Three Point Inertia Reel Seatbelt Upgrade for a GT

[kwilford]

Almost two years since my last post in this thread, I finally got around to taking photos of the retractor mounting plates I installed last year.

I bought some 1/8" scrap plate, and cut it to fit the space in the inner fender behind the seats, approximately 4 inches wide and six inches tall, and shaped to fit. Before I welded them in place, I drilled the mounting holes (and the pilot hole for the locating pin) and welded 7/16 inch x 20 NF nuts in behind.

This is EXACTLY the same size and thread as the stock GT and Pony bolts, which I believe is actually metric (11 mm x1.25) but don't exist in the real world. I suspect that the 7/16 inch x 20 NF hardware is some kind of world wide standard for seatbelt mounting as I have seen the same size in many imported and domestic seatbelt applications.

My original plan was to use the hole for the inner panel for the bolt hole, but upon more careful measurement, the retractor would have been too low and interfered with the luggage floor. So I raised the mount up an inch and a half before I welded the plate in place. It is behind the inner sheet metal, tight up against the door jam, and MIG welded to the sheet metal along the opening, as can be seen in the photos below.

Pardon for the photo of the welded plate, as I thought (I was CERTAIN) that I had taken some photos of the plates before I had mounted them and of the welding detail, but I couldn't find them, so these are after they are welded in and I had covered the welds with some grey urethane seam sealer.

HTH

HTH

[hrcollinsjr]

Looks like your idea is simple enough and plenty strong. I don't believe I've ever seen a seat belt attaching bracket quite like the one under the door sill. Was it something special because of the mounting location in the Pony?

Harold

[kwilford]

Originally Posted by hrcollinsjr Looks like your idea is simple enough and plenty strong. I don't believe I've ever seen a seat belt attaching bracket quite like the one under the door sill. Was it something special because of the mounting location in the Pony? Harold

The long attaching bracket for the lap belt portion on the Hyundai mounts to the same bolt as the retractor, but in the GT, it works better to use the OEM mounting point. The bracket has a spacer-washer that allows it to swivel, so that it swings up and a bit out of the way when the belt is disconnected, allowing better access to the luggage area