My 4.5 year old just passed the height and weight requirement that moves her from a five point harness seat to a booster seat that uses the vehicles seatbelt. The booster seat that we have requires a shoulder harness which my 70 convertible does not have. Are there other styles of booster seats that work differently? Has any body else run into this? If so what did you do about it? My daughter loves the convertible Chevelle and I really need a safe and legal solution to this so she can continue riding along.
AJW

Target has them.

http://www.target.com/gp/search/602-0412282-2967047?field-keywords=booster+seats&url=index%3Dtarget&ref=sr_bx_1_1

just scroll down a few.

I read on this subject for three hours and still do not have a clear answer. I did find two seats on target.com from the above link that say they can be used with lap belts. However, after searching on child seat forums, I found where a so called "expert" who responded to a question about lap belt only use with one of the two seats I am referring to, who said "there are no booster seats that work with just a lap belt." With that, I ask again, to anybody with a 4-7ish year old who owns a Chevelle convertible, what are you doing for a booster seat??? Can you supply specific model number of the seat you have and how you have it secured, and the age of the child using it? I know that there are other convertible owners out there with small children. What are you doing booster?
AJW

I am not an expert,But the booster seats are for the shoulder type seat belt cars only because the belt sits at the wrong location on the body thats why you have to lift the childs body up so it sits at the shoulder. Its like riding in the front seat with an air bag car, the bag would hit the child in the fore head instead of the face impacting the bag. The old cars dont have the same restrictions of new "safer" cars.

AJW,

I have similar issues. I have two boys (6 and 3) that are in boosters. I am going to put 3 point seat belts in the rear of my '66. I am going junk yard searching for a set. Since I want to make it look kind of like they were originally installed, I will use the buckles from correct original seat belts. Just have to find good, sturdy mounting points for the retractors. Someone else on this site has done it but I forget who. I hope they chime in and give some details.


I also have a crazy idea for front 3 point belts. I am going to try to attach the reatractors inside the seats...kind of like my '03 Silverado. We'll see how it works.


None of the booster seats I have seen will work with lap belts.

Vince, be careful when using the seatback as an anchor point. Modern day seats with the seat belt anchored in the seat back do not fold forward like the seats in you 66, they are a solid frame with no hinge point. If you used the seat back in a vehicle like yours to anchor the seatbelt, it is very possible for the back to give way upon impact and defeat the purpose of even having a seat belt. Jb

www.thecarseatlady.com go to boosterseats from the left column. From there click on booster seats for lap belts pdf.

I wanted to update this thread to hopefully help anybody else with the same problem.
After many hours of searching the net, I finally found and purchased what I was looking for. A company called Sunshine Kids, makes a booster seat that will use a standard vehicle lap belt like the Chevelle has in the front, and specifically the back of my 70 convertible. It will fit a child up to 80lbs and I believe 53 inches tall. It is similar to car seats for toddlers, which have a five point harness built in. The difference is, this seat is specifically designed to handle bigger kids with the five point harness, which is currently a very uncommon design. The name of it is is Radian 80. Its not cheap, but you know what they say.
AJW

Thanks for the update.

I have had a time finding a seat too. Where does the Chevelle buckle connect? The one I have connects right behind the child's back. 1. I can't buckle it easily and 2. it is an uncomfortable lump. Unfortunately I have had my child sit in a booster only using the lap belt. Not the safest and maybe not 100% legal but at least she is belted.

What is the name of the seat you bought?

The one I have connects right behind the child's back. 1. I can't buckle it easily and

I had a similiar problem with my rear facing baby seat. The buckle was right in the middle of the base, and the seat wouldn't clip in. Luckily my belts are not stock (air plane style) and was adjustable. I let out the male end 6 inches, and took in the female clip so that it was right at the base of the seat. Much easier to clip and it works for now.

The seat is made by Sunshine Kids. The name/model is the "Radian 80". The Chevelle's rear seat lap belt buckle does fall behind the child's back, in my application (70 Chevelle conv). The Radian 80 has a pretty thick padding between the car seat belt slot and the child's back, and I could barely feel a lump when I pushed on it. I never told my daughter about it, and she never complained, and she has complained about the exact same thing with one of our other car seats. You can easily get it unbuckled even when its in the middle, because the padding has a velcro strip, that allows the cover to be slid to the side for access. We just completed the 700 mile round trip to Chevellabration with no problems. My 5 year old even fell asleep for 2.5 hours on the way home. This is a very high quality seat and I can't say enough good things about it. I wish I would have known about it when my daughter was a baby.
AJW

Are there infant seats that can go in the back seat of a convertible? We've still got a few months before the baby is born, but I want to be prepared.

Thanks for the info. The seats are definitely not cheap. For little ones it is a small price to pay.

I have twins (now 10) but ran into the same issues with having only lap belts in the rear of my ’66. My suggestion is to add shoulder belts today. You’ll have a wider section of car seats that use shoulder belts. When the kids move to just a booster seat (basically a padded platform for them to sit on) you will need the shoulder belt then and after the booster seat you’ll want them strapped in with a shoulder belt. My car is a hardtop, but used the factory convertible seatbelt fastening locations. Many vendors sell aftermarket seat belts. I measured the length I needed and ordered them from the link below.

http://www.andoauto.com/

Where exactly IS the factory mount for a rear seat belt if you want to have a 3 point set up?