Seat Belt Rewebbing

Superman · 08-17-2003, 01:07 PM

There is a guy out there who is as cheap and stupid as I am. A guy who rewebs seat belts for our cars was nice enough to send me a couple of strips of the proper webbing (unique width), with a loop sewn in the end, ready for installation into the retracting mechanism. I have a couple of spare mechanisms that are not pressed together, but rather are held together with screws, so I should be able to take them apart.

Obviously, there is a spring in there. Does anyone know enough about what these things look like on the inside to advise me how to disassemble the mechanism so that the parts do not fly out, and so that I will be able to reassemble it with the correct amount of spring preload?

RoninLB · 08-17-2003, 02:37 PM

I had the rear panel off with the belt re-winder.. so I somehow jammed the belt into the winder and tried to open it up to fix it..

KaBoom. not sure what to do now? that spring must be 25ft long

Superman · 08-17-2003, 07:56 PM

Noah, there's a guy, in California of course, who rewebs them for a price. I'l have to look in the mags. I saw his ad in a magazine. I've had it a year or so. Life got in the way. I'll find his name and send you a PM or something. BTW, I just noticed how my remark sounds. He's probably thrifty like me, but he's probably not nearly as stupid. didn't mean that.

Superman · 08-18-2003, 08:28 AM

Bump.

Noel · 08-18-2003, 08:42 AM

I just replaced my driver's belt with a new Porsche part. I'll check to see if I through the old one out during my move. If not, I can take it apart and shoot some photos.

Noel

Superman · 08-18-2003, 08:53 AM

Thanks. I'm not surprized by Ron's input. I'd expect the spring to be a very long unit. I wonder if there's a way to slip the new webbing onto a center shaft without releasing the spring.

AirCooledExcellence · AirCooledExcellence's Garage

I tracked down a re-webbing firm in the UK, He asked me what car it was and how old the belt is, when I told him he said he wouldn't do it because the mechinism wears out and could become dangerous.

New Porsche belt cost about $150 and took about 1 hour to fit.

Cheers

EWPurdy · 08-18-2003, 11:03 AM

I just bought generic black retractable belt units from these folks:

http://www.andoauto.com/seat_belts.htm

The male belt connector will have to be removed and replaced with the Porsche one off my original belts, but hey, these are only $55 ea. and there's no messing with the internals of the retractor or its spring as with rewebbing.

wrx paul · 08-18-2003, 11:11 AM

I replaced the webbing on mine. Not intentional though. I had both sides go or I should say become lunch for a mouse.
So I ordered two used ones from some place out west and when I got them only one reel was usable. The other clicked and wouldn't retract so I had to swap the reels. I pulled the belt all the way out and shoved a small screwdriver in the slot. Then I worked the belt out enough to pull the small bar out. This lets you pull the belt out of the reel but getting the new one in is a pita. Put the bar back in the new one and let the screwdriver out to wind it up and thats it. Just a real big pain to do. Whatever you do, don't let the reel wind up without the belt on it.

Burnin' oil · 08-18-2003, 12:16 PM

Superman,

I took my retractors apart for kicks, thinking that I could improve the retraction force (which I couldn't). If you remove the screws, carefully pull the sides apart and slip your finger in between the halves, you might be able to hold the spring in place. If you don't do it properly, the spring will become a rat's nest in under one second. Fortunately, it isn't too difficult to untangle the mess and rewind the spring, which I ended up doing a number of times . . . Just be careful that the spring doesn't rip your fingers off.

ChrisBennet · ChrisBennet's Garage

Professionally Engineered Products (PEP) is the only German "seatbelt guy" I know of. I got my belts from him many years ago.
-Chris

Burnin' oil · 08-18-2003, 12:20 PM

EWPurdy,

Which belts did you order from Andoauto? Thanks.

EWPurdy · 08-18-2003, 01:14 PM

BO:

WS18B - Three point retractable in black without the female end.

Eric

emcon5 · emcon5's Garage

Whatever you do, wear safety glasses.

Tom

BradH · 08-18-2003, 01:37 PM

I bought mine from PEP for $140/ea. All new retractor, webbing and "male" end. I looked at having them re-webbed, but the cost/benefit just wasn't there. I'd rather have the piece of mind of new parts. It took maybe 45 minutes to install both front belts.

Cheers,

Brad
'83 SC Coupe

Superman · 08-18-2003, 02:53 PM

Thanks to all. Keep the comments coming if you have more. Here's a tip I can offer: Do not forget the plastic parts that hold the webbing proper as it slides through the bracket on the A-pillar. With the plastic pieces missing, the webbing will get eaten by the stress of sliding across the metal bracket cockeyed. And you'll need new belts.

RoninLB · 08-18-2003, 03:08 PM

I need to buy good used belts and retractors

Jump2xs · 08-18-2003, 03:27 PM

I too tried to open the retractor mechanisim to increase the tension. I assumed there was a long clock spring inside so I was very cautious but it still exploded in my face--fortunately I was not injured. I also tried to untangle it and reload it into the housiing to no avail--It just wouldn't work smoothly.
I gave up after 3 hours and 10 sore fingers and surrendered to: http://www.peparts.com
They fixed me up by selling me a new retractor and rewebbing using my original buckles. It was around 200 bucks--not cheap--but I was reluctant to use my old fraying belt on the new retractor. Oh, BTW this was on my 73.5
Regards and good luck

john70t · 08-18-2003, 07:26 PM

Saftey glasses, a couple big hose clamps/perpendicular visegrips and a bit of luck(?). Sounds nofun.

Glasgow 911SC · Glasgow 911SC's Garage

Eric (EWpurdy)

How did you attach the old male connector to the new blet without cutting th webbing? I bought new belts but the female part looks stupid (on a long stalk instead of flat bar) and would like to just use te new mechanism and belt.