11 replies to this topic

[D_Venable]

OK, so Thursday the 4th, cyberquest came into chat, asking if anyone wants manual belts. Friday I drive to Lancaster, OH to get them and other related pieces (2.5 hour drive).

Well, I spent most the day saturday doing the swap, and here are the results:

Well, to start off, this isn't 100% bolt-on affair. here's what I had to cut out to make room for the new trim pieces (first is my parts car for comparison):

and the finshed of the same area:


Center console (only got the black inner trim pieces from the donor car)


No more lap belt:


a-pillars from donor car wear trash (they looked BAD) So no a-pillars for me, oh, and my car only had one bolt hole to mount the "OH s***." handle, so that was left out too:


now just some other random pics:






Parts you'll want to get from a donor car:
belt assembly
all door trim
clear door backing (has the black gooey stuff holding to the door)
headliner
a-pillar covers
all side panels from backseat, upper and lower
center console (both the rear large box and the black trim where mirrior controls are)
you may also need the seatbelt latches off the donor car's seats

Other things that need done:
cut the plate out of upper rear corner of  door jam (pictured above)
jumper the connector on the center belt assembly (in console) to keep the emergency release buzzer from sounding

and I have yet to figure out why none of my door lights work now, so I can't set the factory alarm now :?:

Derek

[88TSI_Rob]

So how long in total did it take? About 6 hours?

Is it possible to remove the seatbelt track and leave the motor? When I checked into what was involved in getting the motor out it looked like a huge PITA.

I did a partial conversion on mine. I couldn't get the correct burgandy headliner locally so I left the original headliner, seatbelt track, and A-pillars in place. I put in the manual belts, door panels, center console, and trimmed the original interior B-pillar trim pieces to fit around the seat belt mounts. It functions perfectly and only took about 3 hours, but doesn't look quite as finished.

[D_Venable]

about 8-9 hours total, at least an hours was figuring out what to do on stuff, including cutting the door jamb piece.

The motor an track wasn't all that hard to remove, just a pita because of how far around the door it goes.

There are 6 bolts down along the floor (just pull the carpet away a bit) the seats need removed though.
3 bolts on the motor, and about another bolt every 6 inchs all the way to the a-pillar. then its just 3 connectors to unplug per side, one for the motor, and one for each limit switch.but the rear seat bottom and sides have to come out to get to it all. the seat backs can be left in.

also the rear of the older headliner is not bolted up, its held in place by the side panels, there were no bolt holes that lined up for the rear.

[Richie_Rich]

You are going to want to get the A-piller attachment clips from the donor car.

You also need the plasic things the seatbelt pod screws to in the door.

You definatley need the seatbelt latches for the seats.

I replaced my carpet from the donor car so I didn't have the holes back there.

Another thing to do is cut off the studs that hold the seatbelt track to the roof.  The '86 headliner doesn't seem to fit right with those studs pushing it out.

I used a chisel to cut out my webbing, but used a saws-all on a friend's car.

I way prefer the '86 seatbelts.

Here's a link to my post when I swapped over.
http://www.starquestclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2506

[D_Venable]

You definatley need the seatbelt latches for the seats.

I'm using the stockk 88 latches with no problems, maybe I'm just lucky though.

I way prefer the '86 seatbelts.

I like the older belts too (mines from an 85 flatty) I'm still getting used to unbuckling before I open the door though, lol

Thanks for sharing you old post Richie_Rich

Derek

[Richie_Rich]

I wonder if the '86 belt had a wider latch.

Weird.

It's great you didn't need to swap latches though.

[Coke]

Did anybody record weight savings?  Just a Ricer Question  

Could be useful to some tho..

[Jehu]

D_Venable, on 11 January 2007 - 03:24 PM, said:

...this isn't 100% bolt-on affair. here's what I had to cut out to make room for the new trim pieces (first is my parts car for comparison):

I'm bumping this to see why we need to cut off the part shown in the pic above.  I am in the middle of swapping in an '87 door onto my 86 (my 86 door needed a lot of work on the bottom section so I used the better condition door off my '87 parts car).

Anyone know why?  I have the door swapped but have not swapped over the door panels or seat belts yet.

FYI, the main harness from the door that goes inside the cabin has the same connectors (87 vs 86) but the 87 has more pins on the door side than my 86 cabin side.  But the connectors are the same so they still worked (door locks and window works fine).  But the 87 mirror was broke and swapping an 86 mirror onto an 87 door that still has the 87 wiring harness won't work.  The connectors are different.  I will probably just cut and splice when I have time...

[DryBear]

I have no experience with the swap, but take a look at this shot:


If you look at the edge of the door, there is a part where the top of the belt housing sticks out and looks like would hit that corner of the door opening if it were not removed.

Edited by DryBear, 03 March 2010 - 01:26 PM.

[Jehu]

    hahahah, I just realized that the part to cut is on the car...not the door!  This is not there on my 86! lol  For some reason, I was thinking it was on the door!  

Thanks for the eye opener!      

Edited by Jehu, 03 March 2010 - 01:35 PM.

[randy]

Gathering all these parts for my swap.

[damageinc86]

Could you upload all your pictures again?