Anybody ever seen a '66 shoulder harness tanker ?

[Wayne M.]

1966 AIM UPC A85, Sheet A3.
Just curious .

[Rich P.]

Re: Anybody ever seen a '66 shoulder harness tanker ?

Wayne,

If I remember did not the black 66 L-72 Coupe have shoulder harnesses? maybe KD James old car. Don't know if it was original.

Rich

[Wayne M.]

Re: Anybody ever seen a '66 shoulder harness tanker ?

If I remember did not the black 66 L-72 Coupe have shoulder harnesses? maybe KD James old car. Don't know if it was original. ...Rich

Rich -- Here's pics of the car KD had back in 1990. That's him at the back of his pick-up. Took a blow-up of area of interest and don't see anything. I'm sure I would have noted it if there was a shoulder harness option. I believe this car is # 01198 and is the only black car I have on my unofficial N03 survey. Have 4 with A82 headrests, though.

Was wondering if anybody else had seen one. I'm sure that the Sebring (Sunoco ?) tankers had them but probably added according to the spec's of the governing race regs, along with roll bar (?).

[Rich P.]

Re: Anybody ever seen a '66 shoulder harness tanker ?

"Was wondering if anybody else had seen one. I'm sure that the Sebring (Sunoco ?) tankers had them but probably added according to the spec's of the governing race regs, along with roll bar (?)."

Wayne I know I have seen one and I think you nailed it. Maybe it was Kevin M's 66 HD car. I saw it at the first Wildwood NJ show 6 years ago.
The reason I remember it was seeing the tie down cables comming through the tank cover. The only other tanker at that show was Kevin S's 66 HD car.

Rich

[Jack H.]

Re: Anybody ever seen a '66 shoulder harness tanker ?

Hum, the most 'dressed' up tanker car I ever saw was one Barry Blocher restored. It was a maroon tanker with A/C and almost every option.

If I remember the story right, the car was originally from Palm Desert, California and got the big tank + A/C option so it could safely cruise across the desert (FEW gas stations back then) to LA. I don't remember it being shoulder harness (A85) equipped, but that was a LONG time ago...

What's interesting is Noland Adams' book lists production by ECL on A85. From the option's release (1/4/66) until 5/19/66, there was only a single AA code (all, no restrictions) and he shows no production numbers associated with that version of the option.

Then, the option changed on 5/19/66 through the end of production with two ECL codes: AA (coupe and convertible without N03) and AB (coupe with N03). Noland reports 37 built with ECL AA and NO UNITS built with ECL AB).

Taken together, this seems to indicate there were no tanker cars built with the shoulder harness option in '66...

[Gary J.]

Re: Anybody ever seen a '66 shoulder harness tanker ?

Given the height of the tank would there have been room to mount the shoulder harness on the side of the wheel wells?

[Philip C.]

Re: Anybody ever seen a '66 shoulder harness tanker ?

Rich -- Here's pics of the car KD had back in 1990. That's him at the back of his pick-up. Took a blow-up of area of interest and don't see anything. I'm sure I would have noted it if there was a shoulder harness option. I believe this car is # 01198 and is the only black car I have on my unofficial N03 survey. Have 4 with A82 headrests, though.

Was wondering if anybody else had seen one. I'm sure that the Sebring (Sunoco ?) tankers had them but probably added according to the spec's of the governing race regs, along with roll bar (?).

Hi Wayne 1198 way too early to have them. Phil 8063

[Jack H.]

Re: Anybody ever seen a '66 shoulder harness tanker ?

The AIM shows how the 'tanker' version of A85 was to be installed even though it appears none were manufactured/sold...

A grommet sealed the hole in the rear compartment through which the connecting cable was routed. The far end of the cable had a bracket on it that bolted to the frame at the top of its curve for the rear wheel kick-up...

[James G.]

Re: Anybody ever seen a '66 shoulder harness tanker ?

I saw Toly Arutunoff (SCCA and FIA Corvette racer from the 60's) at the RIVERSIDE RACEWAY LEGENDS REUNION on March 26-28. Toly raced new Corvettes including a 63 Z0-6, a 65 Silver Silver 396 NO3, and a 66 427/425 N0-3 in the US and Europe.

He told me that he ordered the shoulder belts on the 66, but never got them. SCCA required heavy belts in this time period, and drivers demanded them as well.

DIEST made belts that were about 4 inches wide with a big buckle that folded over and had a quick release for easy exit incase of an accident.

Simpson also started his company around this time period, and they have been one of the preferred safety belts for 44 years.

[Wayne M.]

Re: Anybody ever seen a '66 shoulder harness tanker ?

So it seems that there might not have been any A85 / N03 cars made. Probably the best installation info is found in Noland's Vol 2, pages 334 & 5. The factory would have used the same "shoulder harness anchor plate" as for the regular tank car, but it would have been a close fit on the cut-off of the standard wheelwell panel and its replacement by the wheelwell filler cap on tankers. The anchor plate reinforcement assy. is riveted in 5 places, and not to the wheelwell itself, but rather to the part of the underbody that lies directly over the frame rail (there's a sort of step here) then at the part that drops another 3" or so to the floor of the underbody at that location.

Here's a few pics (unfortunately the first three are of '65 tankers) so you won't see any shoulder belt anchors . First two show the cover off [I took these pics about 1985]; about 5 years ago I found out that member Jay Stahl had bought the car (a fuelie), but it remained unrestored at that time. The anchor plate would be installed at the bottom of that white side-rail, just rearward of the high-point of the frame kick-up. The plate is riveted to the fiberglass underbody (just like regular seat belts), facing the frame rail, and not attached to the frame itself.

Third pic is of my car, taken from the rear bulkhead, passenger side, facing forward. You can see the hook for the jack tie-down spring, and the hand-laid wheelwell filler panel that is glued on after the original wheelwell is cut out. The anchor plate would be riveted to the underbody at a location just a little forward of the lightbulb, and not visible under the overlapping flanges of the cap and the siderail.

(to Phil) is Kevin McKay's '66 that car shown in my 4 th pic ? Can't see any A85 there either, but it is dressed in racing configuration, not TFP.

[Philip C.]

Re: Anybody ever seen a '66 shoulder harness tanker ?

Hi Wayne the four photo is not Kevins car, Thats Kurts W old car, silver 66 I cant think of the owners name. Phil 8063