[DeTomaso] 3pt seat belt setups

asajay at asajay.com asajay at asajay.com
Fri Mar 23 16:19:43 EDT 2007


Um, I don't think so Jack.

When I first purchased my Pantera, the passenger seat belt would not  
retract.  A kind soul on this list donated a used set of belts that  
still worked.  I don't remember having to sew anything, and they  
didn't come pre-attached to any plates.

There is a small seat belt -funnel- that attaches to the larger plate.  
  Remove that and I believe there is a small slit in it so you can  
remove it from the belt.  Then, you -have- to remove the plate in  
order to get the clearance to remove the belt and buckle.  If you  
don't remove the plate, you can't get the buckle through (I don't  
think, but I could be wrong).

I chucked those little belt funnels years ago and trimmed the the  
larger hole in the plate with some alligator grommet.  The buckles do  
not fall through, but I'm sure you can get them through once you  
remove the plate and futz with the buckle.

It's driving me nuts, so you know I'll have to double check that when  
I get home.

This whole thing sounds like a good article for the newsletter.  Not  
that I'm volunteering.  :)


Asa Jay




Quoting JDeRyke at aol.com:

>  In a message dated 3/23/07 8 58 49, matt.bradley at tx.rr.com writes:
>
>
>
>  <I haven't looked inside the stock retractor well yet to see what it looks
> like in there.  I'm wondering how a replacement retractor would feed through
> the stock plate.  I'd think you'd have to be able to remove the belt from the
> new retractor, feed it through the stock plate hole, and then back into the
> retractor.  Am I thinking of that right? >
>
> The metal buckle won't fit thru the steel plate- if it did, there's the risk
> of a belt disappearing inside a rocker panel. To get around this problem from
> the other end as you suggest, I tried disassembling a retractor once  
>  to access
> the butt end of the belt, and I don't advise repeating it. Its really easy to
> screw up the flat-wound spring in the retractor that actually powers the
> retraction movement. This ribbon-spring is quite strong, its   
> unreasonably long,
> all the parts are cheap sheet-sheet staked together, so reassembly is a mess.
> Think about 'rebuilding' a tape measure!
> Finally, I got it to work but it wasn't worth the trouble (I simply wanted to
> change a damaged belt). Your choices are:  find a replacement assembly that
> fits, convert to racing belts with no retractor & more strength, or go to a
> pro-upholstery shop and have them sew in a new stock-type belt.  Good luck- J
> Deryke<BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> AOL now  
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