Dyeing Seat Belts

[1970 CST]

Nasty weather in the Northeast this time of year but I can't not not work on the truck in some way. So I decided that my seat and seat belts were a good option to tackle. I picked my very faded red seat belts to go first. After reading every thread on here that I could find I felt like it would be fairly straight forward. Pretty happy with the way they turned out. I may have gone a little dark? I used RIT Scarlet Red, kept the water temp at 150* and let them soak for 1 hour. Before and after pictures below.

[TKCR]

They look good. That’s the only bad thing about using RIT, it’s a big guess on what color to use. And if it doesn’t mix well with the current color, it’s hard to get an exact match.
I restore belts myself, but I use spray dye. And the colors are an exact match to the OEM color. But I’m doing 73-87 belts, and the colors are readily available. I’m also able to do the plastic portions of the seatbelts, with the spray dye. And you can new Emblems also.
I have a link on my Signature below, if you like to look.

[1970 CST]

TKCR,
Very impressive work you do. This was my first venture into the process. I looked at aftermarkeet seat belts and didn't find anything that I liked. Figured I didn't have anything to lose. If I ever get into a later model truck I'll be sending you the belts.
Terry

[tim_mc]

Very nice work from both of you.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by 1970 CST

TKCR,
Very impressive work you do. This was my first venture into the process. I looked at aftermarkeet seat belts and didn't find anything that I liked. Figured I didn't have anything to lose. If I ever get into a later model truck I'll be sending you the belts.
Terry

Thank you, and you did pretty darn good for you first venture. You have more guts than I do when it comes to using liquid dye, like RIT. It can be surprising on what the colors can do, lol. And I mean that in a way, of something that wasn’t expected happens. And also, using the RIT, all of the belt can’t be put down in the bucket, like the mechanisms. They are not meant to get wet.
And I agree with the aftermarket belts, they are not ever appealing. One of the biggest reasons why I started restoring our belts.

[Ol Blue K20]

They look great! Both of you got great results.

[Thealien]

I am not trying to hijack this thread but I made a detailed post a long time ago regarding our generation seat belts. I hope it helps someone trying to work on theirs.

HOW TO DISASSEMBLE AND REASSEMBLE YOUR SEAT BELTS

[1970 CST]

Thealien,
I read your tutorial before I dedided to do my belts. Your post was the reason I decided I should try and do it. It is posts like yours on this site that really help me and a lot of others I'm sure.
Terry

[Thealien]

Originally Posted by 1970 CST

Thealien,
I read your tutorial before I dedided to do my belts. Your post was the reason I decided I should try and do it. It is posts like yours on this site that really help me and a lot of others I'm sure.
Terry

So many have helped me with answers, advice, and parts over the years it’s the least I can do for the great members of this site.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by Thealien

I am not trying to hijack this thread but I made a detailed post a long time ago regarding our generation seat belts. I hope it helps someone trying to work on theirs.

HOW TO DISASSEMBLE AND REASSEMBLE YOUR SEAT BELTS

I went and looked, and subscribed. I’ve done a few of these older style belts, but this will help me on the retractor end of it.
Thanks

[special-K]

How do you not dye the tag?

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by special-K

How do you not dye the tag?

I haven’t even used the RIT dye, but I would assume the tag being made out the material that it is, it probably doesn’t take the dye.
The dye I use, I mask off the tag.

[1970 CST]

The dye didn't stick to the tag. When I first started dyeing them I held the tags out of the water. Unfortunately I knocked them off the hanger and they fell in. I thought oh well not a big deal. When I took them out they were still white so I got lucky.

[1970 CST]

TKCR,
Do you think that the Carmine Red dye that USA1 sells would be a good match for my plastic seat belt parts?

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by 1970 CST

TKCR,
Do you think that the Carmine Red dye that USA1 sells would be a good match for my plastic seat belt parts?

I can’t say I’m that knowledgeable when it comes to the 67-72 colors. I made paint samples for the 73-87 colors, comparing the different shades of Reds. USA1 Industries is where I get my dye. And do you know if your Red is the Bright Red or Dark Red? I would guess yours is Bright. I do have a sample cloth of the Dark Red, so if you do have dark red, then I can compare my paint sample to the cloth I have.
So here’s what I can show you.

[1970 CST]

I would say Bright Red is what I have in my truck. Looking at the samples you have I don't think I could go wrong with the Carmine Red. I will order a can from USA1 and test it. Thanks for your help.

[Joyridin]

Wow...those look good! I probably should have dyed and sold my red ones instead of throwing them in the trash a few weeks ago.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by Joyridin

Wow...those look good! I probably should have dyed and sold my red ones instead of throwing them in the trash a few weeks ago.

Seriously?

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by 1970 CST

I would say Bright Red is what I have in my truck. Looking at the samples you have I don't think I could go wrong with the Carmine Red. I will order a can from USA1 and test it. Thanks for your help.

If it’s Bright Red, yes I would say the 81-83 CarmineRed would work. Here’s a picture of the garnish on the seat.

[Joyridin]

Originally Posted by TKCR

Seriously?

Oh heck yeah. Belts, dash pad, sun visors, and a whole slew of other stuff.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by Joyridin

Oh heck yeah. Belts, dash pad, sun visors, and a whole slew of other stuff.

That’s a shame. With the seatbelts, since I restore them, I try and save whatever I can. If anything just to use for parts.

[Joyridin]

Originally Posted by TKCR

That’s a shame. With the seatbelts, since I restore them, I try and save whatever I can. If anything just to use for parts.

Well, I am sure you know the issues with attempting to sell stuff anymore. 100 people contact you and ask a myriad of questions. 50 of them say they want it. 25 of those offer you less than what it would take to ship them. Of the 25 left, 15 say they will get back with you, and the last 10 say they will come and get them and never show. So that was about 2 days worth of emails etc and the belts are still sitting here. Oh..and then there is the new issue of receiving payments via Paypal and taxes.

So unfortunately, in the trash they went. Sorry!

[dmjlambert]

I haven't encountered that when I sell stuff here on this forum.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by dmjlambert

I haven't encountered that when I sell stuff here on this forum.

I haven’t either. Now I do on MarketPlace, but I try to keep that at a minimum because of that reason. People can be rude and annoying on the MarketPlace.

[LT7A]

I think it's great that that got mentioned here. I can totally understand that frustration. Hopefully, this is a place we can talk about things that we want to get rid of, and I'll bet a good percentage of the time there would be a member close by that would be willing to come take that stuff to keep it from getting tossed.

Great work on the dye job and you can see why we value TKCR highly over in squareland.