1968 Charger seat belt retractors

[chargervic]

I'm working on an early build (Dec 1,1967) 1968 Charger R/T and, as received, the front seat belts did not have retractors. The stitching on the anchor end looks like it might have been re-done, so I'm wondering if the retractors were removed. Is it possible for an early build car to NOT have retractors? It does NOT have shoulder belts, either, but I know this can be correct as they were an option. The anchors on the outer belts are chrome. I know the retractors did not use these chrome anchors, but as I said, the stitching looks re-done, so that may explain this anomaly.


Another 1968 Charger R/T I'm working on has REAR shoulder belts. Has anyone seen these before? They are a factory option and are correct on the build sheet. Funny thing with this car, the front shoulder belts are on the build sheet, but not in the car. This is a very original car, so I'm sure they were never there.

Thanks in advance for any help on this one, guys.

[Ghoste]

I've never heard of them not having retractors.  Those rear shoulder ones are very rare as for the missing fronts, who knows they could have been missed at the plant.  Strange to imagine it with rear shoulder belts but no front ones.

[chargervic]

Thanks, Ghoste for the quick reply. I have been around Chargers since they were new and I don't remember any without retractors, either. Just thought I'd ask in case someone else had seen such a thing. I guess now I'm looking for a set of retractors.

[Ghoste]

I'm not claiming to be an authority either, I'm just making a statement based on what I've observed personally.

[cdr]

check this

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,57567.msg641703.html#msg641703

[chargervic]

Thanks very much for the pic, CDR. That provides confirmation of what I heard earlier today. I also just got back home from looking at the Charger R/T with the rear shoulder belts and it has the same retractor as your pic. It is part Number 2520555. So now I'm looking for a mint pair of those.
I have a feeling that this retractor was either early 68 production or just used with cars that didn't get front shoulder belts. There is no mention in the parts book of any other retractor, although my wife's later built 68 Charger has the enclosed retractor as does my buddy's.
My wife's 65 Barracuda came with those open retractors as well.

Thanks to everyone for the help.

[fy469rtse]

Yes had a very very early 68, can confirm same as CDR , didn't know at the time that these were originals, and when I restored the car went to the later style , oh well you learn something new everytime your on this site

[chargervic]

 
That falls into my findings today. Both cars that didn't have the enclosed retractor were built on Dec 1, 67. It's kind of cool, I'm doing the 440 for one and completely assembling the other car right now. I live in a small town in British Columbia and I have 5 friends with 68 R/T's. Ours was an original 383 HP car. It's a small MOpar world.

[8WHEELER]

I think December could go either way, this is my wife's December 68 RT, definitely original, we bought it 32 years ago  

My September 68 Charger had the open retractors.

I would love to see picture of your rear seat belts    I have a set, but need to make sure they go back in correctly.

Dan

[chargervic]

Thanks for the reply. The car in question has an SPD of Dec 1, 67, so it's definitely early December. Does your car have front shoulder belts? Couldn't see them in the pic. In my research in the 68 parts manual, it suggests that the cars with front shoulder belts got the retractors like yours and the cars without shoulder belts got a plain belt. The exposed retractor was an accessory as found in the Accessory section in the parts book.
You asked about a pic of the rear seat belts. Did you mean rear shoulder belts? If so, I don't have any pics as it is not my car, it belongs to a friend. I could get pics if you need them for proper installation.
BTW that's a nice interior!


It's a bad day if you don't learn something.

[8WHEELER]

I know its an early December car but never remember the day      no front shoulder belts. I know they made front shoulder belts mandatory January 1 1968.
My third 68 Charger was made in May 68, so it does have the front shoulder belts. As for these cars having front shoulder belts before January 1 1968,
I have not seen one, not saying it did not happen, but maybe I can learn something new   

If its not to much trouble, I would really appreciate pics of the rear shoulder belts, its a very rare option   

Dan

[chargervic]

I'll put it on my list of things to do. Got a lot on my plate right now. Just "unretired" for the third time. Made the mistake of saying yes to one old friend and now I have a year's worth of work on my agenda. Two Hemi's , one 440, one or two 340's and an early 354 poly as well as the 68 Charger to assemble.
i won't forget, though.

[Ghoste]

There are pics on here somewhere of the rear shoulder belts.  An older thread.

[JamieZ]

I was curious so I trudged out into the snow and took a look at mine.  It's a late December 67 (C28) SPD.  Here are the lap belts.  There are no shoulder belts:



And a photo from when I bought it at the end of Sept

[chargervic]

Thanks for your reply JamieZ. From the responses I've had and inspecting other cars near me, my semi-educated guess is that the covered retractors had a start date sometime in late December and your car's SPD bears that out. The two cars I'm working on both had an SPD of Dec 1/67 and neither had the covered retractors.

Now my next question for those who are willing to help is to those who had early production cars with no retractors (or the simple exposed ones), did your front seat belt anchor bolts have covers on them? The factory parts book lists the covers as a late addition to the parts list. The one car here with the Dec 1 SPD has no covers and the car I'm assembling has been apart before, so I have no faith in what I find here. Interesting fact: the two cars here have VIN numbers only 414 units apart and both were built in the same plant, so I'm guessing that they were built within a day or so of each other.

[8WHEELER]

As you can see from my pic, my seat belt anchor did not come with a cover, so I put it back together the way it came from the factory.

Dan

[chargervic]

Thanks for the reply, 8Wheeler.
I didn't scroll the picture far enough when I first looked at it. I see the back floor area now.
Now with two other cars without bolt covers and my parts book research, I believe I have enough evidence to say there were no covers on these early built cars.
I really appreciate the help from everyone.

Vic

[fy469rtse]

Yes I confirm , no covers on mine as well , I remember thinking it strange because they stood out added them later under advice from other charger owners that the were prob been removed