Three point seat belt for the wife.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Most/many folks here have gone the extra mile to ensure their car bodies have been repaired to a reasonable facsimile of original format and while many older folks still do not support the seatbelt mandate.....it is still a proven restraint for passengers in light to moderate accidents.   Many have installed belts from the internet with weakened and less than adequate displacers from the retailer upon questionable flooring/pillar mounts.   Installing belts brings on the fact, if installed they must be used by law.   If x age and older it is still optional to install unless you have a requirement to update from your insurance carrier.   Nothing wrong with the owner updating....as for ejection seat for the little lady, perhaps a fold up kennel in the trunk will help you out there.   The fact it may be just peace of mind of to continue the habit of buckling up in the old car is needed as part of operating a vehicle, don't know, I have installed belts in mine and have gone the extra mile to ensure the anchors are up to the task.   😃  I also understand you not having them in place.  My 54 is still stock in this regard and likely to stay as such much for the same reasons you do not want to install belts.  My 48, it is a high speed road machine, real cruiser,  it has not only 3 point belts, but active air bag, just because I wanted to incorporate it into the build.  This would be a deal breaker on many folks retrofitting a car.  

[Eneto-55]

I do still want to put in 3-point seat belts, and to do it well, but I have now been looking at SEAT safety, and this whole safety deal is a can of worms. [Or like eating okra soup - once you start, you cannot stop. (Because it is so slimy. Hate the stuff myself, although I grew up planting, weeding, and picking it. Pickled is the only way I like it.)]

 

I did some initial on-line research, and after looking past all the stuff that comes up NOT for automobile seats, but for CAR seats, I found only one good research report, and it is from 1976.  Two door vehicles have another whole level of safety concerns, because the front seat back latch can fail in a head-on collision, and then the weight of the seat back adds to your own upper body weight, to propel you forward.

 

Rear collisions present an almost completely different set of dangers.  Regardless of whether a 2-door or a 4-door, the seat back can break loose or bend back, propelling the front seat driver (& passenger) into the rear seat, and perhaps through the rear window.  Even three-point seat belts do not stop this entirely, because you can just slip out the top. Rear seat passengers have been killed by the impact of the front seat occupants, usually right in the face.

 

The article I read gives some data on the actual forces typically brought against the seat frame in (as I recall) a 45 MPH rear impact.  Their recommendation involves a high see-through head rest, which is in turn connected to a retractable belt mechanism in the roof of the car.  Okay, so that's extreme. Yeah, I realize the dangers of neck injury involved in any rear-end collision where there are no head rests, and that alone is really beyond "period correctness" for our cars.  Reinforcing the seat, the adjustable seat tracks, and good seat belt design is not so "in your face".  So there are concessions in any case. The question is - How far do you want to go with this? (Or, for me, How far do I want to go with this?)

 

For rear seat passengers, padding the back of the front seat back, especially in the area where the knees would impact it; that is another recommendation they give.

[Eneto-55]

58 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

....

My 48, it is a high speed road machine, real cruiser,  it has not only 3 point belts, but active air bag, just because I wanted to incorporate it into the build.  This would be a deal breaker on many folks retrofitting a car.  

Air bag in the steering wheel center, or some place on the dash?

[Ivan_B]

1 hour ago, soth122003 said:

Another thing, if you hit most modern cars, I think it will be like a plow hitting dirt. The new car will likely disintegrate, and you will launch over it.

I do not believe that this would actually be the case. Our cars feel heavy, etc., but they are not really that heavy if you compare the actual weight of many modern full-size sedans with the older versions. In addition, despite using lighter sheet-metal, the newer-style structures (especially the main cage/skeleton) of modern cars is likely stronger. There is a YouTube test crash of an old and new car, everyone's seen. Yes, I know that the condition of the old car is questionable and they probably chose an "X" frame on purpose, there. But still, the old boats are not actually as hard as they feel

 

Moreover, I think that no one will argue that seat belts make the car safer in almost (99.9%) any crash. In fact, they used seat belts in the 40s crash test and stunt vehicles too. Whether or not any particular person needs them installed in their classic is another question. I do not have mine installed, right now, and just drive 45, as an excuse 😋

 

[Sam Buchanan]

My P15 weighs about the same as a nicely optioned Honda Civic. The old Plymouth looks heavy but isn’t. I suspect the P15 would get opened up like a tin can if involved in a collision with a modern, steel beam reinforced vehicle. Most vehicles these days are trucks or SUVs and they outweigh the Plymouth by a ton……get hit by a 7000lb e-car and not only will we be crushed but burned to a crisp by the lithium battery fire! 🤪

Edited August 30 by Sam Buchanan

[Plymouthy Adams]

conclusion, two less GM cars cluttering the highway.......😄  Of course I joke as many folks have love for these cars and put time and money into them.   In reality I think the floor pan and seat frames in a PT Cruiser have more metal by weight than the shell of my 48 Plymouth....every cut up a PT C.  I have cut both and it like cutting a slice of steak with a hoe handle compared to cutting the old Plymouth. 

[Dan Hiebert]

The ol' D24 weighs just shy of 3K lbs.  I had a 2013 VW Beetle that weighed just over 5K lbs.!

[Plymouthy Adams]

the very design is to save the occupants and waste the car in a collision.  With the heavy metal needed in the structure to assure the body/frame crumples at the built in crumple zones come at the price of added steel and weight.  Why minor accidents along with the relatively low age of a car is why many cars are totaled.