72 Strange Cable

[Rey S.]

I am at a loss ! On my 72 GM put a strange cable under the floor. This cable is 12-14 " long and attaches to two studs one on each end of the brace for anchoring the lapbelts. These studs stick straight down and are +/- 3/4" long. Does anyone Have any Idea what this cable is used for? I have one somewhere in my garage but have no idea where.
Thanks - Any help will be appreciated.
Rey Stenhouse (26007)
1972 502 Coupe

[Terry M.]

Re: 72 Strange Cable

Rey
If by "under the floor" you mean on the bottom of the car, that cable is an added reinforcement to keep the inboard lap belt anchors secure. In the event of a sudden stop it is supposed to help keep the inboard seatbelt anchors from pulling through the fiberglass of the floor.

[Don L.]

Re: 72 Strange Cable

Hi Rey.

If I understand your post correctly, I agree with Terry. In the attached photo of my '72, you can see the seat belt "tether", appearing like a backwards "C", containing the e-brake tension spring. Is this the cable you are thinking of?


IMG_3887.jpg

[Mike F.]

Re: 72 Strange Cable

It's on my 70 as well. Not sure about 68-69.

[Rey S.]

Re: 72 Strange Cable

Even with the steel reinforcement ???
Thanks for the reply
Rey
72 502 coupe

[Rey S.]

Re: 72 Strange Cable

Hi Don:
Yes this is the cable. what is the pourpose of this cable? Does it route above or below the driveshaft ? Is there any conection with the "E" brake mechanism?
All this being said I just need to find mine.
Thanks for the info.
Rey
72 502 Coupe

[Mark D.]

Re: 72 Strange Cable

See post #2

[Mike F.]

Re: 72 Strange Cable

The cable loops around a hook atached to the crossmember (below the driveshaft). Has nothing to do with the E-brake.

[Don L.]

Re: 72 Strange Cable

Rey,

The above photo is one I had on file. If you want, I can take a closer view picture and post. I won't be able to do this, however, until tomorrow evening at the soonest. Let me know.

As for the steel reinforcements, realize that the RH and LH are separate pieces. Now imagine what's going to happen to the fiberglass floor pan on a side impact. When/if the floor pan breaks and my seat belt mountings tear out of the floor, I'll be relying on the tether to use what little mounting integrity there may be in the remaining reinforcement to keep SOME security. Kinda like seat belts in an airplane. They keep you in position for identification purposes .

The cable lies below the driveshaft. There's a hanger on the cross frame that holds the strand cable in place. Secure each end of the cable to the bolts you mentioned above, and secure the cable in the "hook" bracket. Done.

[Mike F.]

Re: 72 Strange Cable

[Michael W.]

Re: 72 Strange Cable

The actual purpose of the cable is to make sure that we all overlook one last piece that ties the body to the chassis when disassembling the car for a frame-off resto. GM must have had a good sense of humour knowing we would all have dumb looks on our faces watching the frame start to rise with the body, despite having double-checked everything.

Not that I would personally ever do anything that silly......

[Rey S.]

Re: 72 Strange Cable

Hi Mike:
Super pic. This explains everything about this cable. The only thing that it doesn't explain is where in my garage mine is hidden!
Thanks for the info.
Rey Stenhouse (26007)
1972 LS 502 coupe

[Rey S.]

Re: 72 Strange Cable

Hi Mike:
Thanks again for the great pic, It answered all my mistery cable questions. But seeing your pic one more question in raised,That is as it passes through the hook on the frame I notice there is some kind of cover/tube on the cable extending a couple of inches too both sides of the hook. Any idea what this cover/tube is made of? Is it needed?
Thanks again
Rey Stenhouse (26007)
72 LS502 coupe

[Mike F.]

Re: 72 Strange Cable

Hi Mike:
Thanks again for the great pic, It answered all my mistery cable questions. But seeing your pic one more question in raised,That is as it passes through the hook on the frame I notice there is some kind of cover/tube on the cable extending a couple of inches too both sides of the hook. Any idea what this cover/tube is made of? Is it needed?
Thanks again
Rey Stenhouse (26007)
72 LS502 coupe

It's just a piece of rubber/vinyl tubing. It looks like it was factory installed (there are no cuts in it), whether to eliminate metal to metal squeaking/noise or rust, I don't know.
If it was added by a previous owner, it had to be decades ago.

[Mike E.]

Re: 72 Strange Cable

The actual purpose of the cable is to make sure that we all overlook one last piece that ties the body to the chassis when disassembling the car for a frame-off resto. GM must have had a good sense of humour knowing we would all have dumb looks on our faces watching the frame start to rise with the body, despite having double-checked everything.

Not that I would personally ever do anything that silly......

Me either.


Mike