As my seat belt was not retracting on my 73 I decided to take the cover off to look at the spring..mistake. I spent the next 2 or so hours trying to get it rewound. I obviously did not wind it correctly becuase it does not retract at all now. Can anybody describe how to wind the spring, wheather it should be tight or loose when the belt is completly wound up on the reel. My passenger side works fine but I'm to much of a chicken to take the cover off of it for fear of the same.
Thanks in advance for your help,
James B.
Dallas Tx. 73 2.0

you're so out of luck. i don't know of anybody who was ever able to get those back together and work right ...

Andy

QUOTE (SirAndy @ Jun 17 2005, 09:56 PM)

you're so out of luck. i don't know of anybody who was ever able to get those back together and work right ... Andy

new ones are available, or you can get a used one in the WTB... or get 944 belts and mod them to work...

rootwerx has done it.

but your its a bitch

I made the mistake of taking one apart ignoring someone's wise wisdom not to do it. The spring nearly decapitated me when it exploded. Holy cow, I don't recommend anyone taking them apart without Kevlar protection and a faceshield!!

SirAndy, I did manage to put it back together and it worked perfectly!!

Jarclay, it was so many years ago that I did it. Here's what I remember;

To adjust the tension you have to remove the belt webbing from the seatbelt (you proably already know how to do this) and use two screwdrivers to "wind" the spring by putting one screwdriver into the belt slot and turn the reel rod to tension the spring. The second screwdriver holds the reel-rod from winding back up while you move the first screwdriver to the other side of the slot to tension again. This takes a while as you're only winding the spring 1/2 turn at a time. At some point you won't be able to tension the spring anymore - it will be completely wound on the shaft. If at any point your screwdriver slips off the reel rod the spring will wind back up and you'll have to start all over. Carefully put the webbing back onto the reel and your seatbelt should retract now.

** Again, this is all from memory, the last time I did this was several years ago. So this may not be 100% accurate.

QUOTE (SirAndy @ Jun 17 2005, 06:56 PM)

you're so out of luck. i don't know of anybody who was ever able to get those back together and work right ... Andy

I've done it. I know Dave Darling has done it too. It was 1992 when I did it so I only remember two things - I got it working again, and I had lots of cuts on my hands. Sorry I'm not more help.

-Ben M.

ps - I think I remember something about using a heavy feeler-guage or hack-saw blade to hold the spring flat while I pushed the case-halves together and then sliding it out from between them. Or something like that. Sorry.

I have a couple of spares for the cost of shipping. I don't think they retract very well, but they're not SPRUNG!!