manual seatbelt conversion??
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manual seatbelt conversion??
hi, i was just wondering if anyone had experience with the welding for this conversion for the gen2 integra. i've looked everywhere, but all i can seem to find is some people in canada selling the parts, no one with tips/ advice. so...
1. how difficult is it to do?
2. how long did it take?
3. materials needed besides the ab/c pillars? thanks!
1. how difficult is it to do?
2. how long did it take?
3. materials needed besides the ab/c pillars? thanks!
Re: manual seatbelt conversion??
As a precursor to what I'm going to post: I have not done the conversion personally but I've done basic welding/fabrication on our race car. I bought a manual conversion for my DA, did all the research but it sat in my closet for years since the car was on hold for quite some time. Ended up wrecking that car and picking up a DB2 from a friend which already had the conversion.
This topic has been covered pretty well over on g2ic. And really once you know that it's possible and know what parts you need it's pretty much self explanatory if you are at all fabrication savvy.
What you need:
1) All front belts and hardware
2) Rear belts and hardware (or just the rear "covers" for where the belts mount to the pillars)
3) A/B pilar covers and misc hardware
4) C pillars covers and misc hardware
5) Front carpeting
6) Preferably canadian parts since they are made for a LHD car.
Also, I'm pretty sure that the male/female ends of the rear buckles are different from the USDM and CDM belts, so if you get the rear CDM belts you need all of 'em - you can't just get the belts and expect them to snap into your female ends.
FABRICATION ISSUES
1) Front Buckle mounting. You need to mount the female end of the buckle to the tunnel. This needs to be welded in place.
2) Front c-pillar mounting. You need to mount the should belt to the c-pillar. There is already a hole in the right place, but no threading and the material is not thick enough just to tap and bolt to. Again, this needs to be welded.
3) Front "retractor" mounting. The mechanism which retracts the shoulder belt behind the paneling needs to be mounted. One bolt lines up with a stock mounting location but you need to create the other one. Again, you need to weld it into place.
All of the welding for the above three things is very basic. If you don't know how to weld or are confused already, then you shouldn't be doing this - you should be paying someone to figure it out and weld it in place for you. If you don't fit into that category then you're probably fairly fab savvy and already know how to do what is needed. Basically for each of the three mounting points noted above you need to weld a nut to the unibody so that you can bolt the seatbelts to the car. The most common way of doing this is going to be to weld the nut to a piece of sheet metal and then weld that sheet metal to the unibody. Again, very basic. If you have all the parts and know what you're doing this could easily been a project you finish in a day, a weekend if you're taking your time and really being a perfectionist.
Here are a couple photos:
/
Hole in the middle of the pillar is where you need to locate your welded in nut. The hole to the right and up from that (looks reddish from the residue left on the stock bolt) is where the stock auto seatbelt track bolts.
Manual belt retractor put in place. There is a locating tab which is holding it in place in this photo. You can see that the upper mounting hole lines up. But the bolt to mount the bottom of the retractor has nothing to bolt to.
Pic I found with manual belts mounted. Notice the location of the upper anchor. Notice the sheet metal welded down below to serve as the lower mounting point for the retractor.
Sorry, no pics of the buckle mount to the tunnel. But, again, very basic fabrication. Cut a hole, weld a nut to sheet metal, weld sheet metal in place, done. Oh, and there is already a bolt location to mount the end of your lap belt down to the rocker panel. I think that covers it, anyone else have anything to add?
This topic has been covered pretty well over on g2ic. And really once you know that it's possible and know what parts you need it's pretty much self explanatory if you are at all fabrication savvy.
What you need:
1) All front belts and hardware
2) Rear belts and hardware (or just the rear "covers" for where the belts mount to the pillars)
3) A/B pilar covers and misc hardware
4) C pillars covers and misc hardware
5) Front carpeting
6) Preferably canadian parts since they are made for a LHD car.
Also, I'm pretty sure that the male/female ends of the rear buckles are different from the USDM and CDM belts, so if you get the rear CDM belts you need all of 'em - you can't just get the belts and expect them to snap into your female ends.
FABRICATION ISSUES
1) Front Buckle mounting. You need to mount the female end of the buckle to the tunnel. This needs to be welded in place.
2) Front c-pillar mounting. You need to mount the should belt to the c-pillar. There is already a hole in the right place, but no threading and the material is not thick enough just to tap and bolt to. Again, this needs to be welded.
3) Front "retractor" mounting. The mechanism which retracts the shoulder belt behind the paneling needs to be mounted. One bolt lines up with a stock mounting location but you need to create the other one. Again, you need to weld it into place.
All of the welding for the above three things is very basic. If you don't know how to weld or are confused already, then you shouldn't be doing this - you should be paying someone to figure it out and weld it in place for you. If you don't fit into that category then you're probably fairly fab savvy and already know how to do what is needed. Basically for each of the three mounting points noted above you need to weld a nut to the unibody so that you can bolt the seatbelts to the car. The most common way of doing this is going to be to weld the nut to a piece of sheet metal and then weld that sheet metal to the unibody. Again, very basic. If you have all the parts and know what you're doing this could easily been a project you finish in a day, a weekend if you're taking your time and really being a perfectionist.
Here are a couple photos:
Hole in the middle of the pillar is where you need to locate your welded in nut. The hole to the right and up from that (looks reddish from the residue left on the stock bolt) is where the stock auto seatbelt track bolts.
Manual belt retractor put in place. There is a locating tab which is holding it in place in this photo. You can see that the upper mounting hole lines up. But the bolt to mount the bottom of the retractor has nothing to bolt to.
Pic I found with manual belts mounted. Notice the location of the upper anchor. Notice the sheet metal welded down below to serve as the lower mounting point for the retractor.
Sorry, no pics of the buckle mount to the tunnel. But, again, very basic fabrication. Cut a hole, weld a nut to sheet metal, weld sheet metal in place, done. Oh, and there is already a bolt location to mount the end of your lap belt down to the rocker panel. I think that covers it, anyone else have anything to add?
Thread Starter
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Joined: Apr 2009
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Re: manual seatbelt conversion??
haha so colin, i see you're in long beach... im in brea! lol just kidding. do you happen to have the seatbelts still or did you already get rid of them? because this guy from canada is charging 350 for the whole setup, but he seems a little shady.
Re: manual seatbelt conversion??
If I could help you, I would. Unfortunately I don't even have time for my own projects (been building a motor and prepping my car for over a year now and getting almost nowhere).
I sold my conversion near the beginning of the year. I had a complete conversion except for carpet and rear belts (I've never actually seen anyone selling the conversion w/ the carpet). IIRC I sold it for around $250. I forget what I paid for it since that was at least 5yrs ago.
They seem to be hard to find, then all over the market, just keep looking. $350 from canada isn't too bad a price. Shipping is the main issue, I imagine shipping would be close to $100. Any link to the guy selling 'em? I may have seen him on the boards.
I sold my conversion near the beginning of the year. I had a complete conversion except for carpet and rear belts (I've never actually seen anyone selling the conversion w/ the carpet). IIRC I sold it for around $250. I forget what I paid for it since that was at least 5yrs ago.
They seem to be hard to find, then all over the market, just keep looking. $350 from canada isn't too bad a price. Shipping is the main issue, I imagine shipping would be close to $100. Any link to the guy selling 'em? I may have seen him on the boards.
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