64 Seat Belts

[Larry M.]

I had a post about a week ago titled "Minor Questions" that received some discussion about my 64 belts with a date code. I called a guy today about wiper blades which then led to a discussin about belts. A couple of key things he told me, and I think he knew his stuff. He's an NCRS member and does restorations on belts. Seemed expert. Attached is the pic I had in my other post. What he said:
1. 64 didn't have dates (which my other post told me) - didn't start till 66
2. The label in my pic which is about 2X1 inch is too big. He said about and inch by a half inch is closer.
3. Red belts in 64 were not really red, they were Scarlet, really didn't match interior and the buckles were Scarlet paint.
4. Buckles on back had Irving Air Chute, IC 8000, and patent numbers but no usage instructions. If they had usage instructions they came from a 65.
5. Said labels might say Chevrolet 64 or Corvette 64....mine don't...they just say Chevrolet

So I went and looked....mine have red belts with a big label and date, but the buckles are a different color which is how he described Scarlet. Now my point is not thay anyone else would necessarily care about my car, but the info on dates, color, labels and buckles if pretty interesting.

[Gene M.]

Re: 64 Seat Belts

Larry,
The belt in your photo appears to be driver quality. The webbing grain, color and the stitching also appear non factory typical in addition to what you mentioned.

[Hank D.]

Re: 64 Seat Belts

Here's a photo of an original belt / label from a June '64 car:

1964SeatBelt_Original_Black_with Ink Stamp_June 64 Build Car.jpeg.jpg

[Larry M.]

Re: 64 Seat Belts

Hank, how confident are you that your belts are original. How do you know? I'm not saying they are not and they certainly look well worn. But others on this forum have pretty much convinced me that there were no dates in 64. I'm pretty certain mine are repros but I want to pin all this down before I commit to replace them.

[Jim D.]

Re: 64 Seat Belts

Here's a pic. of a label on my 65. It's identical to the one Hank posted above except there's no date. All 4 labels are the same and it's a 1 owner car so I'm 100% positive it's original.

[Hank D.]

Re: 64 Seat Belts

Hank, how confident are you that your belts are original. How do you know? I'm not saying they are not and they certainly look well worn. But others on this forum have pretty much convinced me that there were no dates in 64. I'm pretty certain mine are repros but I want to pin all this down before I commit to replace them.

Larry -

I don't own these belts. The photo is in my archives; it may have been from another post on this board. As for the dates on the labels, the current version of the JG shows sample photos of '64 labels with the '64 date. "Corvette" v "Chevrolet" is yet another story.

Hank