1970 Shoulder Belt Snap Button Repair

by Jeff Finley

When you drive your 1970 BOSS 302 you wear your safety belt, including the shoulder belt. Imagine my surprise when I went to snap the shoulder belt into the lap harness buckle tab and, POP, the little plastic ring that goes around the stem of the snap button, splits into two and lands in my lap. Darn! Now the shoulder belt won't snap into the lap belt. What to do? Well, if you have a concours perfect car and participate in judged shows, you might have to go out and find a new shoulder belt. If you don't, then here's a quick fix that works and isn't noticeable when the belt is hung up along the headliner.

Run down to your local hardware store (you know, the one that has EVERYthing) and find their O-rings. That's right. Little rubber O-rings. Find some with the inner diameter just a little smaller than the diameter of the shoulder belt snap stem but not too thick. Depending on the thickness, you might get away with one, but I used two. Stretch and roll the O-ring(s) over the button. Now test. Your shoulder harness should stay snapped into the lap belt. That's it. An under $1.00 solution.

Remember - the seat belt and the shoulder belt are safety devices. The little o-ring fix here is a modification to the shoulder belt buckle. Take this into consideration. This has not been crash tested.