seat belts

[Joseph Rabbene]

I'm lucky enough to have received a complete set of the original Hamill seat belts (Model RFC-45-B) for my '63 as a birthday present from my wife. A soak in an ammonia solution along with some polish cleaned them up nicely, but as nice as they look, they don't function. Has anyone had any luck in freeing up the webbing that passes through the chrome receiver? Because the webbing is stuck the belts can't be adjusted.

Thanks,

Joe Rabbene

[Doug Meloan]

My 63 Cadillac had front seat belts in it when I purchased it from the original owner.  They were added later as they were dark blue and the interior was black.  Had the Cadillac crest own them and they were dated Dec. 1963.  Last year I found a set of NOS black seat belts with date of Sept. 1963 so I purchased them and switched out the old ones for the new ones. They look sharp and brand new obviously.  Since seat belts were not standard equip. on 63's I think most will have a later date on them such as these that were made in 1963 but after production had ceased. My car was built in May 1963. Also these seatbelts did not have the retractor seen sometimes but just bolted to the floor.  I will see if I can attach some photos of the NOS black seat belts that I installed.

[Jason Edge]

I went back and tagged this original post as: seatbelt, "seat belt", "seat belt buckle", "seat belt fabric"

It helps the website search tool if you put appropriate tags, at the bottom in the tags field when creating a new post.

I also added the data book scans to the Misc Seat and Selt Belt photo album at http://6364cadillac.ning.com/photo/albums/misc-seat-and-seat-belt-illustrations-and-pictures

[Jason Edge]

For reference here is the scan of the 1964 Dealer Data Book and the new retractable seat belts showing the crested buckle:

[Jason Edge]

First, I will say there is some interesting history on the 1963 Seatbelt. Most documentation has a triangular design buckle as seen in first picture at the bottom.

On my parts cars I have pulled in, a couple had plain buckle with no crest as seen in first picture but didn't think to look at and document date codes for these. Since I have seen these at car shows for GM makes I am thinking these were generic GM transplants someone had added later on.

Since getting more interested in these I do have pictures and verification of one stamped 45A 9-63 which would have put it firmly in the 1964 model year production. With this ramble I'm just getting at the fact some suggested the 64 style crested buckles were used late in the 1963 production year, but I just have such a small sample of data so I cannot verify. I would be curious to hear from some 63 owners with their original seat belts (still optional and a lower % option item) on what type crest they have and the date stamp on the bottom of the fabric.

As far as the  crested and non-crested "Hamill" Buckles, they can be a bear to adjust the buckle if out of the car as you really need the end secured to the floor when you squeezed the release grip, and pull the buckle in or out. If out of the car, I would try to bolt down to something or put the end in a vice... but protect the chrome.  Then with a firm grip on fabric,  squeeze grip in buckle hard and and push and pull. Sometimes pushing the webbing up and into the buckle can help.

The buckle does come apart by prying the grip outward using a  small screwdriver or pointed tool in the corners and gently but firmly pulling the grip tab out. From there, you will see a bar the webbing is attached to which you can then pry out on one side and and then completely remove the webbing.

This bar sometimes gets rough and corroded making it hard for the fabric to slide across. You can remove that bar and smooth down with fine sand paper, steel wool, etc, and will usually make the webbing slide easier. I think I had some video way back on the old site but cannot find anything posted here so will post some pictures below.

Here is a picture of the type of seat belts you will often see in 1963 literature including the Dealer Data Book info below: