Original Seatbelt Buckle

[Haz567]

Is the original seatbelt buckle a FoMoCo marked part for a 56? I am in the process of bringing a 56 back and the car is equipped with really cool (and obviously old) main seatbelt buckles which I will reuse. They are heavy cast aluminum (I believe) pieces.

[paul2748]

Could you post a picture of the seat belt. I have a set of seat belts with an aluminum buckle that I picked up somewhere. They have an oval Ford logo and numbers JL-56-A stamped into them on the backside. Since they had the "56" I assumed they are From 1956 but don't know if they came on a sedan or a Tbird

[Haz567]

Paul:
I am at work now but when I get to the garage tonight I will. The buckles have some other name on them, I can't remember what but will get in pictures. Thanks!

[Haz567]

See Pics; note Rotunda name.

[paul2748]

Mines a lot different - will try to post pics tomorrow

[Alan H. Tast]

Rotunda-branded items started showing up in the late '50s, so I suspect these may be a later addition to your '56. There are examples with the FoMoCo TM and also ones with the original manufacturer's trademark. They are known as web-to-metal or aircraft belts because early airliners used them for seat belts instead of the metal-to-metal buckle ones we're accustomed to today.

Tracking the different styles of belts and buckles used since the original 'Lifeguard Design' belts offered for '56 gets real complicated in the early '60s with different style latches/buckles-I've been researching them for OFS revisions and really need to think about putting an article together on this topic for the Club's "Thunderbird Scoop" magazine.

[Haz567]

Thank you Alan, very interesting! I'm gonna keep them on the car as I really like the look. Also, what you said about "web to metal" is exactly right as the webbing of the belt is forced between two areas of metal and held by small raised bumps in one of the metal areas.

Regards;

[paul2748]

These are my belts

DSCN0025.JPG[/attachment]

[ICON 1956]

I seen a few Ford NOS seat belts on the web, Very expensive !
https://www.ebay.com/p/NOS-1952-1956-Fo ... 053&chn=ps
here's just the buckles that he is selling that Hazard 56 T Bird has
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1956-1957-1959 ... :rk:9:pf:0

[Alan H. Tast]

These are my beltsDSCN0025.JPGDSCN0025.JPG[/attachment]

What does the male end look like? Does it have a D-ring-kind of end? I'm accustomed to seeing this metal-to-metal belt assembly in '63 T-birds but have never seen one in a '55-'57. On top of that the stamping in the bottom of the latch/female end JL-56-A almost looks like a manufacturer's date code for July 1956 - first day or first week? Need to figure out original mfgr. Any tags on the webbing you can post a pic of? They usually have a date on them.

[ICON 1956]

I found a set of buckles only for a reasonable price:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1950s-FORD-SEA ... 2937760598

[Joe Johnston]

Will have to dig mine out of storage and compare.

[Haz567]

Alan & Icon:
Looks like the Rotunda's were at least a similar look to the originals but just a knock-off.

Anybody had any luck dying the belts to the desired color? The guys at CASCO say there dye will not work well.

Regards