Manual seat belts installed!

But now how you might think.


Auto belt broke, the buckle came apart. It was missing completely from the car back in June when we bought it, and the replacement didn't last that long. I fiddled around with the rear belts in the parts car for a while, till I figured out a way to mount them and make them fit. I had to remove the little mechanism that makes them lock when turned out of position so they will work right side up, instead of mounted sideways and slightly upside down.


They're not installed the "correct" way, and they stick out a bit, but they're installed into seat belt holes, with seat belt bolts, and they do fit people. The best part is, the buckles are the same, so I didn't have to change the buckle on the seat!


Here's a few pics, I'll have a video with a bit of DIY later, and a bit of rambling.











Like I said, I know it looks funny, but they're mounted solid, and the seat is in it's driving position, and it will go all the way back without problems.







I'll post the video tonight after dinner when I get some time to edit it together. 8)

and these are from the rear you say? From a wagon? What did you bolt then to behind the pillar cover? This is something i been looking into but havent found any info on the mx-3 belts, just a few mentions of them.

The only mx3 Ive been in was a 92 that I pulled the seats out of at the junkyard, Im pretty sure it had auto belts.

To be honest this freaks me out a bit, that piece is used to lock the seatbelts in place during sudden deceleration like hard braking. Do they lock when pulled on hard? Also it appears they dont have pretensioners which can potentially cause injuries in a wreck from slamming into your seatbelt thats not tight against you.

Not trying to be a jerk or anything, just concerned they may do nothing in an impact other than possibly keeping you in the car.

I would be a hypocrite if I were to say my seatbelts would save me since the car had been in a minor wreck that was enough to trigger the airbags. So Im sure my pretensioners are gone. Basically in a wreck Im on my own, not much SRS still working. I am working on replacing everything.

These cars don't have pretensioners on the seatbelts.
I would worry about the orientation catch though. That's what will catch you in a rollover. If they don't catch when you pull them fast then they are useless.

The wagon rear belts won't work, they'r mounted from the sides with 14mm bolts, these are mounted with the T50 bolts, and the correct wagon belts are actually held in inside the pillar with I'm assuming the 10mm bolts that hold the auto belt mechanism in. The coupe actually has a T50 inside the pillar that holds the auto belt in, that's why I started this. I've explained it all in the video which I'm working on now.

The belts do work when pulled tight, and I'm not worried about hitting a loose belt, if you sit as far back as I do (6'5", all the way back with the seat reclined a bit) the auto belt actually sits ahead of me, and holds the belt off of my neck/shoulders. These actually go across my shoulders.

I did a couple braking tests, and they will lock up if you slam on the brakes and go into them.


I'll be on the look out for some correct belts in the future, right now the only 3rd gen wagon at the junk yard has a green interior.

I don't recommend this for a permanent solution to automatic belts. The only reason I did this was because the auto belt buckle came apart and won't accept a belt anymore.

I myself will be searching for the proper belts for it.


Here's that video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-OlCD03HKE

what about some race seats and 5 point harness?