Let’s Talk About Seat Belts…

 

Disclaimer: We like to help our readers and customers with safety concerns, but we cannot guarantee safety in any way – so we don’t.  Make your own decisions on safety items.  Also, the vendors and manufacturers mentioned here are not sponsors – we just like what they do.

Let’s establish something first – I am older than a lot of our readers.  I learned to drive in a time when seat belts were “optional” and in many cars there were no seat belts installed or they were artfully tucked between and under the seats so that they were not in the way.  My first car – 1964 VW Beetle – did not have seat belts.  Seat belts were not used unless you said to yourself, “This is about to get real.”  Think of the movie BULLITT where, just before the start of the big “Mustang vs Charger” chase scene, Lt. Bullitt reaches down and clicks on his lap belt in his 1968 Hunter Green Mustang.  He doesn’t normally wear the seat belt, but it was “about to get real.”  (If you haven’t seen or heard of Bullitt, you should check it out.)

Today’s new cars have self-tensioning belts, 79 air bags, lane warning lights and buzzers, and a myriad of safety devices that we use and – let’s be honest – take for granted.  Our Nissan Titan and VW Passat have tons of air bags – we don’t know how many or where they are, but they are there.

Does your 924, 944 or 924S have air bags?  Some later ones do.  Seat belts?  You bet.

But how old are those seat belts?  Original equipment?  Your 1991 944 S2 is thirty-three years old.  Your 1983 944 is thirty-nine years old.  That 1977 924 is forty-six years old.  Think about it.

We change timing belts because they may break.  Can you guarantee that your shoulder belt will keep you in position when that teen driver runs a stop sign while texting and you center punch his Corolla?  Not so much.  This is especially true if you track your car without harnesses.  Will you bet your safety on track on a 40-year-old shoulder belt?  Just asking…

So what is the answer?  There are many suppliers of seat belts out there, but we have used SeatBeltPlanet.com in the past and have had great results.  Their products are great quality, they fit properly and they have provided us with great service.  This link will take you to the 82-87 944 Belts.  (There are listings for other years and models, too.). You get front seat belts and shoulder harnesses, complete, and you can choose your color and design!  All for a listed price of around $300.  Not only that, but you can also choose to get your original belts “rewebbed” with new material and retain that originality that you want.  You can also get rear seat belt replacements (or rewebbing) if you ever plan on putting the little ones in the back seat.  Still not sure?  Call them in Edmond, Oklahoma at 405.736.0088.  Also take a look at their website for Seat Belt 101, an informative article on information and replacement of seat belts, along with an article on Seat Belt Replacement Guide.  Great stuff.

So taking a line from the Formula One movie and the character of Niki Lauda, “Go have yourself a think.”  Do you trust your current old belts to do their job?  If not, increased safety and peace of mind is only a few hundred bucks away.

We don’t want you to wreck your Porsche.  We also don’t want you to wreck yourself.  If you are taking your car on the track without harnesses, we encourage you to put in a setup that allows you to use five-plus-point harnesses and a HANS-type device.  This normally requires a new seat with shoulder harness holes, too, making the cost for a harness bar, harnesses and seats to top a thousand dollars pretty quickly.

If you don’t want to do that for your car, then at least invest in NEW stock-style seat belts.  It’s important, and it may just save your life.

One last note – most HPDE organizations are requiring certain dates on harnesses that are used in their events.  So if THEY won’t allow you to use 8-year-old harnesses in your car, why do they allow 40-year-old stock shoulder belts?  The answer – they shouldn’t.