260z 2+2 Rear inertia reel conversion - possible?

[Dan260Z]

Has anyone done this sucessfully?  Pic greatly appreciated if you have!

 

Not sure how I'll get the reel into the tight corner at the lower mounting point (which is between the rear wheel arch and the seat)?

 

Did a quick search but didn't turn up much - please feel free to prove me wrong!

[Zedman240®]

Do you have a 260 2 seater? If so, you should already have retractable belts..unless its an early one?

[Dan260Z]

Hey, nah it's a 4 seater/2+2, 1974 - definitely only has static seat belts front and rear (lap/sash in both cases).

[gilltech]

Early 260's like yours & mine had fixed belts. The later 260's had inertia reels fixed to steel brackets mounted on the rear strut towers.

[Scoota G]

The import 2+2's had the inertia style too. Different panels for the rear section look trick too!

[Six_Shooter]

If you're looking to install retractable belts in your 240Z, it's possible using 260Z, well, 1974 260Z belts combined with 240Z belts. Keep in mind I used North American market parts, so I'm not sure if the AUDM stuff was different or not.

 

Up here, the 1974 260Z (Also the only year of 260Z in North American market), used retractable belts that mounted the upper retractable pieces in the same place as the fixed belts on the B pillar. I tried using the complete 260 balt, but the lower retractor mounted slightly differently than my 1973 240Z used. So I swapped the lower retractors, and bolted them in.

 

In earlier 240Zs that had fixed lap balts you will need to either add the seat belt pockets, or create a mount that places the retractor in that little void that is at the base of the wheel well. If you look at the Retro-Belt installation instructions you can get an idea of where there is space.

[pauly_adams]

from what I can see, he wants to put retractible seatbelts in the "rear" of his 260z 2+2 as they do not have them

[Scoota G]

from what I can see, he wants to put retractible seatbelts in the "rear" of his 260z 2+2 as they do not have them

Waste of time and energy in my opinion.

[Six_Shooter]

from what I can see, he wants to put retractible seatbelts in the "rear" of his 260z 2+2 as they do not have them

 

Yeah, I missed that part, for some reason I read it as using 2+2 belts in a 240. :facepalm:

 

Sorry about that.

[Dan260Z]

Might be a waste of time, but it's the VASS engineers request.  I don't mind doing it though as I have young kids who'll use those seats, and the engineer has been pretty reasonable about many other aspects of the build.

[Scoota G]

Might be a waste of time, but it's the VASS engineers request.  I don't mind doing it though as I have young kids who'll use those seats, and the engineer has been pretty reasonable about many other aspects of the build.

You are kidding me. What other area of the vehicle is modified? My 2+2 just went through VASS and nothing was said about the rear seat belts.

[Six_Shooter]

Yeah, why would they want you to change something from stock?

[Dan260Z]

RB25DET for starters...

From what i've experienced talking to different engineers, they all seem to focus on different stuff... one wouldn't let me use wilwood calipers due to no dust seals, other's didn't mind - just as an example.  This guy seems to be happy with me modifying plenty for more performance, but wants to see an increased level of safety to compensate.  I'm cool with that.  For the sake of just bolting up some better seat belts I don't really mind, compared to going with an engineer that might be more an*l about other aspects of the build.

TBH I would be at least changing the fronts to inertia reels regardless - the static belts used to drive me insane back when the car was on the road - forever flopping down into the rear footwell and requiring me to be a contortionist to reach back for them, etc.

 

Anyway moving on from justifying WHY I want to fit them... I really just need advice on HOW to fit them please!

[Scoota G]

If you get 2 seater mounting brackets and make them taller and then weld in captive nuts to the top of each strut tower to mount them you'll have enough clearance for the seat then just buy a set of 2 seater belts from Hemco here in Ballarat at about $130 a pop. Problem solved. I may even have a part number for the belts but the stalk will have to be different because the front ones are rigid and longer than the rears.

[Six_Shooter]

I am so glad that after reading many of the threads here that I don't have to deal with the odd thought process of the engineers you guys have to deal with down there.

 

I can't think of any car that would have an easy to retrofit retractable belt. The problem will come in that the retractable belt will need to sit in a recess under the rear seat, that currently does not exist. It may also be found that that there isn't space to add this recess due to rear suspension and drivetrain.

[Dan260Z]

Thanks Scoota - appreciate the help so far.  I'll keep that in mind if i can't find the right factory brackets to go on the strut towers of the 2+2.  If there was an orignal factory set up for inertia reels on the rear of a later 2+2 then I figure I'm best off just trying to buy those brackets and retrofit them rather than modify 2 seater brackets...