C2: 67 Seat Belt Buckle- Take apart?

[Gerard F.]

How does one take apart the buckle on a 1967 seat belt buckle for refinishing the inards? Mine are all rusted inside and now that I'm squared away on the color of the bowtie (blue), I'd like to take it apart and refinish it. It's a Hamill RCF-65.

Incidentally, I have been researching belt buckles, and guess what the RCF-65 stands for? It was patented in 1965 by Robert C. Fisher, who was a GM employee, thus RCF-65, which was used not only on Corvettes. There was also a RCF-67 buckle patented by Robert C in 1967, which was a smaller version of the RCF-65, and used in GM cars, probably starting in 1968. The RCF-67 buckle is supposed to be the most abundant type of buckle used during that era. Robert C. Fisher has quite a few patents on seat belts, and seat belt parts up through 1976.

I do not know if Robert C. was related to the Fisher Body family, although the name matches. If anyone knows of Robert C. Fisher or has any information on him, let me know, and I'll add to my C2 research. I believe he lived in Michigan, and later in the 70's, he patented out of Florida.

Jerry Fuccillo
#42179

[Jim W.]

Re: C2: 67 Seat Belt Buckle- Take apart?

Jerry, I was shown how the seatbelt buckles come apart at the Orlando NCRS meet in January. The owner of Sunwest Auto Specialties, who had a variety of seatbelts there, took a small bladed screwdriver and pried the end of the buckle opposite the receiver end. You have to pry the 3/16" opening on both sides of the end that reads Hamill RCF-65 on the underside. To reassemble, everything snaps hard back together. I tried it when I got home and it worked. Be careful and good luck. Jim Weeks Member #2978

[Gerard F.]

Re: C2: 67 Seat Belt Buckle- Take apart?

Jim,

Amazing! Great instructions, I did it while I was online reading your response.
Thanks!!

Jerry

[Gerard F.]

Robert C. Fisher RCF-65

Thanks to Jim Weeks, I had the buckle apart in less then two minutes. However, it took another 10 minutes to take the rest of the buckle apart and to realize that you have to unstitch the end of the belt to separate the belt from the buckle. If you do this, then all the inards come out for refinishing. (Which is no problem, as I am restoring).

I'm really amazed at the mechanical engineering that went into this belt buckle. Built for assembly and disassembly, you don't see that any more with molded parts to throw away. As a civil, I appreciate the engineering even though its out of my field. I'd really like to get, or do an assembly drawing of this belt buckle, and that's why I got online with the US Patent Office.

So gentlemen, to the second part of my original post, let's find out about the inventor, Robert C. Fisher, and preserve a little history. If anybody knows of him in the 60's through the 70's, in any position in GM, or Fisher Body, send in a post.

I'll see if I can put something together on him.

Jerry Fuccillo
#42179

[Gary S.]

Re: Robert C. Fisher RCF-65

Better yet, do a thorough research on Fisher and the buckles and do a Restorer article on it, how to repair them, etc. Terry M will appreciate it, as will the rest of us.
Gary

[Gerard F.]

Re: Robert C. Fisher RCF-65

Gary,

I think you read my mind, I was thinking of doing an article just on the buckle, with a before and after, and step by step. With me, it's trial and error, so it might take some time.

I'm hoping that most of the research on Fisher would come out of this forum.
Maybe, there is some ex-GM employees as members who knew of him.

Jerry Fuccillo