Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

What is everyone using for seat belts?

back in the day my dad installed black lap belts in the Caribbean that had a chrome latch type buckle with a gold packard crest on them. However, I can not find a source for them now.

I am looking to install seat belts into my 56 Patrician.

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.

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Has anyone installed shoulder belts in a 1951-56 Packard? How did that turn out?

Yea I was going to mount them to the floor as well. Wasnt going to drill into the door cards.

Kanter sells them, or should I just got with a place like Wesco?

Has anyone installed shoulder belts in a 1951-56 Packard? How did that turn out?

Here is a fellow who installed front and rear shoulder belts in a 52. There are some photos in his blog and in a separate posting but if you have any questions, as I recall he was in a plane accident and suddenly passed before his car was done.

Another option is RetroBelt. I went with the aviation buckles on mine.

They do have shoulder belts also. I couldn't use them because I don't have a B pillar in my car. But they looked pretty straightforward.

-Kevin

I put 4 shoulder belts in the 53 clipper coupe that I had before. The front seat geometry worked pretty well, the back seat is OK, but not great. The middle passengers front and back only got lap belts. There might be pictures in that Blog, not sure.
In my Caribbean I put lap belts in the back seat, but haven't gotten around to putting the lap belts in the front yet.

they offer a bunch of lengths. I would say I am of average size and build. Any idea on lengths?

the interior is currently out of the car and it would be nice to have the holes drilled before I start laying down insulation.

The RetroBelt website has a page that shows how to measure for the right length. This number changes depending on how tall your seats are, where you're going to mount them, and the girth of the passengers.

retrobelt.com/pages/seat-belt-fitment

Don't remember the 51-4 seat construction very well but if your car (or anyone else contemplating belts) has the type seat with a bottom cushion that drops or even bolts into a metal full seat frame that surrounds both cushions you may also want to consider slotting the frame to get a more or less straight pull to the anchor points. If this is done it could also affect the length of belt needed.

If you try to come up from an open bottom into the frame then you would require a path to work around the cushion. There could be a sharp edge the belt would rub over plus a bend or two. If the cushion or frame dislodged in an accident the belt could be cut or, because of the bends, if the belt goes slack it could be of little use.

Most pre 51 models had this type seat construction. Here are a couple of photos showing a straight belt path and the added slots in the metal frame to allow it. First one Mike took of his 47 shows the finished belts and the slots and bare frame are of my 47.

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