CMC Speedster 356 seat belt mounting question

You want regular 2 point lap belt ? $50 each

I have Dietz 4 point and others like Crow. $100 each

Best to run a 2" flat bar from side to side of car and bolt thru thin pan to it using large washers and nylock nuts.

Ok, thank you. So I need to buy some of these crow seatbelts just the basic lap two piece ones it seems not the second picture with upper harness? These will not bolt to the seat mounting bolts? I need to have a shop lift it up and install some bar and do it through the floor it sounds like?

In my Speedster the Crow lap belts bolted right up to the same attachments as the original 3-point harnesses, but as a Beck with a tube frame the mounts may have been different from those on a pan.  While the lap belts were comfortable and certainly kept my butt in the seat, they did nothing to protect my pretty face from the steering wheel when I had my accident.  Just be aware of the risk.

What ever you chose you'll need to reinforce the floor where the anchor bolts are to be located. Floor is too flimsy for anchoring. Using the seat belts will deform the floor.

jim, thanks for the info. i thought maybe the bolts they mounted the seats to would work for attachment of the seatbelts but apparently they are not the same as my toyota landcruiser which is a tank. it seems i need to take it to the classic exotic shop and pay them to do it properly and spring for three point with shoulder or x formation to protect my wife's face.

And here I am being Debbie downer again.  You need to make sure that the shoulder belt mounting is above your shoulder or it will be uncomfortable, pulling down on you as you drive (why I changed to the lap belts), and may injure you in an accident.  Unfortunately Speedster don't offer many options for proper shoulder belt mounting unless you include a roll bar.

@John Bungen posted:

jim, thanks for the info. i thought maybe the bolts they mounted the seats to would work for attachment of the seatbelts but apparently they are not the same as my toyota landcruiser which is a tank. it seems i need to take it to the classic exotic shop and pay them to do it properly and spring for three point with shoulder or x formation to protect my wife's face.

Just get the two-point belts. In order to install a shoulder belt or the four-point your car will need way more modification than simply installing the shoulder part to the side of the car.

You just need two bolts through the floor with a large enough piece of flat metal stock under the car spanning the two bolt holes, lock washers, and nuts to hold it all together.

The Dietz/Crow seat belts have a vintage racing style clasp on them --- unlike more modern seat belts.  They may not be for everyone.

You can use cheaper more modern/conventional seat belts with just the chrome clasp - some even adorn them with a PORSCHE decal.

If your seats don't have large (fender) washers holding them on the bottom - it would be worth the time to add them to the 4 mounting points. (The floor pans are very thin and normal washers will rip right out in an accident.

The CMC subframe does have a higher hidden support that could be extended and used for a 3 point seat belt.

I am thinking this car is a 60 mph florida leisure car for dinner dates and weekend getaways in sunny weather. There is not much there to avoid bug/windshield scenario. Thank you for taking the time to help me with my question. Appreciate it.

@Jim Gilbert - Madison, Mississippi posted:

What ever you chose you'll need to reinforce the floor where the anchor bolts are to be located. Floor is too flimsy for anchoring. Using the seat belts will deform the floor.

Is the floor of a CMC any different than the floor of a Vintage Speedsters or Vintage Motorcars built Speedster?  Those cars all come with seatbelts mounted directly to the floor with a large washer on the underside.

@John Bungen

I have dozens of sets of seatbelts taken from Vintage Speedsters built cars and I'd be happy to send you a set for the cost of shipping.   They are in very good condition and were only removed so I could replace them with a belt that has a Porsche emblem on it.

That's very generous Troy. Good for you.

@Troy Sloan sure that would probably work if the principle is the same and it looks ok for my car. Maybe you can email me at sales@ampridesusa.com my ebike company email and I can see a couple pics and figure out how to get you the money. I have an email into my repair shop guy to see if he can mount up as he has a lift and tools. Unless he has some already I would need to get some coming in. Also, if you have any other badge related items my car is missing i could buy that from you. I am about one week into this so any suggestions are great.

On my CMC I attached the outer belt through the steel tube. I attached the inner side to a threaded plate I put inside the tunnel where there is double thickness due to the splice.

@John Bungen posted:

@Troy Sloan sure that would probably work if the principle is the same and it looks ok for my car. Maybe you can email me at sales@ampridesusa.com my ebike company email and I can see a couple pics and figure out how to get you the money. I have an email into my repair shop guy to see if he can mount up as he has a lift and tools. Unless he has some already I would need to get some coming in. Also, if you have any other badge related items my car is missing i could buy that from you. I am about one week into this so any suggestions are great.

John.

Your car has most likely been around for a while and it wouldn't surprise me if it actually did have seatbelts at one time.  Hard to imagine that it has never had seatbelts.  Take a look under the car and see if you see holes in the vicinity of where I drew the white spot on the attached picture.  If they are there, all you will need to do is poke through the carpet.  If not, its a very simple matter of drilling holes in that location on both sides of the seat.

Shipping cost is no big deal, about $8.  Email me your address and I'll just send them to you and you can mail me back a check when they arrive.

Troy replicaspeedsters@yahoo.com

Ok, thank you I will do it when it arrives next week and get back to you, it is a fresh build with 5 kmh on it so im thinking it is missing things like the stereo, the other emblems and whatnot.

@Troy Sloan this was the listing and info https://www.centralclassiccars...456490d652c8abe74b75

Looks like a nice clean car. Good luck with it.

The only thing I see that is needed is grommets on the battery cables where they pass through the trunk fiberglass. ALWAYS use grommets through panels.

The hole in this picture is where the speaker wire is routed to door panel mounted speakers. That tells me that it probably did have a stereo at one time, but it was probably removed during a refresh.

Maybe PM Alan and see if he has any information that could help. He's a member here.

@Alan Merklin hi Alan, it looks like you may have seen this car in its life before I bought it last week. Do you remember it? Any tips or things I need to do/address?

good eye on the cable grommets missing, i think mine had duct tape grommets:{

I can't recall working on this particular speedster and some things that I do on every speedster are not shown within the photos. I would say I have not had an association with this particular speedster.

@DannyP posted:

Looks like a nice clean car. Good luck with it.

The only thing I see that is needed is grommets on the battery cables where they pass through the trunk fiberglass. ALWAYS use grommets through panels.

I'm a little suspicious about whether that vent hose is rated for gasoline as well.

FWIW, I've found my local Ace hardware has a great selection of grommets.

Thank you, I will look into both of those issues. I think I can handle that with my limited automotive background.

@Alan Merklin ok thank you, it mentioned you in the listing and the former owner was a Tom in the 304 area code. Car came out of Ohio. They could be mistaken though. No problem. Sorry to tag you.

This group is so nice, thank you for being cool. I am glad I found this group. Hopefully, someday I am able to share info I learn with others in return.

@Alan Merklin posted:

I can't recall working on this particular speedster and some things that I do on every speedster are not shown within the photos. I would say I have not had an association with this particular speedster.

I didn't think that was your work.

@John Bungen posted:

This group is so nice, thank you for being cool. I am glad I found this group. Hopefully, someday I am able to share info I learn with others in return.

WTTM! That is a proper introduction here, "Welcome To The Madness".

I don't see any holes in the floor pan to indicate that it ever had seatbelts.

Could these be the outside seat belt bolts?  Maybe the inner ones are in the center tunnel? Don't see bolts for seats - so maybe uses the OEM welded in rail pieces.

@Robert M

I agree, but it's a long way back and there are two spots I'm wondering about.  It's also interesting that there are a couple of holes in the footwell area, but why?  Drain holes possibly?

@WOLFGANG I spoke with Tom the builder today he said the bolts on rear of seat rails are reinforced and I can attach seat belts to them. He also said the floor boards are steel vs some other kind of pan which adds to rigidity?

Floor boards are steel.  The indents stamped in add strength.  Original ones are much thicker than majority of aftermarket ones BUT all rust and a bolt without big washer will rip right thru the thin steel.

That's the speedster  Alan that you wired for me a few months back.  Have Connie smack ya up the side of the head to remind ya !!!!

And take a video of the smackage, please.

My post was to be tongue in cheek,  I wired the speedsters with Greg's  Vintage Motorcars harness and Tom did the rest of the refresh.  I  was going to pm @ John Bungen yesterday then I got side tracked :~)

@Alan Merklin nice so it has headlights, bonus

I knew there would come a point when Alan could build Speedsters in his sleep!  He counts Speedster instead of Sheep.

@Alan Merklin wrote (maybe tongue in cheek): "I can't recall working on this particular speedster and some things that I do on every speedster are not shown within the photos. I would say I have not had an association with this particular speedster."

I remember you helping me swap out a dead speedometer backlight bulb on the Carlisle show field one year.  Do you remember if that was a 5 or 7 amp bulb?  I want to make the light level even on both sides.