I've heard different things every time i ask... but what year did they change?

I've heard 87, 88 and 89 ... I'm trying to figure out what's different and why won't certain years work in my 83 Z... and if I can only find ones that are after that certain year what would I have to do to make them fit into the 83?

 

:: sniff sniff ::

well I feel loved

:: pouts and cheaply bumps this up already, hehe ::

 

Monsieur Demon buddy, are you asking what year that the seat belts switched over to the larger Mickey Mouse ears?

 

Umm, I suppose?

From what i've always heard seatbelts from thirdgens after a certain year won't work because of the part on the floor near the doors don't match up or something...

I'm confused

 

Well, thats a new one on me. As far as I was aware, the only change to the front ones were in '89 or so when the retractor holder on the headrest changed to the larger one that you can't remove from the belt without cutting it off. The rear ones changed when rear shoulder belts became required.

 

:: le sigh :: I will ponder this some more... maybe someone will be able to enlighten us both ifn we're missing somethin...

 

Yeah, maybe someone out there is smarter than us, hehe. One thing I can tell you for certain, the ones in my '88 IROC look exactly like the ones in my '86.

 

Except for the color...

 

well... anything will be better than the lapbelt crap I had before...

 

Try asking on the history board, Drew or Willie might know.

 

can i put nicer seatbelts from say a corvette into my camaro?

 

This is a fun one. 82 seatbelts will only work in an 82 because they don't have a retractor on the doorsill. 83 seat belts use a different buckle then 84-up. They have a button on the side with the GM logo. 84-up the front belts are the same. They have the buckles with the red buttons that fade and fall apart. 82-83 belts will not engage into 84-up buckles!!!!!!!! Then in 89 the rear seat belts changed to shoulder belts, buckles stayed the same. 90 or 91 GM changed the seat belt guides to a different style that won't come off the belts without breaking them. Also the convertibles used their own specific belts in most years.

So, if you have an 83, you should probably get a set of belts out of an 83. Probably not a bad idea since the 82-83 buckles are more robust and will last longer.

 

thankyou drew...

so I assume with that info I can just get the retainer bits near the console as well as the rest and it should work no matter what?

the ones in my 83 were Lap Belts... not sure if they were stock or not but they matched the rear belts and the interior horribly well (stupid tan ) ... no shoulder belts...

I should ask that in history n whatnot but you float everywheres, hehehehe

Thanks for the help