[A2Steve]

Hi everyone, I just picked up a ´92 LX sedan, and I rediscovered the nearly forgotton horror of automatic seat belts.

Has anyone swapped in a standard 3-point belt? Did any of the 2nd gen escorts even come with a manual belt?
If it´s possible, I´m going to start looking in junkyards for hardware.

 

[James92Scort]

I...for the most part...love my auto seat belts. all i gotta do is put the lap belt on and that´s become second nature. i´ve never liked trying to reach back behind the seats to get the whole belt. I think if you buy aftermarket bucket seats you can convert to 3 or 4 point harnesses...eventually i´d like to do that, especially if i ever race my car, legally.

 

[Weak_Scort]

While we´re on the the topic of manual belts.....my belts to retract very well....anybody know how to remedy that? (94 LX 2 dr)

 

[Electronikal]

Hi, Well..i don´t know where you live....but I know that in Canada, i´ve never seen an Scort with automatic belts.....if you live near us...you´ll find all the usefull stuff in the junkyard

 

[Weak_Scort]

What exactly do youthink is broken? Naw..don´t live near you..live in Vancouver!

 

[Pimp_scort_89_GT]

I like my automatic belts, but I hate the god awful noises they make when they move. I grease the tracks every now and then, but a few weeks/days later the noise is back.

 

[zzyzzx]

Hi, Well..i don´t know where you live....but I know that in Canada, i´ve never seen an Scort with automatic belts.....if you live near us...you´ll find all the usefull stuff in the junkyard

I was researching this in my 1995 Ford Escort factory service manual last night and it does state that the automatic seat belts are a US only item.

 

[Beaverboy]

The auto belts are worthless when it comes to autocross. With manual belts you can twist the belt and then run the doubled up webbing through the eye on the buckle. This will hold your ass in place through the turns.. even if you don't have any decent lateral support (like the stock escort seats). Autocrossing my wagon w/ the auto belts, I'm either clinging to the wheel or slammed up against the door. As many of you know, a driver cannot possibly use his/her vehicle to the max when so much effort is being put into staying in the driver's seat. Fortunately I have some MX-3 seats on the way to help rectify this problem. I'm a long ways from Canada, eh.

The auto seatbelts were an option for automakers (from the US DOT) instead of driver-side airbags for a few years in the early 90s. Ford reasoned that the horrible things would be cheaper than the new-fangled airbags and installed them in many of their cars until the airbag was made a manditory item in '95, and then mandatory on the passenger side in '97 (I think).