Front Seatbelt Retractor Replacement Method and Tips

[VFR750]

Here is my Tech Article for how to replace the front seat belt retractor.

I could not easily find this info, and several people helped out, as expected. I thought I'd add to the discussion, with a post that might be easier to find the next time someone is looking for this information.

Search Key Words: seatbelt, front, retractor, side panel, replacement, seat belt,

Tips for Seat Belt Replacement, IMHO:

1) remove the seats. In general this means you have room to work without undo contortions. Plus, for me, I had to, to get the roll bar out.

2) unbolt the two, exposed seat belt anchors. The one on the lower sill, and the anchor mounted on the door frame by your shoulder.

3) Remove the back panel. I think it makes this job easier to do. There are (4) little screws that have to be removed and a tricky little clip, hidden behind the rear panel. It is in the middle of the panel, about 4" up from the bottom edge of the panel. You have to lift up on the panel in order to release the clip from the slot attached to the firewall. Then the whole rear panel can come out. If you have speakers mounted just be careful of the wires, they are thin and held to the firewall with tape.

4) Remove the upper trim cap. The one under the rear quarter window. Makes the job much easier. The leather trim is glued onto a galvanized metal trim piece. Hence, there might be a little bit of glue that sticks this trim to the side panel, and the rest of the body. After you undo the (3) screws, a 1" putty knife can be used to coax the trim off the car without bending it.

5) Lift up on the side panel to unhook the rear mounted clip. This clip has to go up quite a distance. I don't think I'd be able t do it if the upper trim cap had not been removed first. The front of the side panel slips into the gap between the door frame and the door frame trim. It's a snug, but not too tight fit.

6) Remove the plastic belt guide from the side panel. This is a clever split guide that lets the belt slip out of the guide. The split line faces outward when reinstalled.

7) Feed the belt, and associated anchors and latches through the hole in the panel, one at a time, so that is all ends up with the retractor.

8) Unbolt the retractor, and replace. This bolt is a 17mm hex, and there are no instructions for the torque value in the Bentley manual. I used the standard torque for a bolt with a 17mm hex. If someone has a specific value, recommended by Porsche please let us know.

9) Feed the new belt back through the hole in the panel, and reinstall the plastic guide into the panel.

10) Put the front edge of the side panel back into the gap between the frame and door trim, then slip the clip into the slot. You have to raise the back portion of the panel up a lot more then you think to get the tab to go back in. I slipped my fingers under the panel to feel the end of the clip relative to the slot. I think this is why the top trim cap has to come off. Once you know how far you have to raise the panel, you have to push it in the side of the car to compress the foam sound insulation. But one you get it in, you will know, because the panel will be snug against the car, and can't be pulled away.

11) At this point, reassemble in the reverse order. The rear panel will require the same upward lift to get the clip back into the slot.

12) You have to transfer the bolt and washers from the old shoulder anchor to the new anchor. My car had: (1) plastic washer under bolt head to anchor, (1) plastic and (1) metal washer between the anchor and the door frame. Plastic washer is adjacent to the anchor. Again, this is a 17mm hex on the bolt. No call out for torque in the Bentley Manual

Repost of my picture:

[Uwon]

Great write up. Thanks. I'll surely will refer to it as move the interior from my wreck to my project car. Cheers.....

[Lucymabel1]

Hi Mike. I read your instructions several times before starting my project. Replacement of my driver side seatbelt on my '82 911 SC was a snap thanks to you. However, I opted to leave seats installed. The whole project took less than an hour. Looks great, works great, and I never thought I could do it by myself. The pic you posted with labeled parts was extremely helpful. Thank you! Mandy