Converting to manual seatbelts

Well, I can't seem to get the search to let me search for seatbelts or manual, and can't find a thread manually. So here's my question.

I've had my wagon for 1.5 days and am already tired of telling people how to put on the broken automatic seatbelts! Is it possible to convert to one of the manual variety? If so please steer me in the correct direction, and is it the same as other EF's by chance?

Thanks, hondacivicwagon.com

Comments

  • Fix the automatics!
  • SiWagonSiWagon Council Member
    What's wrong w/urs?
  • I tried to bolt the manual belts from an 88 Wagon into my 90 auto belt Wagon and it didn't work. The bolts holes for the manual belts aren't there. The bolt holes for the auto belts are in very different places from the manual belts.
  • I would be game for fixing the auto ones but denounced the idea because I thought it would be expensive.

    How hard is it to fix them? And are the parts available?
  • Honda seat belts are supposed to have a lifetime warranty. A couple years ago, I had the seatbelts replaced on an 88 Accord because they weren't retracting anymore. The service manager wasn't exactly thrilled about it, but they got it done eventually.
  • SiWagonSiWagon Council Member
    CLick on this link:
    viewtopic.php?f=16&t=739

    Click on,'' Ignition Upgrade Info '' for info on your seat belt prob.Other choice is to hit the bone yards.

    Yeh .My retractor was out & Honda replaced FREE.
  • EDwEFprtsEDwEFprts Senior Wagonist
    ^ the issue of the lifetime warranty still has not been solved.
    some people have gotten their belts fixed for free.
    most have not.

    i went to my local honda dealership to have them fixed.
    they said they would IF it was an electrical problem.
    if it was mechanical they would not.
    they also wanted my car for a day just to look at it.

    has anyone disabled their autobelts "beeping?"
    my autobelt is broken and loose, so it "beeps" a lot.
    i'm seriously looking into swapping to manual belts, even if it means welding in new mounting locations.
  • Honda Seatbelts for the older Honda cars (prior to 2006 I believe) are Lifetime Warranty, and the official ruling is they will replace anything that effects the proper operation of the Seatbelt. This would exclude accident damage or physical damage (cut or dog-chewed belts). They do not have to provide the same color if it is no longer available. Take your car to the dealer to have the seatbelts looked at. If it is not excluded for the above mentioned reasons, and they still won't help, try another dealer or call AHM Customer Relations @ 1-800-999-1009.

    You may want to double check the small Fuse Box on the Positive Battery Cable FIRST!! That is not covered by warranty and it's best to check your bases first so the dealer doesn't charge you labor for something that was not under warranty.
  • Also, use the tool that is with your Jack and Tool Kit to manually move the seatbelts to the correct position (all the way back), and latch it when you are going to drive and then I think it won't beep. It would also be safer!
  • wagodizzlewagodizzle Council Member and EDM expert
    like Jaker said, you cannot convert an autobelted car to manual belts. nowhere to mount the hardware :lol:
  • progressprogress Wagonist
    It has been done but not on a wagon to my knowledge. Do a search on honda-tech as someone there converted his door mounted belts on his crx to the pillars. From what I can remember, there definitely was welding involved.

    EDIT:

    This might not work with our wagons. Although body styles from the 88 thru 91 wagons remained the same (I think) I don't know if the necessary holes/cubbies for the pillar mounted seat belts are even present in the wagon bodies with the auto seat belts.

    Here's an H-T link with pics describing how he installed pillar mounted seat belts into a CRX with the door mounted seat belts...
    http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=1456104&highlight=seat+belts

    Here's another H-T link but the pic links are broken...
    http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2331577&highlight=seat+belts
  • EDwEFprtsEDwEFprts Senior Wagonist
    Honda Seatbelts for the older Honda cars (prior to 2006 I believe) are Lifetime Warranty, and the official ruling is they will replace anything that effects the proper operation of the Seatbelt. This would exclude accident damage or physical damage (cut or dog-chewed belts). They do not have to provide the same color if it is no longer available. Take your car to the dealer to have the seatbelts looked at. If it is not excluded for the above mentioned reasons, and they still won't help, try another dealer or call AHM Customer Relations @ 1-800-999-1009.

    You may want to double check the small Fuse Box on the Positive Battery Cable FIRST!! That is not covered by warranty and it's best to check your bases first so the dealer doesn't charge you labor for something that was not under warranty.
    i might reconsider going back to the dealer.
    i've also checked the 2 fuses and they were okay. but it's possible that the "box" is bad.
    Also, use the tool that is with your Jack and Tool Kit to manually move the seatbelts to the correct position (all the way back), and latch it when you are going to drive and then I think it won't beep. It would also be safer!
    i've never had that tool. i can manually move it around and push it all the way back, but as soon as i hit a bump (or whenever it feels like it) it comes loose and beeps. i was hoping that someone has messed with the sensors or wiring to alter the "beeping."
    progress wrote:
    ...Here's an H-T link with pics describing how he installed pillar mounted seat belts into a CRX with the door mounted seat belts...
    http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=1456104&highlight=seat+belts

    Here's another H-T link but the pic links are broken...
    http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2331577&highlight=seat+belts
    i've seen this and 1 other link. this is what i'm considering. i'm going nuts with my jacked-up autobelts.
  • JakerJaker familEE
    I actually had all the parts to convert my 1990 decapibelt car to regular seatbelts from a 1988. The mounts for the regular belts are not on the chassis. The bolt holes for the electric belts are not even close to the correct location to bolt up the manual belts. I quickly aborted my attempts to do the conversion. I would not even consider trying to weld in mounting points. It's just too critical a safety issue for me to be fabricated.

    I bolted in 5 point racing belts using the OEM seatbelt bolt holes.
  • Old SkoolOld Skool Council Member
    That's so strange, Canada has never had auto seatbelts.. Manual all the way :)
  • JakerJaker familEE
    Old Skool wrote:
    That's so strange, Canada has never had auto seatbelts.. Manual all the way :)

    This is the original Shagovan bought by me from ShaunK in Oregon.
  • EDwEFprtsEDwEFprts Senior Wagonist
    ^ huh?

    Old Skool wrote:
    That's so strange, Canada has never had auto seatbelts.. Manual all the way :)
    maybe i need to go to canada.
  • White&NerdyWhite&Nerdy Senior Wagonist
    I don't know what I'm talking about :lol: but logically, it seems to me that it should be possible to score manual belts from a 90-91 Canadian model (or Euro, or Japanese, or anywhere else in the world that DIDN'T get the decapitation belts) and install them into a USDM model. Yes, I know the 88-89 manual belts don't bolt in, but manual belts from a 90-91 are designed for a 90-91, and I would think they should bolt into any 90-91. We didn't get a special USDM chassis or anything.
  • wagodizzlewagodizzle Council Member and EDM expert
    we actually may have, believe it or not. in other countries they continued the same chassis from 89-onward (different floorpans/seats). only way to prove this, is have some Canadian member take a picture of their seat pans, and the bolts pattern to compare to the USDM version.
  • EDwEFprtsEDwEFprts Senior Wagonist
    ^ i got my hopes up thinking i could get some CDM seat belts, but i think wagodizzle is right.
  • White&NerdyWhite&Nerdy Senior Wagonist
    It would be interesting to see, for sure. If proven wrong I'll freely admit it. :)
  • Did the Canadian models get door beams and the lower knee bolster below the steering wheel too? The '88-89 USDM models have the coin pocket on the left side under the vent, the '90-91 got a knee bolster that deleted the coin pocket. It also deleted the 'choke cover' pocket near the steering column, that was replaced by a flat plastic blank in '90-91's (by the way, this 'choke cover' pocket can be retrofitted into the '90-91's with no mods, and I use it to store my Bluetooth headset, perfect size!). I think these were US improvements, as HONDA took the cheaper way out on an already developed car by not installing airbags. Many other cars offered drivers airbags in 1990, the year SRS (Supplemental Restraint Systems) became required in USDM vehicles (including HONDA's own new Accord). I think the US was the only country that adopted those strict rules for that year, and I am pretty posistive we had our exclusive chassis changes because of that. Why not, California gets it's own special cars with different emissions equipment.
  • crv-tecwagoncrv-tecwagon New Wagonist
    i got tired of getting choked by my seat belt so i took out the fuse box for it and just flip it over my head the only time it beeps is when the door is open but mine is also locked to the back, if you got a welder maybe throw a tack weld on it or wedge it to the back some how, im so used to throwing it over my head when i drive my friends wagon i forget and i get shuved in to the dash. :?
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