59-61 seatbelt markings
I have 2 questions concerning the markings on 59 seat belt hardware. 1st) on the tightener at the hambone, my original has stamped into it 237 l, where the l is a straight mark rather than having a little mark at the top of the l, ( much like a 1 w/o the horizontal at the bottom of this one). I've seen belts sold by the belt restorers with the 237 1. rather than 237 l. Were there 2 styles of markings, maybe an early & late or is this a sign of the reproduction tightener. 2nd) My male buckle has the 235 stamped into it so that the bottom of the #235 is nearest the rectangular hole. The ones I've seen by restorers have the #235 with the top of the numbers nearest the rectangular hole. In other words, they are inverted from my originals. Would both be correct or is this again just the repo thing? The edition of the JG I have does not address this.
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Re: 59-61 seatbelt markings
I checked the Corvette Restoration Handbook and found a photo of an original hambone and the stamping is like you describe your original, 237 and then a vertical mark, not a 1. The 7 is larger than the 2 and 3. I believe the male portion of the buckle should have square hole, not rectangle. The bottom of the 235 is typically above the square hole. The 61-62 JG states that some inverted "235" have been observed. That is not covered in the current version of the 58-60 JG, but I will bring it up during the in-progress update of the 58-60 JG. The new 61-62 JG states that rectangular holes were first observed on 1962 belts. -
Re: 59-61 seatbelt markings
Joe, you are correct. The hole in the male buckle is square, not rectangular. My bad, I had put my original belts up when I was posting the questions and had sketched out the designs. Guess I made the hole too much out of square. Thanks for posting. AlComment
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