Retractable Seat belts

[marco]

Hi ppl,

Whats the consensus on retractable belts for the GTV. Mine did not come stock in one, and not sure if it ever came with retractables as oem for the US or European market.

Getting tired of not being able to put on my belt quickly (groping for the buckle somewhere....)

Install retractables or not (for the sake of originality)?

M

[Mr. C.]

1, Safety

2, Performance (FUN)

3, Originality

Put retractables in the car and enjoy. Besdies most judging events exempt belts as safety enhancements.
MrC

No matter what laguage you you order pizza in, live in Italian.

[Tim Cain]

I converted my 71 GTV to used retractable belts from a Milano. I got them from Larry at APE and installed them in a couple of hours. I had to drill a 1/2" hole in the brace behind the rear vinyl side panels (just below the ash trays), but the rest was unbolt and rebolt. My only enhancement would be to find center pieces (the short length with the female part of the buckle) with metal locators so you are not constantly looking for the floppy end of the belt somewhere behind the hand brake lever.

[67GTV]

Say Tim,

Did you hang onto your old belts? I might be interested in buying them if you did. My GTV only has shoulder belts, no lap belts. I stopped using them because it feels unsafe.

[Tim Cain]

Kai,
My old belts are fine, but they are not the same style as yours. My US '71 had the shoulder and lap combo that you clip onto a heavy chome loop at the driveshaft tunnel. Works fine, but not as well or conveniently as retractors. Would probably be fine if your passenger is always the same size, because adjusting is kind of a hassle.

[67GTV]

Tim,
Are you saying that the buckle is not on the drive shaft tunnel side? Do you have any pictures? Here's shot of the passenger side belts from my last '67 GTV. The buckle is on the tunnel side. This is ideally what I am looking for. Adjustability is not a problem.

Thanks,
Kai
P.S. if this works into a deal we can take this to email.

[Tim Cain]

Kai,
You don't want my klip-on system. Yours is much nicer than what Alfa went to in '71. Sorry, no pics - camera broke.

[cap10ed]

I also had the problem of stock belts not performing well.The shoulder harness on my 74 GTV kept slipping down and not staying in place. I changed to a 4 point system with the over shoulder harness bolting into exsisting holes on the rear valance.The bolt holes are visible by crawling in the trunk and looking up at the rear deck.Anyone know why these bolt holes were put there in the first place?

[Zinhead]

Moss Motors carries a number of vintage style seatbelts but these are lap style belts without retractors.

Moss Motors Seatbelt Page

I have seen the competition version in various older, restored vehicles and it looks period for a seatbelt.

Speaking of seatbelts, has any installed any in the back seat of a GTV?

[SILVERBULLET]

hi,
i've got a 74 that i put sparco 3 point harnesses in.
for the top strap, i drilled through the rear deck and
put the supplied eye bolt in backed with a large plate
that had a nut welded to it (came with the belts). if
you can find a nice three point retractable belt, you
can bolt the top point to a welded in nut that you
can see from inside the trunk. for the lower attachment
points, lift the back seat cushions off and you will see
a flat black plastic button like thing that seals moisture out.
pull/pry it out and you will see the threads to screw a bolt into.
the outer ones are located by the wheel well humps.
interestingly, they are sae size and thread..7/16, i think.
must have been to satisfy u.s. requirements. hope this
helps.

[genericwood]

I'm in the process of putting rear belts in my '74. There has been several posts on the topica.com group for GTV's. On the '74, there are existing 3 point mounting points even if the car didn't come with rear belts.

Erik

[italcarguy]

i think i have seen the ones that would work for the the lap belts in the back but not for the should part. maybe its on the rear shelf behind the back seat? anyone with pics?