1972 Coupe seat question

[Douglas C.]

Hello. I am looking at a 72 Coupe on line where the seats look correct but the owner says it did not have shoulder belts when he bought it a few years ago. He tells me the seat back does no have the opening slot for shoulder belts. Pictures of the interior certainly look correct. So, I assume under the carpet is a threaded fitting for the belts. Car is far from me so I will ask if a member in the area can inspect the car as it looks like a nice one, but what would be required to alter the seat back to accept the shoulder belts.

Thanks, Doug

[Patrick H.]

Re: 1972 Coupe seat question

The easiest is to swap for another seat, as you'll need a few parts from another one.
Bezel in rear, "tunnel" inside from front to rear, and front bezel with hole in it for the belt to go through. Add appropriate fasteners as well.

Someone swapped seats in the car already, so I'd look for what else was moved/removed. Are the shoulder belts still there? Holes for them in the trim?

[Douglas C.]

Re: 1972 Coupe seat question

The easiest is to swap for another seat, as you'll need a few parts from another one.
Bezel in rear, "tunnel" inside from front to rear, and front bezel with hole in it for the belt to go through. Add appropriate fasteners as well.

Someone swapped seats in the car already, so I'd look for what else was moved/removed. Are the shoulder belts still there? Holes for them in the trim?

Wow, had no idea. Car has Saddle interior, looks original, and has tank sticker showing Saddle Interior. So there is no way to simply cut a slot in the seat back to slip the belt thru, or change the seat back trim piece with a slot already in it? I am assuming the floor under carpet has a threaded fitting as it's a matching number car with build sheet and would say overall very high level driver condition.

[Terry M.]

Re: 1972 Coupe seat question

Wow, had no idea. Car has Saddle interior, looks original, and has tank sticker showing Saddle Interior. So there is no way to simply cut a slot in the seat back to slip the belt thru, or change the seat back trim piece with a slot already in it? I am assuming the floor under carpet has a threaded fitting as it's a matching number car with build sheet and would say overall very high level driver condition.

The car originally had a threaded hole under the carpet (on the wheelhouse) for anchoring the shoulder belt. No telling if that hole has been filled or with what, but it is an out of the way location so might be OK. Getting a set of shoulder belts and the anchor bolt might be problematic. There is also a trim piece behind the seat to cover the shoulder belt retracter.

Just thinking about why the seats have no facilities for the shoulder belts: maybe the seats are from a convertible?? Just a WAG.

Saddle which? Vinyl or leather?? Does documentation or Trim Tag match the interior that is there?

[Douglas C.]

Re: 1972 Coupe seat question

The car originally had a threaded hole under the carpet (on the wheelhouse) for anchoring the shoulder belt. No telling if that hole has been filled or with what, but it is an out of the way location so might be OK. Getting a set of shoulder belts and the anchor bolt might be problematic. There is also a trim piece behind the seat to cover the shoulder belt retracter.

Just thinking about why the seats have no facilities for the shoulder belts: maybe the seats are from a convertible?? Just a WAG.

Saddle which? Vinyl or leather?? Does documentation or Trim Tag match the interior that is there?

Can't believe I need to buy two seats and junk the existing seats just for a slot in the seatback.

[Patrick H.]

Re: 1972 Coupe seat question

Can't believe I need to buy two seats and junk the existing seats just for a slot in the seatback.

You don't, but you would have to move parts from another seatback to these.
Difficult? No, but not just making a slot.

Again, I'd wonder WHY they were changed.

[Douglas C.]

Re: 1972 Coupe seat question

You don't, but you would have to move parts from another seatback to these.
Difficult? No, but not just making a slot.

Again, I'd wonder WHY they were changed.

Ok, understand. Agree it seems odd as it is Saddle Interior and the seller has build sheet showing Saddle. Pics so far look like original interior in good condition. Will have to check it out to be sure, I wonder if back in the day somebody ditched the shoulder belts and bought a bezel with no slots to clean up the look. Anyway I am working on asking a member to go check the car out as I'm in N J and the car is in Florida.

[Patrick H.]

Re: 1972 Coupe seat question

Any photos you can share?

[Douglas C.]

Re: 1972 Coupe seat question

Here are a few pics, no good look at seat back.



72 seat.jpg72 BLDSH..jpg72 LT1.jpg

[Gary G.]

Re: 1972 Coupe seat question

I will post pictures of mine with saddle leather today. We have the slots with the trim. The belts are in the back, just never installed. The trim in the seat back is intact and not punched out for the belt.

[Reba W.]

Re: 1972 Coupe seat question

Back in the day when Dick had the shop, we added shoulder belts to a convertible for a customer. An opening was cut in the seat back and the front metal trim. You would have to get measurements from another car. The bezel for the back is available unpainted from most suppliers. I don't know how the tunnel through the foam was achieved, but we had some very good craftsmen at the time. I assume the anchor point in the back was there. This was more years ago than I care to admit. Are the quarter-trim panels correct for a coupe?

[Owen L.]

Re: 1972 Coupe seat question

I realize this is a couple years old, but I just recovered my '72 seats so it's fresh in my mind.

The belt pass-through on the seat has a metal "tunnel" that is screwed to the frame – it's what the trim bezel mounts to. Pressing on the covered seat back you can feel it if it's there. The opposite side of the back is just foam padding.

As an aside, given today's design safety consciousness, I find it surprising that all coupes came standard with shoulder belts but it was optional for convertibles. That seems the exact opposite of what I'd expect. Does anyone know the reasoning behind not making them standard on both body styles?