Seat belts in rumble seat

[Cool Hand Lurker]

Has anybody installed seat & shoulder belts in a 31 Coupe rumble seat? The seat belt anchor should be no problem but the shoulder strap anchor will take some thinking. Any ideas?

[Jason in TX]

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/search...earchid=537247

[pooch]

Same problem in OZ.

Original cars before 1965 do not need belts, but any year rod does.

Oz seat belt laws state that any seat closer than 200mm to the outside of body must be lap/sash.

So, even tho one could put 2laps in rear, they would be illegal. (over here).

I am thinking of building or buying a rod/rumble roadster for everyday use, so will have to invent a lockable rumble lid to pass an engineer.

Every rumble rod I have seen has one lap in middle of seat, so can only carry 3 people total.

Our belt laws are mandatory wearing for everyone in car, unlike some of your USA states with primary and secondary laws.

I have thought of a self locking pawl system, anchored direct to chassis and taking place of the original hinge, which would spring lock when opened, and a substantial metal bracket to anchor top outside belt, could be hidden under seat cushion side.

Release to close could be rods or cables , again under back cushion from original outside handle.

[Kevin in NJ]

I have put some rumble seat belt mounts in my cabriolet.

I too am worried about the rumble and I am not sure of what is a good at least partially engineered solution to the problem.

My intuition is thinking two things.

A bar of some sort that would go from the upper edge of the lid to the gutter to keep the lid from moving. Pooch mentioned this before and I like that idea.

The other thing I am thinking is seat belt materials running from the bumper bar up. Putting a seat belt latch down at the bumper bracket so it is removable and running a single strap to about the top of the lid and then split it off in two so you get 2 shoulder straps. The shoulder straps would come down to the lap belt.

I do not know if that would all work.

For children, there are larger sized seats that can be held down with a lap belt and offer a 5 point for the kid. This would work up to like 7/8 years old if I remember correct.

Legally for the state of NJ. There are two parts to the child seat laws. The first part mandates all kids in seats along with the types of seats. The second part is not published and says if the car was not built with seat belts you do not have to put the kids in car seats. BUT if you put seat belts in the car they need to be in car seats.

It is not an easy answer. Hopefully, the states will not come up with stricter laws in a knee jerk reaction to some unfortunate accident.

Click me for some old pictures of what I did.

[Doug in NJ]

I haven't ridden in a rumble seat, myself. But if you had just a lap belt, in a crash could your face smash into the front edge of the trunk opening?

Doug

[Cool Hand Lurker]

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Thanks for the ideas. Kevin in NJ is thinking along the same lines I was with the seat belt running from the bumper bar up, running a single strap to about the top of the lid and then split it off in two so you get 2 shoulder straps. Also using the child seats that have their own harness is a good idea since my grandkids are 5 & 7 and would still fit in them, barely.

And checking other recent threads got me a lot of good photos on how other people have handled the mounts. Thanks to those who posted the photos.

I know this isn't a popular option, but I had also contemplated mounting a removable roll bar on the rear bumper brackets in case of a tipover.

All of this may do no good or a lot of good, who knows, but it will satisfy the daughter-in-law and that is the most formidable obstacle to overcome!

[700rpm]

Originally Posted by Jason in TX

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/search...earchid=537247

That link doesn't work. Can anyone suggest another site for installing seat belts in and coupe with a rumble seat? I'm currently going through the archives but haven't found what I'm looking for.

[RcT]

I have seen some folks get a piece of the heavy foam pipe insulation, the type that is split lengthwise, and cut it to the length of the front opening on the rumble, just to provide some padding, just in case... easily removed when you shut the seat.

[Bruce Adams]

Here is a link to four Seat Belt articles from MAFCA's web site.
http://www.mafca.com/seat_belts.html

I like my lap belts in my 68C and wonder also about the rumble.
I have long like Kevin's bar idea, and wonder as the grand kids start outgrowing the car seats and go into boosters and beyond.

[Frank Miller]

For what it is worth I thoink the bels need to be fastened to the body. Anything bolted to the frame could cause the belt to tighten up on the passenfer if the body were to shift on it. There is no perfect solution but it seems anything that keeps you from being thrown from the vehicle is a benefit. At least that is what I gathered from reading of Model A accidents.