RANT: Ames Perf 3 point seat belt p/n# FA222DBK aka Seatbelt Solutions SBGM11F
 

I bought this seat belt set to replace some God awful orange latch seat belts the PO put in my 69 Firebird 400. My interior is red, the orange seat belts just looked awful.

So I contacted Ames and got the FA222 black set for the front bucket seats in September 2021. Due to my sudden heart health demise that required a heart transplant in March 2022, these never got installed. Then the body shop put them in while I was in Mayo Clinic, but since the car was getting major motor, AC, gauge and a whole bunch of other upgrades, it just wasn't driven.

I got my car back for a shakedown cruise last Friday, April 21st, 2023. I go to put the seat belts on, and they won't extend. And I mean AT ALL. After several tries (like 12) I figured out that these seat belts REQUIRE you to stretch the buckle out along the upper lines of the door window glass/underneath the headliner all the way to the windshield before you can get enough belt out to go over my whopping 6ft 2inch 185 pound frame.

Even then I screwed it up 4-5 times before they didn't lock up while stretching, and that you had to go VERY SLOWLY so they didn't lock up (like you were in a crash).

I drove the car last weekend, and I had to get out, and stretch the passenger side belts like I did on the driver's side so my wife's boobs would fit under the shoulder belt. Now, I'm not going to gripe that I got to do a "boob dive" on my wife to get the seat belts on, but it took 4 times to get it done and I damn near choked my wife with the shoulder belt positioning. Then I'd have to go back to the driver's side to and fight to get the belts on for two minutes.

Now look, my Bird has white paint with a red top. I'm not going to use it for doing a bank robbery but if I tried, I'd be caught in the parking lot trying not to get pulled over for not wearing a seat belt. Frigging ridiculous to say the last.

I called Ames, they said to call Seat Belts Plus. I called, they got a manager to call me back today.

This screwed up ritual to put the seat belt on is NOT a design flaw, according to their manager. Say What? That's right, they expect you to use two hands to pull your shoulder/lap belt out SLOWLY so it doesn't lock up on you trying to buckle it.

I was just amazed. The manager at Seat Belts Plus told me that was their aftermarket design, by choice. WTH?

I went back and called Ames. Keeghan was a nice guy, he checked with his return manager, he said I had 90 days to return them, period. The warranty is 1 year, even though the design is totally flawed and stupid. Keeghan checked and sure enough, they can't do anything for me but have me pay for new seat belts.

So I went back to SB +, they said you can inspect the belts and return them, but as soon as you mount them they are NON RETURNABLE.

Great...you can't even see how poorly they operate until you mount them, there are no notes at Ames about this design flaw/screwup, and no one wants to come to the table about replacing them, or making these work right, because the design is what they intended.

Long story short, I've got 18 month old belts with 188 miles on them that SUCK. No one wants to take 2-3 minutes out of their lives to put a seat belt on, right?

Now here's the kicker...after two days of dealing with these malfunction/poorly designed seat belts, they won't retract...

I don't know about the rest of you, but as far as I'm concerned, Seat Belts Plus has sold Ames some really poorly designed seat belts and didn't tell them that they are a total PITA to use.

But neither of them want to rectify the situation. They're just hoping I'll eat the $300 I spent for crappy seat belts, and order some more.

I gotta tell you, given this recent set of events and no solution in sight, I'm pretty pissed off that I donated $60 towards running this site a month or so back, since I've spent a fair amount of money with Ames, and they seem to have no pull with their vendors that design stupid, hard to use seat belts.

In summation, if you need new seat belts for your 69 Bird, don't even consider this crappy product from Ames Performance. I'm going to look for another solution before I give another dime to Ames Performance and I'll certainly not recommend or buy anything from Seatbeltsplus.com

Fair warning... caveat emptor, etc, etc.

This really stinks in my book...sure, I love my Bird, but to buy seat belts TWiCE since Ames vendors design crappy parts? Uh, no...shame on Ames, and double shame on seatbeltsolutions.com for making an utterly worthless, time consuming product...BY DESIGN. Who does this kind of crap?

Jim

ScumOne, thank you for expressing your concern about the FA222DBK seat belt set. I've tested a set we have here under the same conditions and found it much easier to extend the belt than you've explained. We will happily take this back to compare and hopefully exchange for a properly functioning set.

Thank you!
Kyler @ Ames

That's a class move there Kyler... I'm sure the hobby appreciates this kind of support...I know I do.

Next time the support may be forthcoming before it goes online though.

Sadly, that's not how it happened in my case. After two denials from Ames & Seat Belts Plus, this thread led to some action. I've already removed the belts and sent them back to Ames yesterday via USPS PM. Hopefully they experience what we went through trying to use them.

Hopefully you'll have better luck with the new set. I put retractable 3 points in my Tempest and found that if the retractors were not mounted perfectly vertical they would lock up unnecessarily when trying to extend and retract. Mine were angled a little forward and that's all it took to cause a headache.

I discussed that possibility with the seat belts plus manager that called me. He said the angle of the retractor wasn't the issue. He said it should work at any angle. I thought I may need an extender bracket, or something to hold it in a certain place. He told me, no, that's just the design that you have to pull them out very slowly. He didn't think a 30-45 second pull on the seat belts was a problem...until I told him you had to do it 4-5 times before it wouldn't lock on you trying to stretch it far enough.

Then he told me to back to Ames and argue with them. Of course, since you can't find out it works like this until you mount them, and as soon as you mount them they are non-returnable.

That's kind of nice Catch-22 if I ever heard one.

23337YT What year Tempest and what belts? I was hoping to find some 3 point harnesses for my current 67 Tempest build.

My Tempest is a 1970. I purchased a 64-75 GM A-body retrofit kit from Andover Restraints (Andoauto.com) back in 2009. Their prices were reasonable and you could purchase from them directly. They still have a website but it wouldn't let me add anything to the cart. Their phone number is still active, but all the representatives were busy when I called. They wanted a message with a callback number. I'm glad I installed the 3 point retractables, I feel better when the wife or kids are in the car.

Looks like Andover has an e-bay page. I don't know how to make a link, but an eBay search "3 Point Retractable Lap Seat Belt With Shoulder Harness Set(2) Black Bucket Seat" pulls up basically the same set I installed, plain buckle, nothing fancy.

Thanks 23337YT

Many years ago I ordered 3 point retractables for my 68 FB from Classic Industries. A couple of years ago I got a set of 3 points from Morris Classic Concepts for my 66 Chevy II. Both work well.

I had the very same experience and conversation about a set that I put in a customer's 69 Camaro. I can verify he was right, no matter what angle the retractor is mounted at, the results are still crap. In the end, the customer said he would live with it. They also sell the same product under a different brand name.

There seems to be some disconnect with the seat belt maker and using these belts without it being a royal PITA. I think they need a reality check.

We've received Scumone's belts back here and have proceeded to test. We have found them to lock much quicker than what I had found while testing a new set on the shelf. Please keep in mind that this is a safety feature, none of the retractable belts will extend without resistance at a certain speed. We did find this new set satisfactory and much less finicky though. We'll get a new set out this afternoon.

Thanks!
Kyler @ Ames

Thanks very much for the update. Look forward to trying the new belts.

Jim

I received the new belts from Ames. Try them out next week at the shop my Bird is at. Fingers crossed!

I checked on my Bird today, the new seat belts work the way one would expect as demonstrated by the repair shop to me. What a relief! Thanks to Kyler at Ames for swapping out the defective belts for me!