Florida Rear 3 Point Seatbelt Installation
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URL: http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=79340
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Topic: Florida Rear 3 Point Seatbelt Installation
Posted By: Chappy
Subject: Florida Rear 3 Point Seatbelt Installation
Date 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.
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)
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
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 They even chucked in a couple of bolts I needed for no extra charge
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.
------------- Back in the slow lane, yeah!
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Replies:
Posted By: Dreamcatcher
Date Posted: 20 Mar 13 at 23:07
Cracking job mate.
Good post
------------- Dave 1991 LT31 Camper
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