As others have said, don't use a junkyard seat belt. At least not the
cloth, though the metal should be suspect also. Crashes damage the metal
bits as well.
About a year ago Moss did an article specifically on this. Using old
belts. Now I've been riding motorcycles for decades, and understand
consumable safety items. As in replacing old helmets, not using them after
a crash, etc. But I was quite surprized at how poorly old belts performed.
Even belts that had never been in an accident.
As I recall, belts 5-7 years of age or so would lose around 80% of their
strength due to dirt and light damage. These numbers were obtained by test
fixtures that destroyed the belts.
They are also, as Paul already mentioned, a one time use item. They have
built into them a very specific elasticity. This elasticity is in the
weave. As soon as they've been stretched once, they will never work again.
On a second use, the decelleration time is greatly reduced, resulting in
drastic increases in the energy exerted against your body, which gives you
greater internal damage.
Moral of the story? Don't use junk yard belts, replace your belts every
few years, always replace them after a wreck.
Gary Hutton wrote:
> Good morning all,
>
> I am planning to give myself functioning seat belts for my 76 Spit this
> Christmas and I wondered if anyone on the list has had any experience
> using belts from cars from a junkyard - it seems that most belts are of
> a pretty standard design (excepting those that try to strangle you when
> you close the door) and would therefore be easily adaptable to the spit
> and hopefully a little cheaper than the new retractables from the Big 3.
> Anybody tried this?
>
> TIA,
>
> Gary Hutton
> 76 - 1500 "Stinky" (per my 8-yr. old daughter)
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