TheSamba.com :: View topic - Middle bench seatbelt anchor ideas please

Wed Jan 07, 2015 9:21 pm

I need middle bench seatbelt anchor ideas please. Bus is 23 window (with belly pans) and restored. I know, I should have thought about this during the restoration, but my plan was to anchor the belts to the seat brackets, but they are in no way made to hold down belts and will rip right out. So what to do?

I've read many posts about the rear bench, but none that I saw on the middle bench.

Thu Jan 08, 2015 7:10 am

Well, unless you glue the anchor points down, you're going to have to do some cutting. Figure out your anchor points on the floor based on where your middle seat will be adjusted to. It can slide a bit back and forth once it's in and before you tighten down the anchors. Once you've done that, and there may already be little indents in the floor for seat belts, can't see from the pic, you will need to cut out little squares at those points. Then flip them over, weld on a stiffener or the large washer that the kits come with and then the nut. Then drill and access hole from the top for the bolt to go through.

Then just weld the squares back in, grind smooth, prime and then paint. Then when you put the floor mat in, the seat belt floor mounting point will either sit on top of the mat with the bolt going through it or you can have the belt go through a slit in the mat and attach on the under side.

That's just one way to do it. And on a restored bus, I think this would be the best option. The other option is to weld a mounting nut to the top of the floor and mount to it. It won't mount flush though.

Hope this helps. Others may have different options but this is what I would do.

Thu Jan 08, 2015 12:13 pm

Trying to avoid the cutting, if possible.

How about if I drill into the cross member rails and tap the rail for the bolt? Enough meat on the rail to get a couple of threads on it?

Thu Jan 08, 2015 12:22 pm

The crossmember isn't enough to anchor bolts to the floor.

Thu Jan 08, 2015 5:02 pm

DubStyle wrote: The crossmember isn't enough to anchor bolts to the floor.

x2

crappy pic, but this is how much reinforcement there is inside that crossmember for those bolts....a LOT more than the thread and a half you might get from tapping the crossmember only:

Thu Jan 08, 2015 5:06 pm

FWIW, if that's a current pic of your bus, it might be a good time to cut into the belly pans (not removing them entirely), install the stock style reinforcements and mounting points, then weld up the belly pans.

It's a PITA, but you will have real anchor points then.

Thu Jan 08, 2015 7:49 pm

The belly pans are also done, so no better then cutting the floor.

How about putting a grade 8 bolt through the cross member all the way through the bottom of the belly pan, where I can use a proper anchor that spreads the load across a wider area. So like using a 10 inch or so bolt.

Thu Jan 08, 2015 8:22 pm

teamasr wrote: The belly pans are also done, so no better then cutting the floor.

But if you cut the belly pans, at least you can access the bottom of the cross-member, which is what you're after, really.

I get that you don't wanna cut it, but seat belt mounts aren't something I'd experiment with. The long bolts through the pans would be better than threads in the cross-member, but not nearly as good as the stock mounting, IMO. Think of where and to what the force would be applied, were you to put the mounts to the test in an accident.

Thu Jan 08, 2015 10:11 pm

67 buses came with seat belt anchors in the back.
searching the gallery for "*67 and cargo and floor" finds:

you can see plugs in anchor points for middle seat seat belts:

Thu Jan 08, 2015 10:20 pm

Another '67 floor pic (top)

Fri Jan 09, 2015 8:03 am

if you are that reluctant to cut anything then your only other option is to grind the area clean on top and weld something (properly!) to the cargo floor on top, however obviously it wouldn't be flush mounted and would mess with any cargo mat.

If it were my bus and I wanted belts that bad I would emulate the 67 style mount shown above, with the requisite cutting and welding. You won't regret it once it's done and if done right it should be virtually invisible.

Fri Jan 09, 2015 11:00 am

I'm thinking:
Find the channel inner width dimension
Make brackets to go in the channel (like in the pic)... looks like one full rib between holes & holes coincide with rib tops.
Drill bolt size (+1/8") holes in the cargo floor to match brackets
Use hole saw (maybe one time per side) on belly pans (to fish brackets to locations)
Fish string down each bolt hole & out to hole saw locations in belly pans
Get several washers, put one fish string through each bracket's bolt hole (with bracket above washer) + one additional string to each washer & . Leave one string dangling out hole saw holes for later.
Add panel weld adhesive or construction adhesive to brackets & fish brackets to home
Add tension to strings until adhesive hardened
Cut strings at cargo area & pull washers out, from below
Install rubber plugs at the hole sawed holes
here's some rubber plugs of adequate/common size for hole sawing:
http://www.falconparts.com/ford-falcon-auto-parts/pc/Floor-Pans-c68.htm
Install seat belts at your leisure, add dum-dum to bottom of seat belt bracket/bolt hole area to help seal the small annular space around the bolts (at the cargo floor).... or throw a rubber washer under each seat belt bracket.

Fri Jan 09, 2015 12:10 pm

Yeah baby...love it.

Thanks for all those detail photos guys, makes it sooooo much easier to visualize and come up with a plan. I really appreciate it.

Can anyone take a measure of how far back is the cross rail relative to front seats, or rear seats or something else? And how big is the opening inside the cross rail itself for where the bracket will go? I will try to look for stamp marks, but might be hard to see with the paint.

Thanks!