I'm in the process of restoring my deluxe seat belts. Has anybody had any experience in re-dying the seat belt webbing? They are black deluxe belts. Any recommendations on dye??

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I have not done this, but can see your wife/girlfriend getting in the car in her white clothes and the dye rubbing off. Yikes. It may be worth looking into having those puppies re-webbed. There are several places that do this. I have also come across several articles lately that talk about how the webbing will deteriorate and lose it's "give" over the years and should be replaced.

As far as belt strength and deterioration, they are in good shape. It's that they've been in the sun and have some fading to them. Yes, the dye wearing off wouldn't be a good scene. http://www.camaros.net/forum/eek.gif

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Call Ssnake Oyl at 800-284-7777. They are located in Texas and specialize in restoring seat belts. They can just to a reweb or can do a complete restoration - rechrome, new moving parts, etc...

They can replace your webbing with the correct weave, which doesn't meet current safety standards, or with "modern" webbing that is stronger.

Act quickly, I just sent them my front belts and the backlog was 6 weeks. They get very busy in the spring.

Sunlight degrades plastic. Seat belts are made of nylon, which is a form of plastic. If your belts need to be redyed because of exposure to sunlight, it is likely that they need to be replaced, even if they look and feel ok.

Also FYI, I have read that you should get your seat belts repalced after you have been in an accident. The belts are designed to stretch on impact and do not return to their original length. Thus, they are designed for one use. Once they are stretched, they lose their strength.

[This message has been edited by gheatly (edited 01-13-2000).]

All very good points on safety of old belts. I bought new belts for the front but colored the rears since they won't get much use. If in doubt about the condition, you should certainly get new belts.

All that said - to answer your question - plain old spray paint for vinyl and upholstery will do the job. Wash the belts real good and let them dry then spray on light coats. I used black paint from Wal-Mart on mine and they're fine - and it doesn't rub off.

For safty reasons seat belts Should NOT be dyed! As mentioned above they are made from a nylon type webbing and solvents can damage the nylon. If you cant find the color you want get new black ones and feel safe knowing your belts are not going to fail.

Thanks for all the replies. I had already purchased two new webbings from ssnake-oyl to replace a couple of non-usable ones and they were very nice. Guess for safety sake, three more new ones would be the answer! http://www.camaros.net/forum/smile.gif


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67 Camaro LS6 454/TH400/12bolt 3.73

If you dye or spray paint the webbing and wanted to take the date tags off them to keep them pretty, you could take them down to the boot repair shop to get them sewn back on. But be sure to ask them in advance to make sure that they will do it for you and they have the right color thread.