Page Last Updated 05 June 2005
This instruction was composed using the Juliano's Retractable 3-Point Shoulder Harness with Soft Arm (JU016300 Series) which comes complete with all of the necessary hardware to mount the system securely. The hardware kit is also sold seperately. Pricing as of this writing (April 23, 2005) was $89.95 per side.
WARNING! DANGER WILL ROBINSON! DANGER! Since this is a safety issue, and this truck was not designed for safety belts in the first place, I am not responsible for any problems, accidents, etc. concerning this installation. Do it at your own risk. Most importantly during the installation, you will be welding very close to the gas tank. Take any and all precautions so as not to burn your vintage truck to the ground and possibly kill you. If you do not know how to safely do this, chances are you shouldn't be attempting this install.
With a pencil, carefully mark the hole going to the seat pedestal back from the inside, then using a small taper punch and hammer, tap the center of it so you know where to drill the hole on the outside. Or use whatever other ingenius method you can think of to transfer the hole pattern to the other side. Drill the 7/16" hole making sure everything lines up correctly.
Place the modified 2-3/8" x 4-1/2" metal plate behind the seat pedestal and using the provided 7/16" short bolt, bolt the plate securely in place. You will want to sand off the weld area so welding goes smoother. Weld the plate into place securely from behind.
Using the 7/16" nut, bolt the angle plate in place as shown. I also used a welding clamp to hold the angle bracket securely to the floor. Weld the angle bracket into place and then grind off the area for a clean install. Remove the short bolt and nut and replace it with the long bolt with washer through the assembly.
Now you can install the retractor assembly and the other end onto the bolt and tighten using the 7/16" nut. Install the belt assembly so it is not twisted or binding in any way. The belt should not chafe on the sides of the retractor assembly and the sytem should work smoothly.
This ends the Retractor Assembly Installation. Of course, there is finishing sanding and painting to do, but mechanically, everything should work great.
This is up to you, but I determined that 25 inches (approx) from the rear panel of the seat pedestal nearest the door inwards is the best place to install the latch belt anchor. First it gives the rider a comfortable width if they are average size, and also we have a recessed area in the seat pedestal pan to consider that is in the way of making it longer.
Mark the anchor hole in the bottom of the seat pan at the 25" mark making sure the 2-3/8" x 4-1/2" metal plate will ride JUST shy of that recessed area in the pan.
Drill a pilot hole and then a finished 7/16" hole on the mark and place the plate under the cab and bolt into place. You can see how it just misses the recessed area.
Drill two additional holes: one at the top (JUST behind the seat pedestal) and one below for spot welding purposes. If your gas tank is in the way of the top weld, you 'could' forgo that one or weld it from the bottom of the cab. Weld the plate into place and do the required grinding.
This ends the Latch Assembly Instruction. When you are done, it should look like this.
When you are done, it should look something like this. The only things left in the Juliano's kit that were not needed were two long bolts. I was impressed with the relative ease of installation. Of course I did it in an empty cab, but still feel that it would be well worth it even if I would have had to remove the seat assembly and part of the headliner to do it.
Anyone having suggestions on how to improve this document, please contact Deve Krehbiel at deve@speedprint.com.
