[Fudoshinsmith]

Hello gents,

Wel the fun begins now..yesterday morning at 10am after months of jumping through various hoops with parts suppliers, shipping agents and customs, my 1967 SS-RS coupe arrived to my home in Melbourne, Australia. The car was sourced via an advertisement in the classifieds on this website.:hurray: (Purchased from Tennessee - thanks Jim- , but originally a Texas delivered car)

It has matching numbers (engine/trans etc) and quite a hefty amount of good documentation, including original invoices, POP, and title as well as original delivery photos. (actually i was able to find the phone number of the original owner and called him today to make contact! Very nice man who is still very enthusiastic about this car, and happily wants to be included on the updates of the restoration - it's good karma all 'round!!) That's the good part. But the car is in need of a complete restoration, and the interior, although all there, is old, tired and completely stripped and labelled in a heap of boxes from some years ago....so i'm kinda "both feet in" now! :yes:

Funnily enough, I'm probably about to have to pack the deluxe Turquoise seat belts off and send them back to Texas, of all places, for Ssnake Oil to work their magic on them.

My previous RS a few years ago had the deluxe belts with the readily available retractors covered black plastic fitted, but this new(OLDER) car has the early steel retractors, without the plastic covers. I am hoping someone here can provide me with a photo of this style of retractor installed in their 67, if at all possible? It would really help me out as I put together the grand file of references required!

Lastly, I have to say that over the last few months I have been reading 100's, possibly 1000's of posts from this forum, as I have geared myself up for what lies ahead. All I can say is, great forum, great knowledge, great people, and great support!! I've already learned so much from so many of you, but I feel like I haven't even scratched the surface of what I'm about to undertake. I do know that in the end, no matter the hardship and the cost, it will surely be worth it for that first drive!!

Thanks for your help guys:beers:

Brett Smith
Melbourne, Australia

 

[TurquoiseL30]

Post some pics when you can. How much of the original Turquoise Deluxe interior is still useable??

 

[Fudoshinsmith]

Actually pretty much all of the interior is shot, but at least it's there to reference for the new turquoise interior I purchased. The best bits were the seat frame covers(!) A little bit of dishwashing detergent and a toothbrush and they're as good as new. The seat belts aren't too bad, but will need a resto to match the rest once it's done.
Will try and figure out how to go about posting pics soon.

Cheers
Brett

 

[Fudoshinsmith]

Here they are as they look now... there seems to be retractors on one of the rear tangs, and a rear buckle as well...? Were the early retractors also fitted on the rear seat belts?

Anybody? Somebody?

Would really like to see someone's fitted as per original if at all possible.

Thanks gents.:thumbsup:

 

[bertfam]

Brett, have you read THIS?

Ed

 

[Fudoshinsmith]

Hi Ed,

Yes, I read that and have printed it out to send with my belts to SsnakeOil.

Unfortunately it makes no specific mention of retractors on the rear seatbelts. I suspect they were never installed but they are certainly there on the belts I have which are labelled as rear seatbelts... Just trying to be sure I'm getting it right is all.

Cheers
Brett

 

[bertfam]

That's correct. No rear retractors.

Ed

 

[Fudoshinsmith]

Righto, great! That settles that then. Thank you Ed

But can anyone point me inthedirection of good photos showing the front early retractors installed? One catalogue picture shows a plastic box-like cover, but I have no other evidence of that, so it's hard to know for sure how it really looked.

Cheers

 

[rogerh]

Righto, great! That settles that then. Thank you Ed

But can anyone point me inthedirection of good photos showing the front early retractors installed? One catalogue picture shows a plastic box-like cover, but I have no other evidence of that, so it's hard to know for sure how it really looked.

Cheers

This is a picture of the 67 belt retractor. I haven't seen any after market retractors like then. I have seen the plastic covers but not the original type retractor.

Roger

 

[68 Ragtop]

Righto, great! That settles that then. Thank you Ed

But can anyone point me inthedirection of good photos showing the front early retractors installed? One catalogue picture shows a plastic box-like cover, but I have no other evidence of that, so it's hard to know for sure how it really looked.

Cheers

Are you talking about this picture?
It shows the dealer accessory retractors for all Chevy's. That plastic housing shown is not factory Camaro.

 

[Fudoshinsmith]

Yep, that's the picture I was talking about James!

That's great info, thank you.... So now at leastbI don't have to worry about trying to find the plastic box-type thing

Any luck with installed pics at all, anyone?

Many thanks

 

[Fudoshinsmith]

This is a picture of the 67 belt retractor. I haven't seen any after market retractors like then. I have seen the plastic covers but not the original type retractor.

Roger

Thanks for the photo Roger. It appears like that is a photo of the later style retractor. It seems the same as the ones available from Ricks etc etc.. I had that style on my last Camaro, but it is my understanding that they are the later 1967 ones, and that before they were released, for the first 2 or 3 months of production they looked a little more bare (?). I could be wrong, but my car is early production and has no evidence of the plastic cover in your photograph.

Would love some clarification if I'm chasing something completely wrong though.

Thanks again.
Brett

 

[67 RS Ragtop]

These are the original retractors on the outboard seat belts (front) from an early '67 (10 of '66 production). They simply roll the belt up when not in use (to prevent doors from being shut on them, etc.), and allow them to be pulled out straight when you install your belt (as shown at the top belt picture). Hope this clears it up for you. And yes, as Ed stated, no retractors at the rear belts. Couldn't upload the picture, so I'll email it to you.

 

[67 RS Ragtop]

picture for previous post. ( early '67, deluxe interior)

 

[Fudoshinsmith]

picture for previous post. ( early '67, deluxe interior)

George, you ROCK!! :hurray: That's perfect clarification.

Thanks so very much, gentlemen. I'm sure there'll be many more questions to come over the coming months!

Cheers
Brett

 

[jeffschevelle]

Below are pics from my 40K mile unrestored original paint/interior 67 SS 350. LA car, 11B cowl tag date. The belts do not have retractors built in. They have an add-on chrome spring-loaded roller, like the one shown in the accessory catalog drawing in 68Ragtop's pic above. The built in retractors came later in 67 production.

The retractor is in the center of the length of the belt, and it winds the belt up from both directions at the same time.

I have never seen a roller like the one in 67 RS Ragtop's pic above. That looks like an aftermarket part to me. But someone more knowledgable, please chime in if I'm wrong!

Good luck with your project!

Jeff Helms

 

[Fudoshinsmith]

Jeff,

Thanks so much for the perfect series of pictures. They're exactly what I was chasing.

I had never seen this type of retractor before, and was only familiar with the other enclosed one. Now I can confidently renew and install my belts as they were originally.

Step by step it will slowly come together.:yes:

Cheers
Brett