john1221

Anyone order replacement plastic trim for the shoulder belts on the front seats? I puchased a fiberglass set from hawkesthirdgen.com. They are well made but not the same countour as mine and maybe this because the tonneu cover changed in some years. I have an 89. The only other issue is the mounting holes are not drilled, and the texture is smooth instead of vinyl textured. If no one else has found a decent replacement I will go to work on these. I plan on heating and bending it but its fiberglass so that may not work and try to cover them with vinyl to get the texture right.

drop-top IROC

Every now and again you can find an original used set of these on ebay that are in good shape and/or not cracked. When you do, expect to pay top dollar for them as I believe they have been discontinued for some time now...

With regard to the fiberglass replacements, the originals weren't the smoothest fit either, but I'm not sure how they compare to the replacements.

lonsal

iTrader: (2)

I considered selling the ones that Hawks has. I returned them because they didn't meet my standards. One appeared to be molded from a piece that had been repaired. Bruce told me this was corrected. I haven't seen new samples to know. I know that FBody Motorsports sells them as well, but from a different manufacturer and different construction. I haven't seen them in person, but just going by the description and pictures they appear to be closer to the OEM. As I recall they are constructed of ABS plastic vs. Hawks being of molded fiberglass. I don't see a price listed for them any longer. They were also more expensive than the ones Hawks sells.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking the version Bruce Hawkins sells. They are certainly a lot better than nothing. If yours are cracked you can repair them with thin .020" thick aluminum epoxied to the back side. Then spray them with gloss black.

The picture below is taken from FBody Motorsports web site.



Lon

john1221

I am missing the drivers side and the passenger side is broken out at the bottom. My last car had a metal piece here but it was an 88 and may have come that way. It seems the 89 models received cheaper parts -especially the tonneu cover release.
I checked fbodymotorsports first but the site said "coming soon" which I take to mean they are looking for a supplier. Perhaps I should have called. Maybe they were just temporarily out.
The fiberglass seems like a good idea but it is not a finished piece. Perhaps that would have made the price too high. I don't like the edge the belt rides on. It should have been flatter-as it has a corner there that makes the belt ride on the outside corner edge and would cause increased wear to the belt. I am going to call Bruce tomorrow and discuss it with him-no need to drag it out here.

lonsal

iTrader: (2)

These black pebble-texture trim pieces just cover the top of the cut B-pillar to finish it off. There is another smooth ABS plastic piece that screws onto it that the belt slides on. I don't know if that is included or not. It's been over a year since I had sample parts of what Hawks sells. You could always fab one up yourself out of a plastic coffee can lid and cover it with electrical tape. That would provide the smooth surface you're looking for so the belt doesn't abrade on the fiberglass trim pieces.

Lon