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Florida Rear 3 Point Seatbelt Installation

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Chappy View Drop Down
Vanorak
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Chappy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Florida Rear 3 Point Seatbelt Installation
    Posted: 20 Mar 13 at 21:42

I've been doing a load of work on the Florida over the winter to address a list of stuff that needed sorting for the coming season.

One of the big jobs was to install a 3 point seat belt in the back for Emma's car chair.  Until now she's been in a rear facing seat that was lap belt securable, but she's a bit of a plumper now and needs to go in a forward facing seat and that means 3 pointer belt. Tongue

The method I used is buried in my Winter Florida Fettling thread, so I thought I'd bring it all together here in one place.


I've seen a range of installs of 3 pointers in Floridas, and have had lots of info sent to me by peeps who have done it (my hearty thanks to you all) Big smile

But.....there's always a 'but'.....all the installs I've seen involve using the bench seat-back as a load absorbing point i.e. the seatbelt goes over the seat back and then over the person/child seat.

Given the options in a Florida, I fully understand why this is the chosen course, but I have a nagging doubt.  I've recently fettled the hinges on one of the folding seats, and having got to know them intimately, I fear that they're not up to snuff in terms of bearing large and suddenly inflicted loads.

So, here's what I did instead:


First job is to strip out the paneling and anything else that needs to come off in order to get at what you want:


Had to remove the panel the lights are mounted in, and then the side panel itself.  This exposed a zinc plated panel, which was riveted in place:





Rivets drilled, and we're down to insulation:





And voilà, the bare frame exposed:





There is a major body beam running across the top, and two smaller strengtheners running across the middle of the panel between vertical body pillars.  My intention is to fabricate a suitable plate or frame which will be welded between beam and strengtheners, onto which will be welded my seatbelt mount.  It'll have to be a static belt though - no room for an inertia reel.  This is not a problem at it's going to have Ems's seat attached to it which has a built in tensioner.


Once all the panels were stripped off, I started work on the mounting point for the 3 pointer seat belt for the back seat.

Here's the basis of the constituent parts - 4mm plate steel and two captive mounting points.  Going to fit two points so it's be suitable for Emma's child seat, Harry on a booster or an adult:






Measuring and marking up on the van:






Marking up the plate:





Plate cut, drilled and deburred:





Essential kit:





Seatbelt arrived:






Welded seatbelt points to mounting plate:






Welded the plate into place:






Artistic it's not, but weld depth is good:






Undersealed/waxoyled:






Slight mod to interior trim support:






Insulation back in:






Inner panel riveted back in place:






Hole positions calculated and drilled:







Interior panel back in, holes cut:






Almost spot on, not bad for holes cut based on dimensional calculation based on a plumb-bob made from a 11mm spanner and a bit of string Tongue






Shelf/lighting panel/fascia back in:






Old lower mounting point removed - not a lot of room!:






Had a slight hitch with the seat belt - the new receiver/buckle had a floor fixing that was too big to fit to the mounting point on the floor.  Old fixing on bottom, new on the top:






Also the webbing was too short:






Spoke to the supplier, who put me in touch with Securon, who put me in touch with Sue at FDTS seat belts.  Spoke to her to see if they make a new belt using my new buckle, and old fixing bracket.  "No problem" was the answer.  I posted it to them on Wednesday, they did the job on Thursday and I had it back in my hands on Friday!  The job was perfect too!

Total price £11 +vat Big smile  They even chucked in a couple of bolts I needed for no extra charge Thumbs Up


Finished product:






Done!




 

Did a bit of fine tuning to the new seat belt and fitted Emma's seat.  It is ROCK solid!  It is a bit of an effort to get the seat belt clip in, so it could probs do with a bit more fine tuning as we use it, but very pleased with the end result.







  

Edited by Chappy - 20 Mar 13 at 21:42
Back in the slow lane, yeah!
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Dreamcatcher View Drop Down
Yardie
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Joined: 22 Jan 10
Location: Cam Glos
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dreamcatcher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Mar 13 at 23:07
Cracking job mate. Thumbs Up
Good post
Dave 1991 LT31 Camper
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