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Sun Apr 10, 2005 9:22 pm

:roll:Can anyone help me find out what the first years that bugs came with seat belts as standard equipment? Or even where I would go to find this info?
Thanks!

Sun Apr 10, 2005 9:36 pm

I always went by the holes in the pan for the mounts. I don't know what the first year was. My 64 had them in front, but not in back. My 60 ghia does not have seat belts.

Sun Apr 10, 2005 10:05 pm

VW began putting in threaded inserts on the pan & body for seat belts in 62, but the belts only were options back then. Most cars have a plastic plug filling in those threads now. First year seat belts came as standard equipment was in 67.

Sun Apr 10, 2005 10:34 pm

yes 1967 1st year for lap belts. 1968 had lap and shoulder belts in usa. for some reason euro 67 had shoulder belts but no lap belts. :roll:

Mon Apr 11, 2005 5:59 am

Bill, that's interesting about the shoulder belts without lap belt. Our '66
(U.S. spec) was picked up at factory late '65 with no belts. Then, in 1969,
p.o. had belts installed at dealership in Germany before shipping car to U.S. They appear to be an aftermarket item. Must have been a European thing?

Mon Apr 11, 2005 6:08 am

My Dad's 63 has seat belts. And ther ewas a silver foiled stocker between the headlights and wiper switch above the radio that read "FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELTS".

I think he paid extra for them.

Mon Apr 11, 2005 8:57 am

my late 59 has holes in the pan behind each seat track that appear they are for seatbelts, however, they are not threaded. could these holes be for something else? they are a little bit smaller than a quarter.

Mon Apr 11, 2005 9:00 am

p.sullivan wrote: my late 59 has holes in the pan behind each seat track that appear they are for seatbelts, however, they are not threaded. could these holes be for something else? they are a little bit smaller than a quarter.

Either way they are not a stock item. Most likely the car had seat belts at one time. Since the holes are there and you'd like to use seat belts I see why not.

The belts are usually installed with a bolt and a washer so the threading will not matter.

Mon Apr 11, 2005 3:57 pm

bill may wrote: yes 1967 1st year for lap belts. 1968 had lap and shoulder belts in usa. for some reason euro 67 had shoulder belts but no lap belts. :roll:

I think there were a few European cars in the early 60's that came only with shoulder belts, but I haven't been able to find a pic of one.

My 65 US spec vert has threaded holes in the tunnel behind the parking brake and at the top of the "B" pillar for front shoulder belts. It also has threaded holes behind the center of the back seat for the inboard end of the rear belts. The strange thing is, there are no holes whatever (trust me, I have looked a lot) for the outboard ends of the front or rear seat belts. So I used the rear seat back pivot bolts as seat belt anchors. Yes, it's not right, I know. But it sure looks to me like 65 verts came with shoulder belt anchors only.

Mon Apr 11, 2005 4:30 pm

Yup, Supervert. Thats exactly the situation with my '66 sedan that was delivered at the factory. (see my post above). I don't know about rear seat, but I'll go look right now.

Mon Apr 11, 2005 4:41 pm

Correction: My car DOES have outboard mount holes for front lap belts. :oops: I don't find mount for rear belts, however. Shoulder belt without a lap belt is not a good deal. I'd better upgrade that.

Mon Apr 11, 2005 6:47 pm

79SuperVert wrote: bill may wrote: yes 1967 1st year for lap belts. 1968 had lap and shoulder belts in usa. for some reason euro 67 had shoulder belts but no lap belts. :roll:

I think there were a few European cars in the early 60's that came only with shoulder belts, but I haven't been able to find a pic of one.

My 65 US spec vert has threaded holes in the tunnel behind the parking brake and at the top of the "B" pillar for front shoulder belts. It also has threaded holes behind the center of the back seat for the inboard end of the rear belts. The strange thing is, there are no holes whatever (trust me, I have looked a lot) for the outboard ends of the front or rear seat belts. So I used the rear seat back pivot bolts as seat belt anchors. Yes, it's not right, I know. But it sure looks to me like 65 verts came with shoulder belt anchors only.

yes, same thing with my 66 vert. i am still trying to figure a good place to install outboard front lap belts mounting bolts. i would appreciate any input from vert owners who have installed these lap belts. where is the outboard mounting bolt for the lap belts on a 67 ? someone should send a pic.

Mon Apr 11, 2005 8:18 pm

in center on a 67 under rear seat is a plate with 2 threaded inserts.just about 1" forward of bolt for seat back to pivit are threaded holes for outboard ends of belts.

Tue Apr 12, 2005 7:17 am

bill may wrote: in center on a 67 under rear seat is a plate with 2 threaded inserts.just about 1" forward of bolt for seat back to pivit are threaded holes for outboard ends of belts.

roger bill. that is for the rear belts.
i am speaking of the front seat lap belts door side mounts. can you post a pic? thanks

Tue Apr 12, 2005 11:20 am

The front outer seatbelt mounts on my 67 are on the corner of the pillar just above the heater channel(sorry, no pic since I don't have my camera right now). If memory serves me right(and that's a big IF since it was 15 years ago and I've forgotten everything else) the mounting holes on my 66 with the original floorpans had them attached to the floorpan and it looked factory not like someone had added them later but like I said my memory sucks.

Tue Apr 12, 2005 11:25 am

And if you want to ignore my last post(but I did have 3-pt seatbelts in my 66) I just looked in my 66 owners manual and on page 11 it talks about seatbelts and apparently the shoulder strap only version is the one it's talking about and they even have a picture of one for the driver side and it doesn't look safe at all.

Tue Apr 12, 2005 3:13 pm

It would be great if you could scan that picture and post it. It would certainly answer a lot of questions.

Tue Apr 12, 2005 5:58 pm

79SuperVert wrote: It would be great if you could scan that picture and post it. It would certainly answer a lot of questions.

agreed. someone must have a digital camera. please post pic.
thank you.

Wed Apr 13, 2005 8:38 am

Here is the pic in my 66 owner's manual:

Here is the pic in my 67 owner's manual but looks like my old 66, not my current 67:

Here is the pic in my current 67:

Hope this helps, I'm posting these instead of going and paying my taxes.

Wed Apr 13, 2005 11:45 am

interesting. :shock:
a vert is a lot different in that area. maybe someone can post a vert pic? thank you very much for your effort!