1974 Corvette Coupe Plastic Shoulder Belt Tag

[Richard F.]

In 1973 I special ordered a 1974 Corvette which was built on Nov. 10 1973, the safety belts are dated 43 E 73. They are C30 with the lap & shoulder belt joined together with a D ring, but they do not have the clear plastic with white letter caution label as stated in the judging manual. They never had them on my 1974, is there a foot note in the AIM (delete?) or can someone shed some light on this?

[Jimmy P.]

Re: 1974 Corvette Coupe Plastic Shoulder Belt Tag

In 1973 I special ordered a 1974 Corvette which was built on Nov. 10 1973, the safety belts are dated 43 E 73. They are C30 with the lap & shoulder belt joined together with a D ring, but they do not have the clear plastic with white letter caution label as stated in the judging manual. They never had them on my 1974, is there a foot note in the AIM (delete?) or can someone shed some light on this?

Hi Richard,
I was waiting to see if anyone responded to your inquiry about the plastic "Comfort Clip". From what I've been able find, they may have started to show up sometime mid '74. If that's the case then your Nov '73 car wouldn't have had it. This would be something for our 73-74 TIM&JG Revision Team to investigate further under the Interior Section dealing with Seatbelts.

[Richard F.]

Re: 1974 Corvette Coupe Plastic Shoulder Belt Tag

In 1973 I special ordered a 1974 Corvette which was built on Nov. 10 1973, the safety belts are dated 43 E 73. They are C30 with the lap & shoulder belt joined together with a D ring, but they do not have the clear plastic with white letter caution label as stated in the judging manual. They never had them on my 1974, is there a foot note in the AIM (delete?) or can someone shed some light on this?

Hello Jim, thank you for responding, Tom has added me to the TIM&JG Team so I'm hoping I can add some information and photos in reference to early build 1974's.
Rich

[Jimmy P.]

Re: 1974 Corvette Coupe Plastic Shoulder Belt Tag

Hello Jim, thank you for responding, Tom has added me to the TIM&JG Team so I'm hoping I can add some information and photos in reference to early build 1974's.
Rich

Rich, I posted your question about this on our revision team forum. Welcome to our team!

[Richard F.]

Re: 1974 Corvette Coupe Plastic Shoulder Belt Tag

Rich, I posted your question about this on our revision team forum. Welcome to our team!

Jim how do I access the revision team forum ?
Rich

[Jimmy P.]

Re: 1974 Corvette Coupe Plastic Shoulder Belt Tag

Jim how do I access the revision team forum ?
Rich

Just sent you a PM!

[Robert S.]

Re: 1974 Corvette Coupe Plastic Shoulder Belt Tag

My son has an April built 74' coupe. He is not the original owner. As I recall the coupe came (about 15 years ago) with one clear plastic shoulder belt tag. Fortunately, at that time, I was able to find a junkyard full of 70's GM cars and spent one afternoon searching for the other missing belt tag. This was a common part used on virtually every GM make and model in that era. I finally found one that I got off without damage but the majority of the cars had them missing. In most cases, when I found one, the plastic tag would immediately break when I bent the seat belt to get the tag off. It seemed to me that the plastic had become very brittle with age and exposure to sunlight and I imagine many were removed by owners who felt they just got in the way. I have no way of knowing when in 74' they became standard equipment but I always assumed the one that was on the car when he bought it was a factory original. Hope this helps.

[Richard F.]

Re: 1974 Corvette Coupe Plastic Shoulder Belt Tag

My son has an April built 74' coupe. He is not the original owner. As I recall the coupe came (about 15 years ago) with one clear plastic shoulder belt tag. Fortunately, at that time, I was able to find a junkyard full of 70's GM cars and spent one afternoon searching for the other missing belt tag. This was a common part used on virtually every GM make and model in that era. I finally found one that I got off without damage but the majority of the cars had them missing. In most cases, when I found one, the plastic tag would immediately break when I bent the seat belt to get the tag off. It seemed to me that the plastic had become very brittle with age and exposure to sunlight and I imagine many were removed by owners who felt they just got in the way. I have no way of knowing when in 74' they became standard equipment but I always assumed the one that was on the car when he bought it was a factory original. Hope this helps.

Thank you, that seems to be consistent with Jim Patitucci's response, that they were installed about mid 1974.
Rich

[Robert R.]

Re: 1974 Corvette Coupe Plastic Shoulder Belt Tag

Richard, I ordered my '74 Coupe in October 1973 and it was built on January 21, 1974. It was delivered on February 7, 1974 and had the clips on the belts when delivered. The belts are dated 1 E 74. I still have the car with the original clips. Bob

[Richard F.]

Re: 1974 Corvette Coupe Plastic Shoulder Belt Tag

Bob, Thank you, that information will help us pinpoint when they were installed.
Rich

[Tom R.]

Re: 1974 Corvette Coupe Plastic Shoulder Belt Tag

Richard, I ordered my '74 Coupe in October 1973 and it was built on January 21, 1974. It was delivered on February 7, 1974 and had the clips on the belts when delivered. The belts are dated 1 E 74. I still have the car with the original clips. Bob

Hey Robert

Thanks for sharing this information. By any chance would you mind sharing the last six digits of your VIN along with a high-resolution photo. You can send to Richard, assuming you both have exchanged contact information. I would like to include this information in the manual revision.

Thanks!

[Robert R.]

Re: 1974 Corvette Coupe Plastic Shoulder Belt Tag

Hi Tom, I just sent a private message to Rich Ferraro saying that I would be happy to send the photos. It may take a day or two. Also I mentioned to him that in addition to my '74 coupe, I have an extremely original '74 big block California convertible that I bought from the original owner in 1993 with 16,000 miles. It now has 19,000 miles on it. I would be happy to share any information that I may have on these two cars. Bob

[Tom R.]

Re: 1974 Corvette Coupe Plastic Shoulder Belt Tag

Hi Tom, I just sent a private message to Rich Ferraro saying that I would be happy to send the photos. It may take a day or two. Also I mentioned to him that in addition to my '74 coupe, I have an extremely original '74 big block California convertible that I bought from the original owner in 1993 with 16,000 miles. It now has 19,000 miles on it. I would be happy to share any information that I may have on these two cars. Bob

Great! What's the build date of the big block? Does it have the rubber extension on the air dam?

[Robert R.]

Re: 1974 Corvette Coupe Plastic Shoulder Belt Tag

Tom, The trim tag on the driver's door jamb shows a build date of I25 (04-25), but the build sheet shows 04-26. I thought that was a little odd, but maybe it is common. Also, the car does have the original air dam extension. Bob

[Tom R.]

Re: 1974 Corvette Coupe Plastic Shoulder Belt Tag

Tom, The trim tag on the driver's door jamb shows a build date of I25 (04-25), but the build sheet shows 04-26. I thought that was a little odd, but maybe it is common.

Remember the build sheet date of 04-26 is an "expected date of production" set by the zone office when the sales order was first submitted...perhaps 30 days out. So that does not sound unusual at all.

Also, the car does have the original air dam extension. Bob

We may need a photo of that for the manual!