Seatbelt dye colour change!
 

I'm wondering if anyone has, or can you dye the seat belts a different colour?
In my 92, the seat belts are light tan, but I wanted to dye them black to impove the look as well as the other interior project I'm doing.

Can this be done successfully, and with what product?
Has anyone done this and have any feed back?

Thanks
Chris

You can dye seats, trim, and carpet with SEM. Don't see why you couldn't dye seat belts as well.

All my collision industry training advises to NEVER dye seatbelts. It is possible that the dye will weaken the belt webbing material...not an item you really want to take a chance on. When you need them, you'll want them to be 100%

Tried it with SEM and they looked like crap could not get it to work out right.

Interesting....

I changed the interior color from Red to Black. The red belts looked terrible. I sent my old belts with retractors to
www.seatbeltsolutions they rebuilt the retractors and put on new Yellow Webbing. They look like brand new. They have many many colors to choose from. As others have shared, do not dye them. Never use any thing on them other than mild soap and water

8Valve

Thanks for everyone's advise, I will check into this company or I may look for black ones in the For Sale section of the CF.

Thanks
Chris

what did that cost ?:hide:

I needed the lap belt replaced on one of mine, it had been cut. I checked a place on line, not seatbelt solutions; they quoted me $150 to replace the lap belt, $200 for the lap and shoulder. For that kind of money I figured I would see if I could replace it. Cost me $22 for material and the upholstery shop sewing the buckle on the lap belt. The webbing is a little different in design but it’s the same color and it works.

They rebuilt both retractors and lock up mechanisms. Supplied new yellow webbing. With UPS total was $298.00

8Valve

Thats a good price. However, are you willing to bet your life that the Upholstery Shop used the right thread, the right stitch, the right number of stitches, the right stitch pattern etc etc. I would not just trust anyone to know this unless seat belts were their business.

8Valve

Good point 8 valve. That stictching pattern and thread is super important.
It has to be able to hold up in impact only 1 chance at that.
My seatbelts although old appeared fine til I washed them. Soon as I pulled on them after that they fell apart. Def need the right material too.
Did cut one back and had someone sew it up best they could just couldnt risk someones like in the name of saving money (wont be using it) :cheers:

Wait! I just remembered....

In the movie "Shanghai Nights", Owen Wilson had to pee on Jackie Chan's shirt to make it strong enough to bend the jail bars! Now, you're going to tell us getting seat belt material wet (with dye) makes it weaker?

:D

Seriously, hard to believe dye would weaken seat belts but I can't afford the test to disprove it. I can, however, imagine that dying some colors (to other colors) may end up looking crappy. Also, it would depend on the dye used.

FWIW: read this thread last night, sent sestbeltsolutions an e-mail asking for a quote on repairs. At 7AM today had a reply, wanted more info. Have no clue what the outcome will be but the willingness to respond that quick is impressive.

Without knowing all the properties of the fibers used to make the webbing, AND the chemical content of the dye, AND it's effect on said fibers, it's a crapshoot. Feelin' lucky?

Seriously, with the many thousands of dollars many owners spend on brake upgrades,drivetrain upgrades, and all the other things we spend money on, is a couple hundred dollars to ensure your safety restraints are 100% even a question?

Yes, I have no problem with the work they did. I have looked at the seat belts in 4 of my vehicles, I do not see any common stitch pattern, stitch or number of stitches on any of these so it appears there is no standard used by the different manufactures for stitching the seat belts. So which one is doing it right, Mazda, Chevy, Toyota or VW? Or is there something I am missing?

I sent seatbeltsolutions an email, on the cost only for changing the color of the cloth, because the rest of the seat belt is fine as well as the mechanism!
Will let you know what the cost for the color change is!

Thanks
Chris

Another thought, if there was an accident and ins investigated and caught an ill repaired belt guessing they could nix some of the damages.

Just got an answer to my last e-mail. $175.00 per side for new webbing. I have no real idea if this is high or low but my knee jerk reaction is :eek:

Prices have gone up since they did mine jut about a year ago....see post #10.

8valve

Sounds like you should trade up to a (car) model with air bags...side and front. I live on the edge and rarely wear mine. Past my prime now anyway. It's all downhill from here!

:rock:

I also got a quote of $175 for each side! :ack: just for the webbing!

Maybe I'll look into someone who is parting out one with black interior!
Might be a whole lot cheaper!!!!

Thank
Chris

Quotes Ive gotten were $200-225/pr now thats for 2 pt lap belts.
North Hollywood auto upholstery
North Hollywood, Ca.
Probably have them do mine their interior work turned out great.

I agree, perhaps some dyes contain a form of bleach, sodium-hydrosulphite, thiourea-dioxide or something to strip the color that would weaken the fibers in the belt. I wouldnt think anymore than 25+ years of aging though.

As far as the stitching on the ends of the belt that holds the tounge on is very important. All the seat belts are made to stretch on impact and stiching is made to work like a reverse crumble zone (good for 1 crash).

But I quess if we were worried about saftey in crashes, we should trade our fiberglass cars that is 3" off the road for a new volvo or build a cage and go with the 5 point harness

i died mine black just outstreched the belts used a close pin to hold it out got black fabic dye used boiling water and about a 1/4 teaspoon of salt let the belt did in the kitchen sink with the pacage of dye and 1/4 tsp of salt got my dye at a local fabric store for about 5 bucks the sanded primed the plastics and mine look fine ...i agree witht he 25 year statement cant see how die would affect it more than 25 years of age

Wasnt dye for me it was the warm soapy water. Just workign with that for a few minutes was all it took for things to disinegrate prior to that they looked great. I was shocked, buckle came off right in my hand.

Up to you how important safety is. Like brakes, cant see them much and dont want to spend on it but the risk of what could happen is awful high.

I'd be more concerned with the boiling dye technique vs spray-on SEM. OTOH, if umpteen-yr-old belts come apart in soapy water, you gotta think they were on their last leg already.

Are you talking about belts in your 60's Camino?

I still have young kids...I'd like to be around to say I have old kids

Sounds like YOU should buy a donorcycle :crazy2:

Reconsider a 4-dr sedan (though C4's fair better than I would have guessed). Or try not to crash!

I used to have a motorcycle. Lots of fun during a smaller period of the year. With a 383, my vette is getting close to what the 400cc bike used to run.

BTW: Safety agencies will always err on the safe side for general recommendations. [seat belt] Manufacturers will also lead buyers to new setups vs older ones. In both cases, it's the correct recommendation. Of course, when you buy a new car, they want you to buy a warranty. Oh yeah...They also want you to buy the newer car [technology] for safety. If you buy a salvage set, maybe it could have been flooded or under water. I could go on....

Bottom line....I bought an '89 to save money back in 1999. Newer models were equipped with air bags. If security were my bottom line, I'd have sprung for the newer setup and/or avoided the vette all-together.