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3 and 5 Door Front Seat Belts - Interchangable?

377 views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  Roverlike 
#1 · (Edited)
I am fully aware that you cannot mount 5 door front seat belt to a 3 door "bubble" as belt lenght will be too short.

However my question is, can you mount 3 door front seat belt to a 5 door "bubble"?

In 5 door "bubble" belt will be longer, but that should not make any problems. However what I need info are mounting points the same and is belt storage magazine larger (thicker) so i might expect problems of plastic trim that goes over it in 5 door "bubble"?

If anyone tried this or know answer from experience, I am gratefull for info.
 
#2 ·
The mounting points on the belt which attach to the inner sill are different - the five door belt is fitted with a triangular plate which bolts directly to the sill (into a captivated bolt), whereas the three door ones fit around a round metal bar, one end of which fits into a hole in the sill near the back of the rear footwell (no bolt or nut) and the other is bolted to the sill (into the captivated nut near the rear mounting point of the front seat). This bar allows the belt to slip rearwards to be out of the way of rear seat passengers getting in and out, but allows it to slip forward in use, so that the bottom end of it is in pretty much the same place relative to the front seat as the five door one would be mounted.

The three-door belt won't have the sill mounting plate stitched into the loop at the bottom end, you won't have a method of fixing it. Does a five-door have the extra hole for the mounting bar the same as the three-door? If it does, I would think you would be able to fit a five door car with a three door belt by using the three-door mounting bar (and if there is no hole for the rear of the bar to fit into, I would think it would be perfectly OK to drill one for it.

I have no idea how the inertia reel unit compares between the two types, but I wouldn't expect them to be significantly different. I don't think there is a huge difference in the length of the belt itself.
 
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