Hi everyone. I hope yall had a nice Thanksgiving!

I was thinking... Does my 86 Camaro (sports coupe) have air bags? I couldn't find a place that looked like it did. I was thinking about installing a harness bar, racing harness and such just for safety (not racing...YET). I read a post that said someone's 87 sports coupe did not have air bags At all.

If I don't have airbags, can I get into trouble legally?

Thanks!

 

GM started putting in a driver's side airbag in 1990. Passenger's side airbag didn't show up in the Camaro until the 4th gens. You don't really need or want an airbag in a thirdgen. Wear a seatbelt, and you're already better protected than most people.

Skip the roll bars and cages in a street car, unless you want to wear a helmet everywhere you go. Your chances of hitting your head or body on the bars are a lot higher than needing them on the street.

 

Thanks for the reply!
The harness bar I was looking at appeared to go behind the head of the front seats. So I don't think it would be possible to hit myself haha
Aside from that, can I get into legal trouble for not having airbags? Also why wouldn't I want airbags in a third Gen?

 

Of course not, if the car didn't come with them new they're not expected to be in there. They're a feature that can't be retrofitted.

Airbags DO have a lifespan, or at least these early models do. Being that they're not being made anymore, they can't be replaced with new properly functioning inflators. The newest ones are at least 26 years old. They're more likely to do more harm than good at this point.

Even if they didn't have an expiration date, I certainly wouldn't want an explosive dating back to the cold war inches from my face. They can't even make properly functioning bags nowadays(Takata), forget 30 years ago.

 

Thanks everyone!

 

 

Exactly. It's how my Father can drive his 1947 Chevy Fleetmaster Coupe down the road with no seat belts and not get a ticket because that car did not come with seat belts or even provisions for seat belts.