1970T Coupe Seat Belts

[Cooper77]

Dear all,

this is my inaugural thread to this (fabulous!) forum which I followed quietly for a while and which I have been advised to consult by one of your members for early Porsche cars.
As a starter I have a question which I found tough to answer reading through older posts... and for which I apologize if it has been answered x times before.

I bought myself a 1970T beginning of the year and have gone through most of the parts/fixes I needed to go through already (electrics, brakes, some minor body and interior work). Next mini-project are the seat belts. To cut it short... none are installed (previous owner had racing harness installed). I received a set of (retractable) seat belts with the car in a separate box so not clear if they actually belonged to the car. The rear selt belts are fine and I have all the parts except for some bolts.

The front seat belts are retractable (see attached pictures), not mounted and unclear if they are from this car (I assume from a targa but am not sure).

My questions, if I might tap your knowledge...

1. What configuration did 1970 911T come with in the front: retractable or the fixed 3-point seat belts (I thought the latter...).
2. Should I go and use the parts I have to reconfigure them to fixed 3-point fixed length seat belts or rather try to find new ones - and if so, any suggestions which shop to contact for this?

I would really love to get the car to a close to original state as possible and this has been my main struggle (better: challenge ) the last weeks. Any help in this matter is highly appreciated.

Hope to be able to "give back" knowledge I gather throughout the gradual restoration of my car.

Thanks!
C

(first, the car )



(seat belts)

[edmayo]

First, let me say that car looks very good in the photos, I trust its as nice in person! Although retracting belts were available for R.O. W. usage, our D.O.T. hadn't yet approved them for U.S.A. market, so to answer one question, your car should have non-retractors. Not sure where you could find new non-retracting belts, but if you find a used set I have used a company here in north Texas that can re-web and restore those belts. New webbing will let them adjust once again, like they were designed to.

[PeterM1965]

Hi C, and welcome. I'm glad you found your way over here. Do you know if your car is a US model or ROW? This web site should be able to help determine this.

http://www.elferhelfer.de/index.htm

Peter M

[edmayo]

Looks like a U.S. model judging by the D.O.T. required I.D. tag on the 'A' pillar.

[Cooper77]

Peter,

thanks for guiding the way over here.

Edmayo: Correct. Car is a US model and after the confirmation that non-retracting seat belts are the ones to watch out for I began my search.... nothing found so far and WTB requests by others confirm this.

I regard it as project to find them... must be out there though, judging by the number of cars that have race harnesses installed...

Thanks for the quick help and answers.

Carsten

[beh911]

The non-retractors are out there. Check with some of the dismantler types and post a WTB on this site. Someone will sell them to you as many were taken off of cars.

As Ed points out the webbing gets very stiff and unadjustable, and arguably, not as safe as can be, given these things have been around for four decades. When you get a set, check the adjuster itself as they can seize up over time. They can be coaxed into service with some attention