66 Shoulder Harness

[Nick Dillon]

I am adding shoulder harnesses to my 66 coupe. I noticed in the AIM there is a cable that attaches to the rear belt anchor and passes through a hole with grommet in the rear floor and is then bolted to the frame. The donor car the parts are coming off does not have the cable. Was the cable installed by the factory? A friend who is very knowledgeable about midyears says he has seen three 66's with shoulder harnesses and none have had the cables. What's the real story?

Nick

[Joe L.]

Re: 66 Shoulder Harness

Nick-----

Without the cable, how would the shoulder belt be anchored to the car?

[Mike M.]

Re: 66 Shoulder Harness

Nick: i have a 66 and a 67 with shoulder harnesses. neither has cables, just a reinforcement plate rivited to the outside face of the floor pan/tub. mike

[Nick Dillon]

Re: 66 Shoulder Harness

Mike,
The donor car is the same as you describe with the belt anchored to the riveted plate. I will install mine the same and not worry about the phantom cable. Is there a tensioner for the shoulder belt or do you just let it lay on the seat when not in use? Too bad they're not the inertial type so you could use one belt for both lap and shoulder.

Joe,
I didn't describe the system very well. The belt is secured like Mike describes. The AIM shows a cable connecting to the same plate and then to the frame. I guess the factory could have deleted or never installed the cable and not updated the AIM. Only 37 were sold in 66 and 1426 in 67 so I guess it's not a big deal. Interestingly the anchoring plate is the same in the 68-72's. That's what I am using. I would be interested to know if the Judging Guide specifies the cable.

Nick

[Mike M.]

Re: 66 Shoulder Harness

Nick: no retractors were used. there is a rubber/ plastic (or combo of both) cup that fastens to the bulkhead behind the seats. it is centered in the bulkhead just behind the arm rest cushion between the seats. It serves as a storage facility for the harness females when not in use. i believe they are available as repros and gm at one time serviced them but the service part was saddle tan and originals were color keyed to the vets interior color. good luck, mike

[Peter L.]

Re: 66 Shoulder Harness

Nick - If you are referring to UPC A85 A2 in the '66 AIM showing the cable assembly, it is for the installation of the shoulder harness with RPO NO3, 36-1/2 Gallon Gas Tank. UPC A85 A1, the upper righthand view shows the non- RPO NO3 shoulder harness installation which does not call out a cable assembly. Pete

[Nick Dillon]

Re: 66 Shoulder Harness

Pete,
Thanks for pointing that out, I missed the NO3 designation in the title block on page A2. I guess thats why no one has seen the cables, probably not many cars with the big tank AND shoulder harnesses.
Nick