The Paul Cain Seatbelt Mod

[rsporsche]

John,

so how did you deal with the seatbelt coming thru the rear panel - from the reel? we know what Paul did, i assume that you did something similar ... curious as to what you actually used for the transition

 

[inovermyhead]

Scott, from memory we lined the complete interior panel up so as to be able to work out both the top swivel position and where the belt would exit the panel, then it was simply a matter of carefully cutting the board and bevelling/sanding the slot so as to aid the belts travel, then finishing with an escutcheon and self tappers.

I can post some pics of finished result if you need some visuals

John

 

[rsporsche]

John, would like to see some visuals when you get a chance.
thanks
scott

 

[inovermyhead]

Here you go Scott, hope these help

 

[rsporsche]

many, many thanks John ... this is helpful and exactly the type of thing i would like to do. i thought about trying to do the vertical belt concealed, the 987 cayman ran them inside the body and there is a metal opening / pivot ... but since the wood is parallel to the length of the car, it wouldn't work as well as the cayman approach.

 

[Rek]

In all this discussion I cannot see the set up which my car has. Its a '71 CS.

There is a strong steel bar which bolts to the rear seat belt mount runs forward being held by a bolt to the rear window mounting frame halfway along and then ends with a captive bolt which neatly fits into an aperture in the B pillar in the same location as the photo's above.

I cannot see this part on RealOEM so it might not be standard. It does seem an elegant solution as the stress on the belt is take by the rear mount.

 

[rsporsche]

don't believe this is standard. perhaps you should share a picture

 

[Rek]

I will - it might solve a lot of issues for people.

 

[inovermyhead]

With my method you have to be prepared to sacrifice the wood capping but figured if I ever have to revert to original roof mounted position I would just get Bella to make me four new trim pieces, but as it's been passed by an accredited engineer I can't see it happening during my ownership

John

 

[aearch]

why not use the 74 oem top hanger?
just curious.

 

[rsporsche]

if you had a 2800cs or a '74 3.0cs, would you still use the 'top hanger'? that would be like telling a worker on a construction site to go into the shed and get a sky hook tool ... it doesn't exist on those cars.

 

[inovermyhead]

As I understand it the top hanger is there just to guide the belt, it has no strength as its only attached to the trim, mine bolts through to a piece of 10x20 mm steel bar which in turn is bolted to the chassis in three places, it ain't going anywhere.