Converting bench seat retractors to bucket seat retractors

[bull]

After months of trying to find just a pair of bucket seat retractors for my '68 Charger I took it upon myself to convert a pair of long, bench-style seat belt retractors into the short, bucket seat-style retractors yesterday and thought I 'd share the results with you all. This is a very easy project, especially with the right tools on hand. The cost of a good pair of bucket seat retractors is getting rediculous and they are not easy to find but the bench seat retractors are pretty easy to find and they typically cost a lot less. I paid less than $10 for an entire set of bench seat belts that I pulled out of a '68 Fury at my local wrecking yard. I recently passed on a pair of nasty-looking bucket seat retractors on Ebay that sold for $45.

The beauty of this project is that the retractors don't have to be perfect because the originals usually look horrible. Basically all you are doing is cutting 2 1/2" of the end of both the cover and the mounting strap (at the correct angle) as well as moving the holes down 2 1/2".

1. First thing I did was soak the plastic cover in some very hot water to soften it up for removal.
2-3. Pull the heated covers off. You'll notice that the metal mounts have a bent angle that the shorter bucket seat mounts do not have. To straighten them simply secure the part in a bench vice angled with the bend at the top of the jaws and lightly tap it with a hammer until the piece is nearly straight. Lay the retractor on a hard, flat surface (anvil, flat on back of vise, etc.) and hammer it flat. This metal is very easy to work with so it takes little effort to bend it.
4. Find your angle and measure down 2 1/2" from the longest point. Carry your angle down and draw a line.

[bull]

1. Find a ridgid piece of metal to use as a cutting guide, match the angle and clamp it to the part (a bench vise is ideal for this step). I used an angle grinder to cut the part. Debur the edges with a file.
2. The mounting hole center in the metal is 2 1/2" down from the upper tip or 1 3/8" down from the lower tip, 7/8" from either edge and 1/2" to 9/16" in diameter.
3. Use a small drill bit for a pilot hole and then a 1/2" drill bit to finish. An easier way to do this is to simply use the old end as a template, line up the old end to the new end and trace the mounting hole with a pencil.
4. Measure the plastic cover to prepare for cutting.

[bull]

1. The center of the cover hole is 2 1/2" down from the tip and 1 3/16" from the edge. The overall length of the cover should be roughly 9" when finished depending on whether the cover was 11 1/2" to start with.
2. I used a bench vise to clamp the cover at the exact angle I needed and a hacksaw blade to cut the end off. Start your cut on the side where the back angle is so your blade doesn't wander and take it slow, making sure your blade stays against the top of the vise jaws and your cut will come out perfect. You can debur the cut with a file and/or box knife.
3. Even though the cover mounting holes are out of round after years of use I figured the original holes to be about 1 1/8" in diameter. Use a white, fine-tipped paint pen to mark the center of the hole and a 1 1/8" hole saw with a centering drill to cut. Do not cut all the way through from one side with the hole saw. Cut halfway through from one side and then switch to the other side to finish, that way the edges of the holes stay nice and clean. Reheat the plastic cover with hot water and slip it back over the retractor and viola! You have a nice pair of bucket seat retractors.

[HITMAN 149]

damn bro!!! NICE JOB!!!!!!!!!!! 
awesome!! that's great seeing someone make their own shit or modifying it like that to make it fit!!!!!!!!
there aren't many junk yards around here that have old cars!!! 
i was like a kid in a candy store going w/ my gramps to the junkyard back in the day!!! 
hmmmmm even if you get em on ebay or at a swap meet!?!?!? good to know!!!!
thanks for sharing!!
well it's either what you did or buy it off of TRAV.. as he's got EVERY single extra charger part in existance in LA!!!!!!!! LOL!!!!!!!

[bull]

Thanks. These long ones were laying around and when I figured out they were not right I didn't feel like selling them or taking them back, etc., so I decided to try turning them into something else and it seemed to work out fine.

Now that I look closer I think there is a bend in the bucket seat retractors closer to the latch but I don't really care. I think they look really good and I'm done with them. I swear 80% of these seat belts have so much rust on the buckles they are unusable. These had just a small amount of rust that I rubbed off with some wadded up aluminum foil.

[HITMAN 149]

 

[Chatt69chgr]

Very good article Bull.  Thanks for sharing.  I agree with you on the problem with the rusted buckles.  You rarely find any that are not rusted.  I cleaned a couple of little rust spots on mine with some sandpaper on a popsicle stick and finished with a mototool with brush.  Then painted the buckles to make them look like new.  Everyone should remember that Krusin Moons has the correct seatbelt material if you need that.  You would just need to go to a upholstery shop and have them perform the sewing operation.  Just need to make sure they sew on the ends using the same sewing pattern used on the originals to maintain strength.

[Chatt69chgr]

I used my Dremel Moto-Tool and little wire wheels as well as some fine sandpaper on a popsicle stick to clean up the rust on the ones that had minor rust issues.  Then you can eith paint the cleaned area with some clear laquer or some silver paint.  I sucessfully repainted the buckles to exact match.  Had to experiment with several different semigloss black paints to get the correct match.  Unfortunately, I don't remember which one was the right one.  I've also cleaned and repainted the metal attachment being discussed above.  I never could figure how to actually dissassemble a buckle.  Those guys at Snake-Oyl must have a tool to do it with since they take them apart and replate them.  If anyone knows how to take a buckle apart on a 69 how about posting some pictures.  And don't forget that you can redye the belts very successfully with RIT dye.  Correct recipe is on their website.