Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Howard, here comes a link to an older related thread (parental guidance recommended).

Thanks, Gerd. I remember the post and decoration. I don't have the center pillar so that was one of my questions in this thread. Keith mentioned one drawback to a hardtop 3 point on his last page. In that method, the shoulder belt anchor is mounted to the roof so you mess up the headliner and there is not really much structure there either. The one I am considering is in the posted link where there are instructions to mount the anchor just below the rear window in that more substantial structure. Downside to that is the height is a bit low.

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Hank, that argument is handy and sounds reasonable - almost like a sucessful slogan. Could you please expand on?

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(assume driver side:
An alternative would be to anchor the SHOULDER strap to the floor at the same point the PASSENGER side LAP belt anchors nearest the center of the floor.

Basically just anchor the LEFT (drivers) shouler strap to the rear floor just to the rite of the trans tunnel (where the passenger LAP belt anchors). THen the SHOULDER strap would come up the back side of the front seat and over the drivers RITE shoulder.

Same effect for the rite side (passenger) shoulder strap but it would come over the passengers LEFT shoulder.

HH56 writes: "mounted to the roof ... and there is not really much structure there either."

I don;t know about that. Compare it to ANY other PRODUCTION shoulder strap mounting structure application.

Gusha,

basically the reason they moved side airbags to the side of the seat is because they proved to be more efficient in that location vs the door.

during a side impact the door would cave in and thus move the side airbag along with it, sometimes into a location that was not beneficial to the passenger.

when mounted to the seat (assuming you are buckled in) and during a side impact crash.....you are strapped to the seat and thus the seat follows you much more then the door does. so when the airbag goes off it stays in the location the engineers want it to be during the impact. well, much more then when it is in the door of course.

so mounting the seat belt to the door is dumb too. you get hit and the slack on the belt will be loosened, thus rendering the belt useless. this is assuming you are using the setup that HH shows in the picture. mordern day mounting styles are much more effective i'm sure....as we have crash testing now as were i doubt they had anything like that back then.

does that make sense?

Hank

HH, in your initial post here you asked some questions which no one thus far has responded to:

Has anyone got a car with original seat belts? I am wondering what the storage clip looks like on the originals or if anyone has installed modern belts in the original style and fabricated a clip.

I don't have one and have never seen a 1956 with original seat belts. I don't know how many were so equipped from the factory, analysis of the build slips of course has the answer, but we do know that only one Caribbean convertible (#1021) was equipped with factory seat belts. I have never seen an original storage clip but I do know of one 56 Caribbean convertible (#1238) where the owner fabricated needed parts in an attempt to duplicate the factory installation. If you want contact info on the owner of this vehicle, send me a PM.

Dave, thanks for the offer. With the negative comments and reasoning on deficiencies with the original door attachment, decided that I will not attempt to duplicate Packards solution. Maybe not one of their better ideas after all -- although didn't another car also do something similar?

Keith's floor suggestion for a 3 point would not be bad if it were a sedan with a solid seat back but think the hardtop and folding seat would kind of negate that idea. Am leaning toward attaching under the window--just have to figure out how to make something sturdy for the mount that will not put holes in upholstery, looks decent and won't stick out in the door opening.

"Auto Safety" as a course of study was in it's absolute infancy in 1956 and thereabouts, the only other serious thrust into safety was by Stutz (the Safety Stutz) in the 20s/early 30s which was less than a rousing success. Ford's mid-1950s thrust into safety was also pretty much a dismal failure (in the marketplace, that is).

I suspect the idea of the seat belt fastened to the door came from the very large number of auto fatalities that reportedly came from occupants being thrown from the vehicle, sometimes into the path of other moving vehicles. I suppose at the time it made perfect sense given the inmature state of the discipline.

"a sedan with a solid seat back but think the hardtop and folding seat would kind of negate that idea"

Depends on how far the floor anchore is away from the driver. For the momemt, as an exxageration, imagine the floor anchor 100 feet to the RIGHT side of the driver. Then it becomes a long strap that is nearly horizontal to the drivers chest which is closer to the horzontal than by mounting to the sill of the rear window. Sill of rear window is lower than shoulder height too.

ALl and all and in the end, to do the job the right way will require anchoring to the roof. There is really no other option. Anything else is just more or less decoration. Which decoration is the easiest????