The front seatbelts in my two-door '73 Maverick are probably of the most inconvenient I have EVER seen on ANY car, old or new. I am having a hard time keeping the female ends accessible (they always fall through the seat cushions onto the rear floor). and the lap belt is constantly getting pinched in the seatback latch after I let in a rear seat passenger. I almost never even bother to use my seatbelt anymore because it is literally that much of a hassle to scramble around the car retrieving the various seatbelt parts every time I get in the car. I am wondering if my car is 1) missing a part that should keep the belts in place, or 2) weather these cars had Pinto's notorious problem, in which case It would be better not to wear a seatbelt anyway. Does anybody else have this problem with their '73?? Any suggestions to make my life easier/safer??
I know what you mean. The belt is always getting cought in the seat. Sometimes to the point that I can get the latch out of the hole on the belt. And if that does not happen it will usually get caught in the door.
how about changing the belt system putting in a new belt system.... maybe one that retracts....i was thinking of doing it myself....but like everyhting else...i cant get around to it....since i am so darned busy all the time..... i cant wait until i am done with school... then maybe i will have some spare time to put into the maverick oh well life goes on.....if you do change the seatbelts, let me know....
I might have to change them eventually since the drivers side is getting chewed up from being pinched in the seat mechanism, which I am sure is compromising its strength. Weather or not I will want to take the time/risk to reengineer the safety belt system when that time comes remains to be seen. Were all the model years this badly designed, or just in '73?
Do you have a split-bench or bucket seat? I know on the buckets, there's a short strap on the in-board rear corner of the seat bottom that you can thread the female end of the belt through to keep it in place on the seat. Not sure if the split bench seat has that. As far as the lap belt getting caught in the seatback latch, I can't understand why this is happening. The belt should totally retract into the reel when not in use so only the end sticks out. Sam
It is the split-back bench. Hmmmm, maybe this only happens when I do not disconnect the shoulder belt from the lap belt. I will have to conduct some tests.... Nonetheless, this is the only car with a two piece lap/shoulder harness that I have ever driven that gets caught up like this one does. My biggest complaint is the female end needing to be fed through the seat cushions from behind on an almost daily basis. I guess in those days it really didn't matter, as seatbelts were rarely worn and were usually shoved into the seats intentionally anyway!
Split Bench in my 71 I have a 71 witha split bench and the seat belt does seem to have a mind of its own. I am always having to fish around for it too. My friends think that they are neat though. Small price to pay for keeping the nostalgia factor of having those kind of belts, but thats just my opinion!
