1963 Seat Belt Preservation and Color (Red)

[Tracy C.]

Re: 1963 Seat Belt Preservation and Color (Red)

Attached are two photo’s of the passenger side seat beltsfrom my 1963 coupe survivor car. The car is basically untouched and I amcontinuing to clean it up and replace any incorrect parts that were done aspart of regular service and maintenance.
I removed the seat belts to clean them and see if there isany way to improve their coloring. In looking at them, the area near the floorattachment where they would not have been exposed to sunlight, the belts do notappear to be bright red. They are more of a light red color. Is this theoriginal color of the seat belt webbing? What suggestions would anyone have towards improving their appearance for Judging?

Rob, 63 red seatbelts came in two colors. Up to around Vin 17000 or 18000 the red was a darkish red slightly darker than the seats and afterwards the color changed to almost a coral / salmon color that matched nothing else in the interior. Yours appear to me to be originally this salmon color although it is faded somewhat. Do you have a late VIN car?

The repop red available is really too much of a bright red and not representative of the original colors for early or late.

[Frederick H.]

Re: 1963 Seat Belt Preservation and Color (Red)

Thanks Gary. I decided to use Charlie and will be shipping them out this week. Will let everyone know the results when I get them back.

[Duke W.]

Re: 1963 Seat Belt Preservation and Color (Red)

My concern would be safety. Your belts are 56 years old and obviously faded from UV light and the material may be significantly weakened. If you are going through judging then dyeing might loose less points than repros, but if you are driving the car much, I recommend new belts with the proper certification. The buckles and brackets can likely be restored.

Duke

[Frank D.]

Re: 1963 Seat Belt Preservation and Color (Red)

My concern would be safety. Your belts are 56 years old and obviously faded from UV light and the material may be significantly weakened. If you are going through judging then dyeing might loose less points than repros, but if you are driving the car much, I recommend new belts with the proper certification. The buckles and brackets can likely be restored.

Duke

AMEN! Which is exactly why I run the $100 repro belts noted above in my prior post. I installed them about two weeks before my front end crash and they may have saved my life, they certainly saved me from more injury than I did receive.

My original, 55+ year old belts stay on the shelf except for judging..they are acceptable in appearance but clearly have some wear and thins spots in the webbing...and perhaps the material has been compromised by prior owners harsh cleaning methods.

You may not think the worst will happen -- but that's when it does...

[Rob A.]

Re: 1963 Seat Belt Preservation and Color (Red)

Rob, 63 red seatbelts came in two colors. Up to around Vin 17000 or 18000 the red was a darkish red slightly darker than the seats and afterwards the color changed to almost a coral / salmon color that matched nothing else in the interior. Yours appear to me to be originally this salmon color although it is faded somewhat. Do you have a late VIN car?

The repop red available is really too much of a bright red and not representative of the original colors for early or late.

Tracy,

My car is a late build. Ordered on May 13, 1963 and the original owner took delivery July 13, 1963 at the factory. The VIN is 118###. I have heard about the salmon/coral colored seat belts in late build cars but have not found anything conclusive.

I ended up keeping my original belts and storing them away. Andy Cannizzo built me a beautiful set of belts using NOS webbing and restored buckles that look awesome. Unfortunately the look too good and out of place in my survivor car....

Thanks,
Rob

[Frederick H.]

Re: 1963 Seat Belt Preservation and Color (Red)

Agreed. I plan to use repros for daily use.