986 times ]
Seatbelt-3.jpg
Seatbelt-3.jpg [ 400.91 KiB | Viewed 13986 times ]

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Jim Arnett
Richardson, Texas
HLS30-15320 12/1970 (original owner)
ZCON 2015 Gold Cup - Street Modified class
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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 9:19 pm 
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Joined: Sat Feb 01, 2014 9:21 am
Posts: 973
Location: Somers CT
Those look great ! !
Just what I had in mind with only one inertia mount.

Thanks very much. :)


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 10:56 pm 
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Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2011 4:42 pm
Posts: 538
Location: Northborough MA
I used these in black:

http://wescoperformance.stores.yahoo.net/1126s.html

Image

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- Seth
Current:1972 240z 5.3L
Former 73 240z LT1 owner


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 11:57 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:53 pm
Posts: 14778
Location: CT
Jim, what the heck am I looking at in that top photo? It looks like you have some kind of storage pocket btwn the driver's door and the rear shock mount??
I'm pretty tired so maybe I'm not looking at it right, but it appears to be a little map compartment or something? Am I seeing things?

Frank

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1970 240Z


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Feb 18, 2014 8:28 am 
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Joined: Thu May 14, 2009 9:24 am
Posts: 1373
Location: Webster, NY
Perfect Jim! Thanks for the pictures, that is exactly what I am looking for. I am recovering a pair of 280Z seats (they actually recline and tilt forward, something series one seats do not do!) with 240Z seatcovers and am replacing my 44 year old non-retractible orginal seat belts while the seats are out.

Once question, any issues with the shoulder strap being too high and around your neck?

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John Taddonio
1970 240Z
1977 530Z
1984 300ZXT
zcarnut@hotmail.com
FB: Zccr zcarclubofrochester


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