Old Car (1957)

[Papa Steve]

I have a late model car which i usually use. However I also have a1957 Chevrolet BelAir 2 door sedan. It was built without seatbelts. I'll be using 3point belts up front and in the rear. Here's the question though. The car and the floor pan were built without any thought to anchoring belts. Often in other vintage cars I've used a large,3" diameter, washer to mount the belts. However, this is my 1st time thinking about really strong rear mounts. I'm thinking about welding a steel plate from one side of the car frame to the other. That would give me a lot more steel to anchor the Child restraint seats. Does that seem reasonable to you. This is my first post, maybe this has been addressed before. If so please refer me to the right posting. My 2 year old loves cars, loves the sound, loves watching the gear shift etc. On occasion I'd love to take the little beastie boy out cruising. Thanks

Papa Steve

 

[SafeDad]

I have a late model car which i usually use. However I also have a1957 Chevrolet BelAir 2 door sedan. It was built without seatbelts. I'll be using 3point belts up front and in the rear. Here's the question though. The car and the floor pan were built without any thought to anchoring belts. Often in other vintage cars I've used a large,3" diameter, washer to mount the belts. However, this is my 1st time thinking about really strong rear mounts. I'm thinking about welding a steel plate from one side of the car frame to the other. That would give me a lot more steel to anchor the Child restraint seats. Does that seem reasonable to you. This is my first post, maybe this has been addressed before. If so please refer me to the right posting. My 2 year old loves cars, loves the sound, loves watching the gear shift etc. On occasion I'd love to take the little beastie boy out cruising. Thanks

Papa Steve

I'm not sure there is an answer you would like. Before the 1970s, cars almost exclusively used mild steel in designs not optimized at all for crash dynamics. While you can certainly customize seat belts that could be used to hold a child seat, I cannot say if it would be safe to transport them in that manner. For example, I did not let my kids ride in my dad's classic restorations, though also because he wasn't a great driver at that time, either.