I am missing my front shoulder belts for my 1968 XR7 that was built in December 1967. There were a lot of parts missing after the first shop I used closed. I just want to make sure I am thinking correctly that I had front shoulder belts. In the 1968 Cougar Illustrated Facts and Features manual it shows that a XR7 came equipped “standard” with Deluxe Seat & Front Shoulder Belts. Build dates after 1/1/1968, I have read were mandated by the new safety law to have front shoulder belts.
Also, is the longer front female belt the correct belt to connect to the male belt from the headliner?
About the female belts… That’s a good question. Since the male lap belt extends only a little, I believe the male lap belt connects to the longer female one. Then the long male shoulder belt goes to the shorter female.
I use both all the time given that big beautiful steering wheel in front of me. Not trying to fear monger or anything. Just my choice. The shoulder belt is extended out full length which allows me to reach all the controls. The exception being the lower air vent knob. I’m 5’9" and 205lbs. My seat is positioned all the way back.
Thanks! That makes sense as I was always curious as to which of the 2 female belts was the proper one.
I have been reading other older posts and other material and I think I can piece together what probably happened. The Illustrated Facts and Features Manual is not correct. It looks like the front shoulder belts were optional on the 68 Cougars until 1/1/1968 (on 1/1/68 they became mandatory) and the deluxe front and rear seat belts were standard on a XR7 model until that date. After 1/1/1968 it seems the deluxe front and rear seat belts were an option on the 1968 XR7 and no longer standard equipment due to the requirement of having front shoulder belts.
That explains why I can’t find my shoulder belts. I assumed I had them. I wish a had taken more pictures before the restoration started so I can properly remember what was there 8 years ago when the work started.
Funny Im working through some of this myself. My car was disassembled before my ownership so I have been putting the pieces together over the years. I have been meaning to contact the previous owner to see if he remembers the belt configuration or not for my car.
Mine is a standard decor trim 68. built 1/5/68. Im 95% sure mine did not have the shoulder belt installed as I can remember checking the top hole which was not tapped. All the belts looked like they lived under the seats for 40+ years collecting everything you can imagine that lives under your seats. I got everything out and cleaned then laid out to see what I had.(dawn dish soap is amazing for this btw) I had a full set of belts including shoulder belts and a couple extra retractors that came from a parts car. What I thought was odd was the shoulder belts appear to be faded and a different shade of black then the rest of the belts. The date codes from what I can read are different then the main belts as well so I kinda think they may have been from a parts car but that car was an XR7 with aqua interior. This thread has me questioning that however and maybe they came with the car uninstalled since it would have been going through production right at that mandate?
As far as which length belt goes where I had a hard time trying to figure that out as well. The assembly manuals are not much help here and I felt the longer buckles where used for the lap belts. I have aftermarket seats but overall size and height are close to stock. At least that is what felt right to me seated and buckled in.
I would think that if a car has the 4 female front seat belt parts that the car would have the front shoulder belts. If you only have 2 front female pieces then there would not be shoulder belts. But I have been wrong before.
I was trying to use my memory to remember things from 8 years ago when the renovation process began on my 68 Cougar XR7 GT. I didn’t take enough pictures of the interior before things started. I did have deluxe seat belts that I had in one picture of the rear seat. The first shop I used closed up abruptly and I had to scramble to find my removed parts to my Cougar that was all over the shop. Most bags were labeled correctly but I still ended up with a few parts missing.
I used the 1968 Cougar Illustrated Facts and Features Manual published by Jim Osborn Reproductions and the car’s actual owners manual to help determine if it was equipped with front shoulder belts. I was missing the shoulder belts (both male and female). These documents seem to indicate that front shoulder belts were a standard option on a 1968 XR7 model. My standard MARTI report did not list the front shoulder belts or even the deluxe seat belts under the ordered features section of the report. All other features listed seemed in line with the Cougar as it was before renovation. The other threads on this forum also helped but also added some confusion. This made me rethink the issue of front shoulder belts being a standard option on a XR7. As my car was produced before 1/1/68, there was no requirement to have the front shoulder belts. Therefore, it seems that it was an option before 1/1/68.
The conclusion seems to be that I did not originally have front shoulder belts.
The headliner is in place so I can try to feel around for the hole for the bolt to attach.
I am sure the hole in the structure is there but maybe the nut will not be behind the structure for the shoulder belt to thread into on the inner roof.
My GT-E has “front shoulder belt delete” called out as ‘68 models were being built with them to comply with the new law. The reason for the delete is it’s an introductory unit not intended to be sold. They apparently felt it would show better without them.
The wrinkle is when the car got sold the dealer added the shoulder belts to comply with the law.
Is it possible your car didn’t have them? Anything is possible. But I’d say it’s pretty likely it did.
you wont be able to feel if its tapped through the headliner. Best bet is to unfold the headliner from the roof seam just enough to get a flash light and mirror up there to see it then reglue the headliner back in place. If you plan to add them anyway then dont mess with the headliner, you should be able to feel the bung and punch a hole for the bolt to add your shoulder belt mounting.
For me I dont want to use the factory ones. I plan to run lap belts until I decide on a more modern 3 belt system
Right. The Marti Report would show this on his car if it were built without front shoulder harnesses because building it without shoulder harnesses would trigger a credit on the window sticker for cars built prior to January 1, 1968 regardless of sale date.
After January 1, 1968 all cars were built with front seat shoulder harnesses regardless of sale date.
Front shoulder harnesses were standard, not an option. If the car was ordered without front shoulder harnesses it would be an option that generated a credit on the window sticker before January 1, 1968 build date regardless of sale date. Your Marti Report is telling you the car came with front shoulder harnesses.
Thanks for the valuable input. I plan on putting in front deluxe shoulder belts since I really thought I had them. Somehow in the chaos of a not so well run renovation shop, they somehow misplaced the shoulder belts or put them in another Mustang or Cougar. It just seemed strange since the San Jose build XR7 came with 16 listed options on the Marti report and there were no front shoulder belts.