mmmmm what to do seatbelts

[roachy]

installing seatbelts firstly my FC is already BEAUTIFULLY PAINTED original pillar bolt hole on outside has been blanked off when restored by previous owner when original seatbelts were removed. Internal pillar bolt holes are still there covered by a small grab handle.
 I have full rego and am re-installing  seatbelts.     
what to do I have pillar bolt in hand but something is telling me don't .
So cut a slot low in the pillar to install internal nutplate or go easy way & re-instate external pillar bolt like was done in the old days.
I know the external pillar bolt is not ideal strength wise but 100% better than the No seatbelts I have now.
I am reluctant to make slot in pillar for nutplate access,  only because will require welding up disturbing beautiful internal paintwork on pillar.
I  know leaving the slot not welded up is not really an option  either.
I am sorry because I guess I already know what majority would say is to do the job properly not worrying about paint and spend the extra time putting in slot hole to gain access for nutplate.
thanks for your feedback. 

[graham_fuller]

Use the Pillar Bolts.
Cheers,
Graham

[FireKraka]

Roachy
I was in exactly the same predicament I bought my car already painted it had the B pillar bolts and I have reused them instead of having to ruin the paint work I installed inertia reels and didnt cut the lower part of the pillar either but made mounts and the engineer was very happy.

Re use the bolts mate easier and cheaper than re painting especially if hard to match colour.

Regards
Neil H

[Harv]

Roachy,

Some options for you:
a) Frankenstein the bolts through the B-pillar. This can be ugly (bolt heads on the outside), though is common. I can see you already know that the UNF bolt head is small, with little surface area under that bolt head actually holding the load in place during an accident. A 7/16"UNF bolt head (a.k.a Frankenstein bolts) have a surface area of just 235mm2... around 6% of the minimum area NCOP recommends for reinforcing plates. Plates behind the pillar (regardless of shape) will hold 16 times the load that the Frankenstein bolts will.
If you do refit the bolts, you must either fit anti-crush tubes or used bolts that prevent crush of the pillar by design (they bottom out before crushing the pillar).
b) You can cut a slot in the inner B-pillar skin and lower the flat plates down. The slot is normally welded back up. Not so good for you with new paint (I had the same drama).
c) The method I used was a little different. I ended up using a hole saw to cut a hole (26mm from memory) into the B-pillar (inside the car) at about shoulder height. I used a reinforcing plate of around 6"x1" (correct mm2 size) with a captive nut welded on the back. The plate was a cad-plated off-the-shelf job from the NSW seatbelt Inspection Station. I drilled two 1/8" holes in the reinforcing plate, one at either end, and made similar holes in the B-pillar (one above the 23mm hole, one below). I put a piece of fishing line on the plate and dropped it into the hole (catch it with the fishing line). Use the fishing line to pull it up, then put the seatbelt bolt into the plate (can't fall down now). Hold it in place with the bolt, and put a pop-rivet through the B-pillar hole into the plate. Repeat the pop-rivet for the other hole. You end up with a hole in the pillar with the plate behind it - can cover the hole with a plastic cap, though the seatbelt top "pulley" bit covers most of the hole once it is bolted in place. Seems a bit funny leaving a hole there, but the surface area of the plate is a heap bigger than the surface area of the bolt-head used in "Frankenstein" set-ups (much less likely to pull through in an impact). This is the same process reccomended by one US seatbelt manufacturer to refit old cars. This is the US seatbelt supplier I was referring to in the previous post:
http://www.wescoperformance.com/3-point-seat-belts-shoulder-mt-door.html
Note they use a slightly different plate, and hole-saw in a slightly different place.

In any case, not a bad idea to check with your certifier (engineer, seatbelt inspection station or just your own judgment) before choosing a method. Some of them (eg engineers) get very toey about the location of bolts and sash guides.

Cheers,
Harv

[59wagon]

Hi Roachy,
I've been looking at seatbelt installation on my FC wagon, so have done a bit of "Googling" and reading the Australian Reg's. My car's completely stripped and no paint, so I don't have your issue of paint damage. From what I can gather, there's no requirement to attach the backing plate to the vehicle with anything other than the 7/16" UNF bolt (doesn't need welding or riveting).  For instance, if it was a floor pan installation, you get could someone to hold the plate in place under the car while you screwed the bolt in. Can't do this with the pillar installation, obviously, so you need to have some way of holding the plate in place whilst installing the bolt (and not falling down the pillar if you decide to remove the bolt for some reason).  If you decide to use Harv's method "c" (nice fix, Harv) and you don't want to see the upper pop rivet, you could perhaps just use the one pop rivet below the 26mm hole which won't be as obvious as having another one above the hole.  I even read of a guy using "Liquid Nails" to hold it in place.  Of course, it'll be a bit trickier getting the plate into place as you won't have the smaller upper hole to attach your fishing line to, but could be done with a bit of careful fiddling and cussing (perhaps drill a hole through the backing plate immediately above the nut, just big enough to get your line through - that way you could still access the line via the 26mm hole). I'd practice first with some drilled scrap sheet metal in a vice to see if it works and you don't lose your plate down the pillar.
NOW, having said all that, I got this info from surfing the Web and the Reg's are open to different interpretations - so, as Harv said "check with your certifier (engineer, seatbelt inspection station or just your own judgment) before choosing a method".
Cheers, John

[ekute]

Hi Roachy,

If you are able to unhook your headlining you should be able to drop a plate with a nut welded to it down the cavity of the b pillar. Make sure you have string attached to the plate and have predrilled holes in the plate and the pillar, one for the seat belt bolt and the other for a rivet. Use your seat belt bolt to hold the plate in place then rivet it there.

Not sure if you can get enough access to the cavity by unhooking the headlining, this was the method I used when my headlining was out.

You need to grind a small amount off the thickness of the nut to be able to drop it down the cavity.

[fcwrangler]

I tried that with my rebuild, but the top is enclosed so I cut a slot in the side and slid the plate in that way( but mine isn't painted). Not many options without doing some paint work.
Jim

[ekute]

Yeah maybe FC is closed whereas FE is open. Although I did the same with my Ek ute and FC van.