seatbelt question

I would like to freshen up the look of the rather sun faded seat belts in my 1980 Raodster. Someone suggested the rattle can "fabric & vinyl" paint available at most auto parts stores. Has anyone here tried it, or is there another better way to go about it. I'm not building a showcar, I just want a nice looking driver.

My only concern would be that the "paint" or dye might break down the web fabric and then fail upon the stresses applied during a collision or sudden deceleration.

Why not just purchase "new" belts from an automotive supplier?

I would either just get new seatbelts (Moss, VB, Juliano's or any other supplier) or have someone like Ssnake Oyl redo your originals with new webbing.

reweb.

sunfaded belts have 20% of the strength of new (I just made that up, but it's kinda true<G>)

Certain things I'd feel comfy skimping on. Occupant restraints ain't one of them. They say the MG shell is very accident-worthy. Throw that safety factor out the window with rags for seatbelts. I myself am going to have to buy new, and though I'm working with an extremely limited budget, I have to figure a way to make new seatbelts happen.

mac townsend Wrote:

Check with companies that make safety harnesses for construction workers or the guys who drag race. They can make you certified belts and you can be safe and look good.

It is true that sun faded belts are very weak. The sun affects the stitching as well as the webbing. Over here, they will fail you on a Warrent of Fitness for faded seatbelts. I got mine re-webbed in order to keep the original ( unobtainable ) fittings. Just make sure the webbing they use is the same thickness ( about 1/8" I think ) otherwise they will keep coming loose. New cars use thinner webbing. I didn't realise that until I got mine back, and they are forever coming loose.

I recently replaced mine with a set of these. I'm very happy with them. This is the photo from the Moss catalogue.


Pete

I recently installed the inertia reel belts from Moss. They work great and from any angle. I gave up on the Securon brand.

Mike

I put new ones from Moss in the GT. Not expensive (not inertia reel), look good and work great.

Please, please do NOT refurbish webbing, or use scrapyard seatbelts. They can be very dangerous, and old webbing can fail when loaded.

The absolute first things I replaced when I bought my B last April was the seatbelts. Someone had cut out the original 3 point belts and put in two point belts. Certainly makes for fewer issues when the top is down. HOWEVER - these are 30+ year old convertibles. If I'm in an accident I want to be held in place, not launched into space over the 'boot'. I bought the Moss 3 point inertia belts and am very happen with them.

Good point, Julian - in cars like these, two point belts may actually be worse than no belt at all!

Thanks for all the advice. I hadn't considered "rewebbing". Where do you get this done, at an auto upholstery/convertable top place?