Re: Seat Belts
Posted by HH56 On 2023/2/7 14:52:34
I bought my belts from Wesco but am sure others have the same buckle I chose. Looks to be a bit generic but was as close as I found in looks to the original even if it is a lot shorter and somewhat wider.
On sedans, Packard originally mounted one of the belt halves to the door and promoted that approach as added safety because with the belt buckled the door could not accidentally fly open. Kind of ugly IMO, and I would wager there were a lot of belt ends that merrily sparked away as they got dragged down the street after not being replaced in the flimsy parking clip and not noticed when the door was closed.
On the door mounting, it is hard to say for certain if they might have changed their mind later on or if it was only for hardtops. The S-P sold kit still had instructions on the door mount but an illustration of a 56 Caribbean seat in the 56 brochure A Woman's Place shows both sides anchored to the floor. That is how I chose to mount them in my Caribbean and frankly I think that would be the better way in sedans as well. Just make sure to reinforce with more metal or add the extra wide washers under the floor where the bolts are positioned
Here are photos of the factory belt and part of the instructions from an ebay listing, illustrations out of the Packard literature, and the buckle I bought from Wesco. As far as the crest I wonder if that was done early as stock or maybe something done by a dealer because the S-P sold belts appear to just have a sticker. If you could find some of the small inch or so high dash crests they might be able to be fastened to the buckles. The smallest crest Emblamagic sells is the side roof pillar crest and I think those are too tall and not finished enough on the sides.
Attach file:
belt kit1.jpg (70.61 KB)
buckle.jpg (128.49 KB)
instructions.jpg (81.27 KB)
IMG_2596.jpeg (244.15 KB)
acc brochure.jpg (115.04 KB)
womans place.jpg (95.22 KB)
On sedans, Packard originally mounted one of the belt halves to the door and promoted that approach as added safety because with the belt buckled the door could not accidentally fly open. Kind of ugly IMO, and I would wager there were a lot of belt ends that merrily sparked away as they got dragged down the street after not being replaced in the flimsy parking clip and not noticed when the door was closed.
On the door mounting, it is hard to say for certain if they might have changed their mind later on or if it was only for hardtops. The S-P sold kit still had instructions on the door mount but an illustration of a 56 Caribbean seat in the 56 brochure A Woman's Place shows both sides anchored to the floor. That is how I chose to mount them in my Caribbean and frankly I think that would be the better way in sedans as well. Just make sure to reinforce with more metal or add the extra wide washers under the floor where the bolts are positioned
Here are photos of the factory belt and part of the instructions from an ebay listing, illustrations out of the Packard literature, and the buckle I bought from Wesco. As far as the crest I wonder if that was done early as stock or maybe something done by a dealer because the S-P sold belts appear to just have a sticker. If you could find some of the small inch or so high dash crests they might be able to be fastened to the buckles. The smallest crest Emblamagic sells is the side roof pillar crest and I think those are too tall and not finished enough on the sides.
Attach file:
belt kit1.jpg (70.61 KB)
buckle.jpg (128.49 KB)
instructions.jpg (81.27 KB)
IMG_2596.jpeg (244.15 KB)
acc brochure.jpg (115.04 KB)
womans place.jpg (95.22 KB)
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