1967 seatbelt buckles

[John C.]

I recently bought a 1967 coupe and have a question in regard to the originality of my seatbelt buckles.

I know the seatbelt webbing has been replaced at some point in it's life but I am also wondering about the buckles. They are the correct model RCF-65 with the Chevrolet bow tie on the front, but on the back they are stamped with the manufacturer of Bay Trim rather than the Hamill that I have seen on all other 67 Corvettes that I can remember. The button opening in front is also of a sightly different shape and size along with some differences in the stamped warnings on the back from other RCF-65 pictures I have found in the forum archives.

Is it possible the Bay Trim buckles are original to my car or have they taken from another car line?



John

[William L.]

Re: 1967 seatbelt buckles

John; Your 67 seat belts should look these. I think the ones you have would have been used in the mid 70's or maybe a service replacement. Sorry about the poor picture but it's the only one I have. Bill

[Tracy C.]

Re: 1967 seatbelt buckles

One excellant source of info on seat belts (67 or otherwise) is Charlie Santorelli. He is not computer savy so you will need to call. 908-719-2354

[Scott S.]

Re: 1967 seatbelt buckles

Hi John,

I believe these are original to the '67 I'm restoring, 3 of the tags are dated "50 E 66" (faded but legible), which if I understand correctly, means the 50th week of 1966. The fourth tag appears to be the same age, but if it had a date, it has faded away. If I understand correctly, this car has a Jan 11, 1967 build date, both according to the Trim Tag (F11) and based on the car's VIN (07873) when compared to "The Corvette Birthday Book" (6th edition).

Picture 1) buckle front
Picture 2) buckle back
Picture 3) end connector (stamped "H" and "6")
Picture 4) metal attachment at boot (stamped "H" and "R5" on the left, "7-66" on the right)

If anyone knows, in picture three, does the "H" and underlined 6 indicate August 1966?

In picture four, is the "7-66" also a date code (July 1966)?

[Scott S.]

Re: 1967 seatbelt buckles

Three of the four belts have 50 E 66 date tags, one has no visible date. I'm not sure what happened to my picture of the third dated tag, I'll have to take another picture.