Shoulder belt issue on 68 Barracuda

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SGBARRACUDA

SGBARRACUDA

ROY
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I had a member make me a set of seat belt for my 68 Barracuda fastback including shoulder harness belts. Well went to install them and had a oh **** moment. The holes are in the roof line for the belt anchor, but there is no nut welded on the back side! Anyone run across this and have a solution?
 
Shoulder belts were an extra cost option on the '68s, so your car may not have been fully fitted for them.
 
I have a 68 Cuda parts car outside, with the shoulder belt option! I'll cut open the headliner and get a look inside and post a pic of what's under there for you Roy!!
 
Beat ya to it!. But it doesn't show much. It is pinch welded in one upper and one lower corner. Looks like cut and fab in your future.

IMG_4403.JPG
 
gdrill said:
Beat ya to it!. But it doesn't show much. It is pinch welded in one upper and one lower corner. Looks like cut and fab in your future.

View attachment 1715031796
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Yea George, but mine was also equipped with the not as rare as we'd like it to be "mouse house" option!!

Now, looking at the structure of it, I can believe that this isn't in Roys car! It is a tack welded piece that also has the provisions for the headliner bows, and it runs quite a ways back and forward! I can't believe there would be 2 different pieces like this that would've had to be welded in because someone ordered shoulder belts, that would seem like a big change! Seems like they would just have one piece welded in with the bolt hole in it just in case!! The front retainer just screws under the sunvisor!!
Assuming Roys car is a fastback, the one I have is!!

IMG_3479.JPG
 
Mine is a fastback. And looks just like the pictures but the nut on the back was never spot welded there. I'm going to take a picture tomorrow. But as you can tell there is no way to slip a nut behind the hole without cutting a slot to fit it in. Thanks guys for your help and pictures. I'm going to have to think on how to fix this.
 
Cut a slot just big enough to slip a nut through in the upper portion of that section . Then tape the nut to a Q-tip or such and carefully slide the nut in and start threading it in carefully... once it is started you can yank the Qtip away from nut and use a needlenose or someting to hold nut while tightening the bolt...
The headliner will be the biggest hurdle...
 
I made the parts to ad shoulder belts to 67 model notchback. 7/16 fine thread welded onto square piece of 11 gauge steel plate. Secured in place with pop rivets. This was a few years ago.
I still have extra nut plates ( made extras ) but I don't still have pics of my install. I really don't recall which way or what opening I went through to get these in place. The entire headliner was out at the time.
 
So here is your fix, I just went through it. Do your stretching exercises! Mine came out super! The nut is a 7/16 NF welded to a standard 7/16 flat washer. Its stronger than the sheet metal it sits behind.

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I would fear that in a collision that lil nut and washer might pull though the sheet metal. On the other hand, maybe mine are overkill. Good luck to all.
 
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So it has the bump out for it?

Little hard to see here but if it helps!

Sorry for the double post, the other pics were not visible on first review of your thread!
 
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RedFish said:
I made the parts to ad shoulder belts to 67 model notchback. 7/16 fine thread welded onto square piece of 11 gauge steel plate. Secured in place with pop rivets. This was a few years ago.
I still have extra nut plates ( made extras ) but I don't still have pics of my install. I really don't recall which way or what opening I went through to get these in place. The entire headliner was out at the time.
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That sounds like a good idea. When you get a chance maybe post a picture of those plate/nut things you made?
 
Weld a 7/16" NF nut to a large washer as stated above. Then make the hole large enough
for the nut to fit inside leaving the washer flat against the sheet metal then weld the full perimeter
of the washer to the sheet metal.

IMG_0052.JPG
 
cudascott said:
Weld a 7/16" NF nut to a large washer as stated above. Then make the hole large enough
for the nut to fit inside leaving the washer flat against the sheet metal then weld the full perimeter
of the washer to the sheet metal.

View attachment 1715031914
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That would be a good fix, except for the fact the headliner is installed, the carpet, seat belts rear seats ,etc are in the car all ready. Thanks
 
Ouch that stinks! That does cause a predicament I was thinking headliner was out.
 
I didn't plan to weld in the car either. that's why I went with a larger square plate. More material for 2 to 4 pop rivets or screws. I may as well ad that I didn't use a hex nut either. There's a piece of 1/2 inch tall X 1 inch square bar welded on the plate, then hand taped. 7/16 NF for our OEM or whatever might be needed, aftermarket, whatever. I'll post a pic latter today.
A 67 model roof structure will have only 1 of the bump outs that someone already mentioned. That bump out has a small hole where a sheet metal screw held the coat hook. The 68 and later structure is stamped differently. The coat hooks were moved rearward a couple inches. Thus the coat hooks are deleted in my 67.
 
SGBARRACUDA said:
That would be a good fix, except for the fact the headliner is installed, the carpet, seat belts rear seats ,etc are in the car all ready. Thanks
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That was my predicament. I did it per my photos and used a marine grade two part epoxy to bond the washer to the car upon installation.
Can be done but takes patience and flexibility.
 
I'm thinking tin snips cutting like this. Bend up. Install proper plate with nut. Close up and weld as required.

68 Barracuda shoulder belt anchor point.jpg
 
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