I've seen many photos both ways...does the female (clasp) half of the seatbelt on a C1 go on the door side or the shifter side??? Thanks.
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Re: nitpicking?
I have a book, "The Real Corvette" published in 1975, that shows interior shots of several 58-62 Vettes that are supposed to be original. In most pictures they don't appear to have seat belts, but they may simply be stuffed down beside the seats as the pictures are showing the different seat patterns. In the couple of pics where the seat belts are visable, the buckles (female) are inboard. The 63-67 belts have the clasp inboard, so if I had to make an educated guess, I'd say that they are supposed to be inboard on the C1's also. That's how the ones in my car are, but that's how I installed them. The originals were MIA. -
Re: nitpicking?
My '62 original has the buckle on the tunnel side.Comment
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Re: nitpicking?
Glenn:
The female buckle goes to the outboard side. The NCRS judging manual indicates the opposite, However there was an addendum issued which states that generally, the female end was installed to the outside of the car.Comment
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Re: nitpicking?
i know from experence that the female buckle was on the out board side in my 1959 corvette. i was stopped by the cops one night after dark and when the cop ask me for my cards i took off my belt and the heavy buckel hit the fiberglass by the seat and made a thud. the cop pulled his gun because he thought i had dropped a gun. he even told me so. this stuff sticks in your mind.Comment
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Re: nitpicking?
Motorman,
Good thing it wasn't the Clinton-era Feds ; Not only would your bride have been widowed, but that classic '59 would have been hard to restore after the gunfire stopped.
Chuck SangerhausenComment
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THE TRUTH
Seat belt buckles have two major components: The male portion and the female portion. (ATTENTION: This statement is NOT a sexual innuendo but rather an accepted technical terminology!) The female portion contains the flipper or release lever.
1958-60 belts were installed with the female buckle outboard. 1961-62 belts were installed with the female buckle inboard. My first Corvette, a 1959 BB fuelie was damaged due to my closing the driver's door with the buckle and belt hanging out the door. I drove like that for a while and not only did I scratch the buckle but the fiberglass to the rear of the door as well.
Also, Noland Adams' first book shows two Milford Proving Ground Corvettes, a 1958 and 60. Note the black stripe in each interior to cover up the test numbers of the cars. This for publication I suppose. The outboard position of the female buckle is obvious in each picture. (see page 250) (note: also on page 222 you see the pockets in the seat bottoms of Jeff Reid's 1959. These seats are restored, and very well, by Oliver Reimer. The photo is mistakenly labeled, "original".)
Dale PearmanComment
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Re: THE TRUTH
Dale, now I am more curious.I know this thread started with a '58 car.But,if seat belts were an option in'56 and '57 is there a standard set for that option? And to think I now learned something else diff. between the two body styles.Comment
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Re: THE TRUTH
Hey Dave. I don't want to mislead you on seat belts for 56-57. I don't have a clue! I guess I'd research everything by going to the AIM, Adams' Book, Judging manual, Spear's book, call ssnyke-oil, call Sunwest, talk to the team leader, etc.
If I knew squat I'd share!
Dale.Comment
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Re: THE TRUTH
Hey Dave. I don't want to mislead you on seat belts for 56-57. I don't have a clue! I guess I'd research everything by going to the AIM, Adams' Book, Judging manual, Spear's book, call ssnyke-oil, call Sunwest, talk to the team leader, etc.
If I knew squat I'd share!
Dale PearmanComment
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NOS '57 Belts
I found an NOS set of belts for my '57 (they weren't a factory option, just a dealer-installed option), and the instruction sheet that was enclosed showed the buckle side to be installed inboard (tunnel side), so that's how I installed them.
JohnComment
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Re: NOS '57 Belts
Good for you John. I think we should ALWAYS follow directions. I re-oriented the belts on my 59 after damaging the driver's buckle. I changed the installation of the belts on BOTH seats so the problem wouldn't repeat. That act reversed the factory installation procedure and my seat belt configuration was then NOT typical of factory production. A 58-60 shown that way today in NCRS would receive a point deduction. The female buckles belong outboard.
Varooom!Comment
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Ed, wazzat the Miller book???
ED, regarding yur mention of "The Real Corvette". Seems to me there was a book with that title by a guy named Ray Miller . It was not well regarded as a resource. There were some reviews pointing to errors in "originality" (er...correctness,whatever) in both text and pictures. My memory may not be "correct" on this but thought I'd mention it. I think the best references are NCRS pubs and this DB. Hope youre a member, en...keep wavin!!Comment
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Re: Ed, wazzat the Miller book???
Yep, this is the Miller book. There are some errors in it. There is a disclaimer in the book to the effect that none of the cars are represented to be entirely correct, but that supposedly the particular parts of a given car that are being shown are thought to be correct. There has been a lot of research and documentation in the 25 years since that book was published.At the time there weren't too many references available. I was an NCRS member then, and am now, but there was a long gap in between when I was pursuing other interests.Comment
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