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FD Seat Belt Tongues - interchangable with any other cars?
Long story short, I'm planning to send out my seat belts to get them restored with new webbing. Also thinking of doing the tan-to-black color change in the process. The catch is the tan seat belt tongue - all the vendors that do this service say they can't (or won't) get the tongues for me in a different color, so I'd either have to: (1) Refinish them in black myself OR (2) Find a black tongue for them to use. If you're wondering what the hell a seat belt tongue is, here's a picture of the part I'm talking about.
So my first thought was I might have some luck finding a compatible black seat belt tongue from another car at the local pick & pull yard, thinking maybe a more common Mazda from the '90s (i.e., Protege, 626, etc.) would be compatible. Spent a morning rummaging thru every Asian, American & European car in the yard and comparing it to the pictured FD tongue and found ZERO matches that would be mechanically compatible, which was kind of surprising. Part of the problem may be that the oldest cars in the yard were from the late '90s/early 2000's era, versus early '90s like my FD. Seat belts, airbags and safety gear was frequently changing throughout that era.
Does anyone happen to know of a specific make/model/year car that has seat belt tongues that are interchangeable with our FDs?
Refinishing the tongue probably won't hold up well, as it is a high touch/high usage part - I think the paint would wear thru eventually. Otherwise, the only way to get these parts is to buy a used belt assembly, which usually isn't cheap. Haven't asked Ray yet, but I'm guessing Mazda won't sell you just the tongue - it would come as part of the complete belt assembly instead.
Not certain if seatbelt tongues are the same but a lot of bits from the 2nd Gen Ford Probes are Interchangeable with the FD. Odd stuff like cowl screw covers, hood prop retainers and even the anchors for the hatch cover ropes are the same. So you might get lucky. They made a bazillion of them but often overlooked because they’re we’re badged as Fords but made by MAZDA...they’re usually in a different section of the salvage yards.
Did a Google image search and it looks like the 90's Miata has a VERY similar seat belt tongue. Those should be a dime a dozen to get and not too hard to find in black.
Yeah, I think the cars that are in the date range you need are no longer at the junkyard! Funny when you see early 2000's cars and realize that those are now old cars!
After repeatedly striking out trying to find compatible black seat belt tongues at the local pick & pull yard, I found another way to acquire this part - Ebay!
Turns out there are a multitude of vendors out there that sell "seat belt extenders" for those of larger girth. So after finding a vendor that is based/made in the USA and meets relevant DOT safety standards, I purchased a pair, with the intent of harvesting the tongue part and tossing the rest. Cost me $17 shipped. Here's a picture of what I got next to the OEM seat belt tongue for comparison:
As you can see, the OEM tongue is slightly wider than this tongue, but when testing it by buckling it into the receiver buckle on my FD seats, it fits with no drama. It latches & locks securely, with zero in & out slack just like the OEM part. Since it's not quite as wide as the OEM part, there is a little bit more rotational/side-to-side play than the OEM part when buckled, but it's not enough play to be concerned about. Besides, if you look at the OEM buckle receiver, the only thing limiting that rotational/side-to-side motion is the plastic trim around the buckle receiver, which was never intended to be structural. So I think these will be safe, and am not concerned sending them in with my old tan seat belts for new black webbing & restoration.
BTW, according to Ebay, these are supposed to fit a '93 RX7, but that is only partially true - if I were buying these for their intended purpose, I'd be sending them back. Turns out the OEM seat belt tongue won't fit into the buckle side of their product, so if you were an obese guy hoping to use these to buckle into your FD, you're SOL
The '93s had different passenger and driver's side tongues, and the '94s made them the same. I think it may be with the air bags or something since '94s have passenger air bags.
Regardless sounds like you've got that problem licked!
The '93s had different passenger and driver's side tongues, and the '94s made them the same. I think it may be with the air bags or something since '94s have passenger air bags.
Regardless sounds like you've got that problem licked!
Dale
Fun fact: JDM Rx7’s, regardless of passenger air bag, still had a standard belt buckle on the passenger side.
I wonder if the rear seat belt buckles would work in the front receivers? I bet you could find a cheap set of rear seat belts and just steal the tongues too.
07-01-20, 08:54 PM
