C3 Carpet & Seat Belt Reinforcement

[Pat K.]

I'm replacing the carpeting in my '69. Do I cut a slit in the carpet to allow the seat belt to pass thru the reinforcement up thru the carpet or is there another way this is supposed to be done?

I included a pic just in case I referred to the name of reinforcement part incorrectly.

Thanks,

Pat

[Wayne P.]

Re: C3 Carpet & Seat Belt Reinforcement

The part you show goes underneath the carpet. There should be an oblong plastic moulding that goes in the carpet hole where the belts goes thru. Yes, you will have to cut the carpet.

[Pat K.]

Re: C3 Carpet & Seat Belt Reinforcement

Hi Wayne,

I did a quick search of the major vendors for this oblong plastic moudling part but came up with nothing. Do you know where this can be purchased? If not, do you know the part#, maybe I'll get hit on eBay.

Thanks,

Pat

[Dick W.]

Re: C3 Carpet & Seat Belt Reinforcement

As far as I know no vendor is reproducing the molding that you need. E-bay or a salvage yard would be your best bet. I just passed the idea of reproing this part to a vendor that has quite a few parts manufacturered and he is thinking about it. But it would be at least a year before any hit the market if he started on it tommorrow. Has to be passed thru GM and EMI for their approval, licensing, and of course fees.

[Pat K.]

Re: C3 Carpet & Seat Belt Reinforcement

Hi Dick,

Thanks for the information, hopefully the vendor will decide to repro it. Do you have a part#?

Pat

[George D.]

Re: C3 Carpet & Seat Belt Reinforcement

I'm going from memory hear, but I don't think that all of the 69's had the oblong plastic retainer. I think is was only used on the early 69's. Not sure when the change was made to eliminate it.

[Dick W.]

Re: C3 Carpet & Seat Belt Reinforcement

To quote the TIM & JG "occassionaly in 1968 and on all 1969's, a color-keyed vinyl grommet is found between the seat and sill plate....."

[Jeffrey S.]

Re: C3 Carpet & Seat Belt Reinforcement

Pat, Dick, et al:
If this helps, my '69 October '68 build date has the grommets. These are not available anywhere and when I changed my carpeting, I re-used my originals. Interesting note- in order for the factory to get them to fit, they cut have off the driver's side. I belive that the grommet was part of the carpet set originally and not a seperate part #. Hope this helps.
Jeff

[Pat K.]

Re: C3 Carpet & Seat Belt Reinforcement

Hi Jeff,

Can you post a pic so I can see what the finished install looks like?

Pat

[Jeffrey S.]

Re: C3 Carpet & Seat Belt Reinforcement

Pat:
Sorry it took so long to respond. I can take a picture of the grommets installed on the passenger side installed in the car and on the carpet but out of the car on the driver's side (I had an oil leak from the oil pressure guage and had to remove the carpet for cleaning). I don't know how to post a picture here but if you e-mail me your address i will mail them to you.
Jeff