New front seatbelt retractor locked

[bweiss1]

Hello
I am replacing my front seatbelt and bought a new one from Porsche for my 87 911. It arrived with the seatbelt retractor locked so I cannot extract enough belt to install it. Any ideas on how to fix this, short of sending it back and starting all over again.
So frustrated about what should be a simple replacement.

TIA
Brian

[Harpo]

Good afternoon bweiss1,

There is an pendulum inside that when held in the wrong orientation will lock up. You need to hold it in the in car position and gently pull on the webbing. It just take a little finess

[group911@aol.co]

What Harpo said. You need to hold it perfectly vertical and gently and slowly pull on it. Pull too fast and it locks up

Originally Posted by bweiss1

Hello
I am replacing my front seatbelt and bought a new one from Porsche for my 87 911. It arrived with the seatbelt retractor locked so I cannot extract enough belt to install it. Any ideas on how to fix this, short of sending it back and starting all over again.
So frustrated about what should be a simple replacement.

TIA
Brian

[bweiss1]

I did try holding it in the correct direction and pulling with no change. Ended up putting vice grips on the pendulum piece and then repeated the gentle pressure and it finally started working. Now locks and unlocks as it should. Thanks all for the advice and hope you have a great week.