These are pictures of the seat belt brackets that came out of a 57 Ford 2 dr. wagon that I recently purchased. I have never seen anything like these before on a 57 Ford
I would like to use them on my 57 custom , but before I start drilling holes in my nice floor and making holes in my new back rug, I would like to know more.
They certainly look period since there is no under body coating between the under floor braces and the bare floor. The under floor braces do have what looks like original coating on the outside surfaces
The only other seat belts I ever saw in a 57 Ford were the ones that were in the almost new 57 Ford Custom Mass State Police car that we bought in 1958. They were functional, but very ugly. Those cars had a piece of square tubing like a piece of sign post on the floor behind the front seat fastened down with cables.
Sorry about the crummy pictures
Thanks in advance for any and all opinions.
Jay
More seat belt bracket pictures
Pictures Try Again
Those pictures were real bad. Hope that these are better.
More pics
I like the look...definetly oem looking even if they are not. I don't even know if seat belts were an option in '57.
Lou would know.
Rich
Those are the original seat belt brackets. I have a set in my car. The passenger side is pretty easy to get and will costs about $50.00 on Ebay. The Drivers side costs about $350.00 if you can find them. That's what I've got in my 57. Jim PS They come with a diagram as to the distances and placement on the floorboard if you can find them still in the original OEM box. Measure the old holes to find placement if you can't find a diagram.
Jim
That's good news. I kinda had the feeling that they were the real deal because of the way they fit both the top and bottom contour of the floor. I also figured that they are at least period for that car. Measuring the placement of the holes will be easy enough to do.
When they are all cleaned up and refinished, they will go nicely with my car. I don't like making changes unless it is something I can put back to "as delivered /ordered" in one day.
Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2013-05-25 18:11
I like the look...definetly oem looking even if they are not. I don't even know if seat belts were an option in '57.
Lou would know.
Rich
I think Ford first offered seat belts as an option in 1955. My 55 Crown Vic had them.
Rich and Highball
It seems that not many people bothered to order them for their cars in those days. Come to think about it I do recall that I had a 58 fairlane 2dr hardtop back in the day with seat belts in it. I almost think that the brackets looked like the ones that I just found. That was over 50 years ago. Things are starting to get a little fuzzy in my mind.
Jay.
Quote from: Ecode70D on 2013-05-25 21:14
. Things are starting to get a little fuzzy in my mind.
Jay.
common ailment, have it myself............
Zap- :unitedstates:
Quote from: Ecode70D on 2013-05-25 20:23
I don't like making changes unless it is something I can put back to "as delivered /ordered" in one day.
E-Code,
Run as far from that statement as you can. How do you think I know that finding drivers side seat belt brackets may cost you $350.00. Having a 57 restored using OEM parts has cost me a fortune with my car. LOL Jim
PS. After making the above statement, let me assure you I have not built my car using my words of wisdom. I have enjoyed every dime I've thrown at that car and continue to do so. After lying in the emergency room with a heart attack a few weeks ago, I can assure you the cost of building that 57 didn't enter my mind. I enjoy my 57 to the fullest. It now can break a 14sec quarter mile and still do good at car shows and travel with a reasonable expense for gas. It's all about what can make you and your family happy, not saving money. (no lol at the end of this statement )
I have them in my car...factory....only the fronts..... no rears.....
Jim....I know what you mean about OEM parts and costing a fortune. I keep an envelope with receipts on what was spent on my custom and it's frightening. I never did tally up the whole thing.
Jeff.... You know, now that you mention it, that's right they did only put them in the front with no rears. Maybe they thought that the back part of the front seat would take care of everyone in the back seat. Funny how they did stuff like that back in the 50s.
Under the right conditions those 58 Ford seat belts did work! The kid that bought it before me decided to take it through the 1/4 mile on the local drag strip road. I told him "let's put these things on", so we did. We were doing about 90 when the car parked on the side of the road decided to take a u turn in front of us. The 58 struck the other guy's car at the passenger door. The other guy had to be taken away.
I vividly remember that it happened in like slow motion. When we hit the other car the back right corner of the hood came through the windshield and stopped in front of my face. I didn't get a scratch (God was with me). The kid who owned the 58 got a bloody nose when he tapped the steering wheel.
I fixed that car for my friend and ended up buying it from years later for $200.
Rich.... That drag strip road was Granite Ave in Quincy Ma. Does that ring a bell with you?
Dang..... I remember sleeping on Package trays as a kid with my folks!........ ha ha ha
Under the right conditions those 58 Ford seat belts did work! The kid that bought it before me decided to take it through the 1/4 mile on the local drag strip road. I told him "let's put these things on", so we did. We were doing about 90 when the car parked on the side of the road decided to take a u turn in front of us. The 58 struck the other guy's car at the passenger door. The other guy had to be taken away.
I vividly remember that it happened in like slow motion. When we hit the other car the back right corner of the hood came through the windshield and stopped in front of my face. I didn't get a scratch (God was with me). The kid who owned the 58 got a bloody nose when he tapped the steering wheel.
I fixed that car for my friend and ended up buying it from years later for $200.
Wow!!!!!!!!!
Quote from: Jeff Norwell on 2013-05-28 08:27
Dang..... I remember sleeping on Package trays as a kid with my folks!........ ha ha ha
With my folks driving!....is what i meant to say!
Quote Jim Nolan.....
"PS. After making the above statement, let me assure you I have not built my car using my words of wisdom. I have enjoyed every dime I've thrown at that car and continue to do so. After lying in the emergency room with a heart attack a few weeks ago, I can assure you the cost of building that 57 didn't enter my mind. I enjoy my 57 to the fullest. It now can break a 14sec quarter mile and still do good at car shows and travel with a reasonable expense for gas. It's all about what can make you and your family happy, not saving money. (no lol at the end of this statement )"
? Last Edit: Today at 06:01:49 AM by JimNolan ?
Jim...almost missed that one little sentence about the heart attack!!! Hey dude...glad your allright..at least apparently allright enough to be at your computer.
Thanks Rich,
They put a couple of stents in me, said there wasn't any damage to the heart muscle, told me to quit smoking and eating and sent me home. I was pounding gears the next day. I quit smoking cigarettes, been loosing weight and I feel pretty good. I can now walk 20 ft. without being out of breath. Jim
good to hear Jim. I understand the breathing completly. I'm not overweight more than 10 lbs. or so, but the last year or so has been a big problem with the breathing. Smoking for 53 years now..never bothered me before. I am on day two of trying to quit..now if I can get by a few weeks without my wife throwing me out, killing the next door neighbor's dog, having the irs or a telemarketer call the fbi on me, or getting thrown off here or the hamb..I may be able to do this. The electronic cigs are helping the quitting, btw. I've been using them on car trips with my wife so I didn't have to stop every half hour for a cigarette.
cigarettes, funny hard to start and even harder to quit. been told nicotine is the single most addictive drug known to man. good luck quitting. did it myself in boot camp two smoke breaks a day if we were lucky led me to quit. wife quit when our daughter [around 6 years old at the time] said she'd probably smoke just like mom when she was older. smokes went in the trash and she never looked back.
now back on topic, my local 57 ford parts source tells me he's never run into a pair of seat belt brackets in any of the cars he's parted out. and its been quite a few. will be checking every 57 for them from now on.
Zap- :unitedstates:
Jim:
Congrats on getting the stents and no heart muscle damage. I wound up putting seat belts in my original 57 (about 1962), mostly because it "looked cool." lol That car really wasn't too dangerous, as the hi 17 second time slips proved. But, I've always felt safer being belted in and will always do so. If I could find some good Simpson 5-point seat belts that don't require a roll bar, I would install them in both my Shelby and 57.
Bob
57 AGIN
Glad your all good Jim..... Trying to kick the butt habit myself......
I'm in this crowd too, diagnosis with COPD. Smoked for 50 years. I've been doing the electronic cigs but I have a custom made one. The original ones I tried were a pain with always charging the battery. Needless to say, I'm always short on air..
Guys,
I hate to add any more about smoking just because the topic is Seat Belt Brackets but, since I quit cigarettes I don't wheez myself to sleep each night, haven't used the breathing treatment machine and haven't coughed up junk. Now, what I did do was start smoking a pipe. You can't get anything into you're lungs after about a minute once you light it because the smoke is too strong. But, the nicotine you get through the membranes of the mouth more than make up for the reason you were up to two packs a day. Cigarettes won't give you enough nicotine after so long. That's why we kept smoking more of them. Pipes have all the nicotine you can ever use and you don't have smoke in your lungs. I've gotten used to it now and it even tastes good. It's a bitch to drink carbonated beverages though.
Jim
I happy to hear that you are doing better since you got the stents. Do whatever the doctor tells you to do and keep trying to get off the tobacco. Hearing all of this stuff about smoking makes me thankful that I never started. Jay
I'll jump in here too with the smoking thing. Smoked on and off for most of the nearly 30 years in the Navy. Smoked on and off in the 20 years since I retired. Haven't had one in four years now. Do I miss it, heck yes, do I miss the morning hack, heck NO. Went cold turkey every time I quit. The nicotine is completely out of your system in 48 - 60 hours, all the "I'm going to kill some one" is a head game your mind is playing because it wants the rush the nicotine gives. Have not had any known problems from the smoking (a pack a day habit) to this point and have made it through the "prime heart attack" years so I'm feeling pretty good about things right now.
For you guys trying to quit....keep your head in the game, develope a plan of action for when the suprise urges hit you and they will, hard and heavy and at really wierd times with so many different triggers there is no way to predict when and where. But most of all don't ever plunk down the cash for a pack and don't fool yourself into believing "one won't hurt anything" because it will all start over again. Good luck guys and keep the faith.
My Dad quit after 50+ years of smoking, but five years later they found a spot on his lungs. Nine months later he was gone. I always think, what if he had just quit sooner. Good luck to all of you trying to quit, your family will thank you for it! Tim
I recently bought a house as an investment, (why I haven't worked on the 57), it belonged to a high school buddies folks. They chain smoked for 50 years, Cleaning this house is one of the nastiest things I can recall. Tore the ductwork completely out, anyone that can quit that habit I give two thumbs up!, Mark :laughing4: :laughing4: P.s Jim, glad your ok