2+2 Rear Seatbelt upgrade to shoulder & lap

I just upgraded my rear belts on my 86 2+2. I bought my belts from Wesco performance. They are called a 4 point harness but only 3 anchor points. They work great and my kids are 6 and 8 years old. Will try to post some pictures when I get home. Only thing is you probably still will not be able to fit a booster seat back there because of the seat not being flat. You may have to fill in the area between the booster and seat. In SC as long as the child can sit with there back to the back of the seat and there feet flat on the floor they do not need a booster. I agree though the lap belt didn't feel safe enough for me to use.

+1 on finding out information on this. Because my oldest is to the point where he's in a booster seat in the back and honestly I'm not that comfortable with him being back there with only the lap belt.

Thanks! Pictures would be greatly appreciated. I saw Wesco Performance come up when searching so I will give them a look. I was planning on looking around for a booster seat that was designed with a bucket seat in mind. Not sure if something like that exists. I guess my other option would be to get some dense foam and cut/shape it to the bucket to make a more flat surface. Massachusetts law requires a car seat or booster until age 8 or if the child is 4'9" I believe.

Which Wesco belt did you go with? http://wescoperformance.stores.yahoo…tton-help.html looks like the one you described.

That is the belts I went with.
zseat4.jpg
zseat2.jpg

I used the original bolt holes in the middle of the seat and drilled out the hole on the retractable side. I used a bolt hole that is used to hold down the side panel. I didn't want to use the other seat belt hole because it seems to be to far forward and not come across the hip area properly. The rear anchor I bolted to the tunnel behind the seat. I used the anchor ( bolt / washer) kit from Wesco. The hardest part was after drilling the hole in the tunnel is getting the washer, lock washer and nut on. I had to drill 2 holes and use magnetic sticks to move them onto the bolt. If you have any questions PM me and I will give you my # and I can answer and specific questions. Overall the process wasn't to bad. I will say the belts are great but on a child you will have a lot of excess strap part of the belt. I also don't know why some of the pictures want to load sideways after reloading them multiple times.

Thanks for the pictures and explanation. I appreciate the help and may pm you with any questions once I start this work. Will probably attempt to do this work in the coming months and I'm sure I will have questions once I start looking around and remove panels etc to get my bearings.

This is a big no no when mounting harnesses. The shoulder belts need to be supported much higher than slinging them over the seats and bolting them to the floor. In the case of an accident the shoulder belt energy will pull downward causing spinal compression. I would never ride in a car using these mounting techniques and a big risk for your children.

Any OE 3 pt belts the shoulder strap is mounted on a pillar or in the acceptable shoulder height so in the case of an accident the belt holds you into your seat and does not try crushing your spine.

You need to install a bar behind the rear seats within the acceptable 20 degree mounting and either mount the rear harnesses to the bar or sling them over and mount them you your current points. This way in the event of an accident the shoulder straps will not pull downward

Short Notes: YOU CURRENT METHOD IS HIGHLY UNSAFE!

I have seen the same debate on some of the VW and muscle car forums. The end result ends up being a lesser of 2 evils of just lap only or the modification.
This is the setup from Wesco.
4-point-seat-belt.jpg

What about mounting the shoulder support belt to the rear strut tower bolts?

The problem would be the side angle. I have looked into a bar across the strut towers. Almost like a rear strut bar and routing over that. Another thing I have looked into is a plate or bar across the upper rear seat that mounts where the rear seats hook to the strut tower. The main problem is there is not a good place to anchor up top because of the corner glass because if there was they make many mounting plates you can use.

Yeah,

Personal opinion but Wesco lapbelts are not FAI approved. Now I understand you are not going after racing governing body certified but the fact of the matter is the FAI conducts studies and has very detailed specifications which it requires for certification. They also have anchoring points specified in which your Wesco instructions violate.

Wesco has "Of course they are Federal Safety Standard #302 approved!" which if anyone has taken the time to look up:

Standard No. 302 - Flammability of Interior Materials - Passenger Cars, Multipurpose Passenger Vehicles, Trucks, and Buses
(Effective 9-1-72)
This standard specifies burn resistance requirements for materials used in the occupant compartments of motor vehicles. Its purpose is to reduce deaths and injuries to motor vehicle occupants caused by vehicle fires, especially those originating in the interior of the vehicle from sources such as matches or cigarettes.

Federal Standards due not elaborate in any detail other than the requirement for automaker to meet. No facts, nothing provided other than a group or panel of probably well paid doctors approved. (i trust FAI certification a lot more than our Federal Standards committee)

I will not disagree on the lesser of two evils with lap belt vs harness, I am just merely pointing out the associated risks.


I would rather be under the assumption myself and loved ones are under the highest achievable level of safety rather than choosing the lesser of two evils

In my 89 gll turbo , the standard 3 point rear seatbelts are mounted to the c pillars.
If the 3 point belts were available as a dealer option in your market then the mounting points might be there, hidden behind the rear window trim in your car.
This would be a safe mounting point.
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