Seat Belt Safety

[Lacranora]

So put new belts in the 73 camper special, problem is the driver side seat belt bolt&nut don't seem to be right.
The nut sits just above the gas tank. When I say its close, it is close. I can fold a piece of paper and put it between the bottom of the nut and the top of the tank.

Is this right & safe?

I am worried that bouncing around in the truck will pinch the top of the tank and well I'll go boom.
Shorter bolt does not work as there is not enough room for the nut to fit on. The old bolt that I removed had no nut on it, but it also was not tighten down all the way.

So, what to do?

[1979C20]

You could get a flat "weld nut" its an oval shape with threads in the center. And a bolt just long enoigh to go through the nut.

[Lacranora]

Honestly the nut and bolt combo I have now just edges out of the hole. I can get about 4 turns on the nut before it is tight.
This is my reserve tank which the pump is shot in it anyway, I am thinking just removing the tank, but that might be  a bit extreme.

[1979C20]

could you do it backwards and put the nut up from the bottom and nut on top?

[Captkaos]

Are you putting the factory bolt back in there?  Everything else factory, if so I have never even looked at one, I just put it back in and go.  It isn't going to move.

[HAULIN IT]

Are you talking about a regular nut...as in you basically need Two people to remove/install the seatbelts (one person on the top & one underneath holding the nut with a wrench? If so, that isn't factory. The bolt should go through a square block of steel with a threaded hole welded to the bottom of the floorpan. Only one person/tool should be needed to remove the bolt. Maybe the threads in the original block got stripped?
What is the condition of the rear cab bushings? Lorne