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Sun Apr 27, 2008 6:57 am

I have a 73 Ghia with the stock seat belts. The problem is the getting the belts to come out to buckle. The locking portion of the retractor, which locks the belt in an accident, keeps engaging, requiring about 10 attempts before you get enough belt to buckle. Does anyone know how to fix this problem?

Thanks,
Steve

Sun Apr 27, 2008 7:16 am

The lock mechanism works off of a centrifical type weight which engages the lock when there is a sudden stop. I wouldnt try to take it apart.
Last time I did that there was an explosion of about 10 miles of copper coil which flies out one thelast screw is removed. I spent a good hour carefully winding it back up in a vise. Are the retractors tightly mounted at the floor and pointing upright? Not sure if cleaning the belts would help or maybe try winding them out and rolling them back up tightly to remove any slack. They do sell brand new ones which wouldnt be a bad idea for a car that age. Even if it affects the originallity of the car I wouldnt think many purists could knock you for upgrading on safety. :lol:

Sun Apr 27, 2008 3:55 pm

I have had some success shooting some WD-40 in the mechanism. You may want to give it a try.

Mon Apr 28, 2008 1:30 am

They are complex mechanisms, but there are a couple of tricks. When you take the retractor out of the plastic housing, you will see two plastic end caps on the retractor, held in place by three screws. HOLD THE CAP FIRMLY IN PLACE WHILE REMOVING THE SCREWS! Carefully allow the cap to rotate to release the spring pressure, counting how many turns it makes.

Rather than rewind the springs in a vise, assemble the entire mechanism minus the end caps. Retract the belt fully into the retractor, then put the end cap on, minus the screws. Twist the end cap the appropriate number of turns and reinstall the screws. You have to be very careful to put the right springs on each end of the shaft and wind them in the correct direction, since they are mirror-images of each other. Pay close attention when you disassemble it...I took digital photos so I would know I got it right.

The most common problem is the slot that is cut in the center of the retainer shaft to hold the coil spring breaking, releasing the spring pressure. I had to disassemble several sets of 67-only seat belts to get enough good parts to rebuild a set.

Mon Apr 28, 2008 7:10 am

Somewhere on this interweb thingy, there was a link
to a procedure for this retractor repair.
IIRC, it involved just giving the entire unit a good
soaking/wash in a bucket filled with water/detergent mixture
(using Dawn or similar type detergent). It loosens decades
of crud inside and then you use compressed air to clean it out.
Air dry everything before re-install.

Sounds OK, but haven't tried it yet. :-k
Trouble is, you're still dealing with a seatbelt unit that's
30 (+ or -) years old.

Wed Apr 17, 2013 8:14 pm

Ghiaddict wrote: Somewhere on this interweb thingy, there was a link
to a procedure for this retractor repair.
IIRC, it involved just giving the entire unit a good
soaking/wash in a bucket filled with water/detergent mixture
(using Dawn or similar type detergent). It loosens decades
of crud inside and then you use compressed air to clean it out.
Air dry everything before re-install.

Sounds OK, but haven't tried it yet. :-k
Trouble is, you're still dealing with a seatbelt unit that's
30 (+ or -) years old.
This worked perfectly for me. Soaked about 10 minutes and everything loosend up.

Thu Apr 18, 2013 9:22 pm

Quote: Trouble is, you're still dealing with a seatbelt unit that's
30 (+ or -) years old.

and the belt material that old will not be up to the task.

Lookadis..................

http://www.wescoperformance.com/

He has most colors in stock in lap retractor assemblies or three point belt retractors..................
A lot of information on their website with v.g. pricing.

Wed Sep 02, 2020 6:19 pm

I have not found how to remove the seat belt retractor to repair it. ; 74 Vert. it will not fit under the panels where it's mounted. I gave up and re installed with the bolt on the outside of the panel. Fair amount of contortion required to get it back up there in position. Any clues? Thanks

Fri Sep 04, 2020 6:25 pm

I’ve taken apart a 73 retractor completely and rebuilt it. I think I’ve posted in the 68-on forum.

I extended the belt fully. The belt is inserted thru a slot in the roller axis and held in place be a metal bar inserted into a loop at the end of the belt which prevents it from pulling out of the roller.

With the belt fully extended, i inserted a thin screwdriver thru the roller slot to prevent it from rotating back. Then pulled out the belt by removing metal bar.

Soaked the belt and washed years of grime on it.

Btw, the thin plastic cover hides the spring - don’t remove it. The fatter side covers the locking mech, you can open and clean it and also study how it works.

Once belt is clean and dry, reinsert in the same direction into the slot, insert metal bar and remove the screwdriver, the spring will cause the roller to roll up the belt.

Pics are in my gallery.

Sat Oct 30, 2021 10:08 am

Old thread but same problem...

Recently had my OG seat belts rewebbed (40+ yr old belt material was slightly stiff).

Not knowing the complexity of a seat belt retractor I started to clean everything up. Made the mistake to partially unscrew the thin side of the retractor when I heard the coiled spring unwind (I didn't remove the cover so luckily no flying spring).

I think one anchor point for the coiled spring came out.

Can I fix this or is there a Sambanista that can do this work?

Thanks!

Sun Oct 31, 2021 7:33 pm

It can be fixed. I’ve rewound the coil spring. It’s not complex. Just needs patience and a few tries to get it back to the appropriate tension.

I’ll either post instructions or a video as I need to restore a set for a friend.

Byas

Mon Nov 01, 2021 6:06 am

Haha, yep, patience and safety glasses!

Mon Nov 01, 2021 7:56 am

On my 1974 BMW Tii, I accidentally let the spring get loose. After patiently rewinding it and reinstalling it, I needed to get the pre-tensioning right. Back then I used trial and error to do that.

Today as I restored a retractor I counted the number of turns on the belt. So, if the spring is completely untensioned, then I would start by turning (pre-tensioning) the belt spindle (the belt is removed at this point) until I just start feeling some tension. Then wind it up another 13.5 turns (that's what I counted on the reel today). Insert belt and see if the retractor spools up as it should. If not increase pre-tension a bit more.

While you have the belt out, wash it out well. A clean belt will spool up much better.