Installing Shoulder Belts in 1966 Gladiator

[Raydar]

I'm planning on installing shoulder belts in my '66 Gladiator, but the mounting point on the b pillar seems a bit flimsy. There's nothing there but sheet metal. The Gladiator didn't come with shoulder belts in 1966, so I'm wondering if the mounting area was reinforced when Jeep began installing them in 1968. If anyone knows the answer to this please let me know. Also, if anyone has reinforced the b pillar to mount a shoulder belt, how did you do it?

Thanks

[rocklaurence]

I put a '76 Brow roof on my '81 J10 and had to add support material in the side pillar to attach the Shoulder belt. The area in that corner is empty. What I did: I cut that inside panel out from behind the door to the corner [its easier and cleaner to replace the panel/cover with one piece of sheet metal when finished]. Then I added one 10ga square tube inside the panel area attaching to the rear of the door frame to the corner at the height needed for the belt mount. Weld a 1/2 nut to the 10ga tube where its needed for the belt attachment. Lastly, cover the area with a sheet of 16ga sheet making sure to spot weld the 10ga tube into the sheet cover. If your afraid that the mount may pull out in a crash, tack an additional plate over the nut before covering it with the plate.

[twisted frame]

I'm doing this same thing soon. Thanks for the tips, rocklaurence.