[opelgtman1973]

Just wanted to say that I decided to try out the belts Stephen refers to on my '73 GT, and that I'm really happy with them. There are a couple of issues with installing them, though. First, you have to reverse the latches in their plastic sleeves. Then, for me anyway, I had to cut away some of the carpet near where the latches bolt on because the latch mounts are reversed. I will post some pictures tomorrow showing what I mean by that.

The other thing that may be an issue for people is that the access to the rear compartment is a bit inhibited because of the routing of the belts (Stephen warned me about this, but I took a chance anyway ). I don't use the back for anything but a fire extinguisher and a box of tools and selected parts, so it's not an issue for me. There are ways to make the belt hang out of the way, though, if you want to. Like I said, for me access to the back was secondary to the safety and convenience of these new belts. Again, I'll post pics tomorrow to give you a better idea of what I'm talking about (if you happen to see my post about my turn signal/flasher wiring problems, you'll know why I'm too tired right now to go out and take pictures).

I ordered mine from Latest Rage over the phone. They charged me $35 instead of the $30 Stephen paid. I'm guessing that if you find an ad of theirs you may be able to save $5 a piece. Or maybe they've just gone up suddenly. Not sure...

Anyway, just thought I'd let you guys know that for me and my '73 GT, these belts are great.

Scott

 

[opelgtman1973]

Finally got a chance to take a pic of the seat belts from Latest Rage that I installed in my '73 GT. This is just to show the issue of access to the rear compartment. As you can see, it does cross the already small opening pretty much right in the middle. However, I've already figured out that you can pull the seat belt down a bit and stick it beside the retractor to get it out of the way temporarily. Or if you're working in the back and are in and out, you can use one of the clips they give you to pull out the seat belt enough so that it just hangs. Overall, the benefits definitely outweigh the inconvenience for me

 

[opelgtman1973]

Although I read a thread on this site that mentioned buying brand new aftermarket belts for $30, which is barely more than the cost of shipping from Canada.

I have a set of the aftermarket belts offered by Latest Rage on my '73, and they bolted up pretty easily after reversing the latches in their plastic sleeves and cutting away some of the carpet. I later realized that the carpet cutting may have been avoided by straightening out the piece that bolts to the chassis. It essentially gets straightened out when you tighten down the bolt anyway. I was going for a quick solution, since my carpet is crap and will be replaced within a year, so I just got out a carpet knife and hacked away. I'll be sure to make a nice neat cutaway in the new carpet when the time comes