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74 rear shoulder belt retractor

Posted: 10/29/15 1:04pmMessage 1 of 4

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danascar

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Germansville, PA - USA

Joined: 1/28/2010

Posts: 865

Vette(s): 1974 Coupe 358ci 4 speed Black w/Medium Saddle interior w/79 custom leather seats. . 1999 C5 Convertible, 6 speed, Atomic orange, Oak interior.

Dummy me took notice to a twist in the shoulder portion of the passenger side seat belt and not remembering that there were clips holding retractor from pulling belt in I unbolted the retractor from the wheel well and it sucked the belt in and now I can't get it pulled back out. There must be a way to release the retractor to pull the belt back out to be able to be bolted back down to the wheel well...anybody run into this before and figure out how to release belt??

DanT

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Re: 74 rear shoulder belt retractor

Posted: 10/29/15 3:32pmMessage 2 of 4

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Adams' Apple

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Duncanville, TX - USA

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Vette(s): #1-1974 L-48 4spd Cp Med Red Metallic/Black deluxe int w/AC/tilt/tele./p/w-p/b/ Am-Fm/map light National/Regional/Chapter NCRS "Top Flight" #2-1985 Bright Red/Carmine Cp.L-98/auto Member: NCRS, NCRS Texas, Corvette Legends of Texas

The shoulder belts are the "Inertial" type devices. There is a weight on them that swings forward under hard braking to lock them, otherwise they are free-wheeling. You should be able to tilt the retractor up(where the belt comes out) and get it to roll out, assuming that it is in the locked position. You may have to try it up/down/sideways to get the weight to move. Just pull gently on on the belt.
The seatbelt retractors under the seats are ratcheting....they will lock if you try to pull them out too quickly. Those require a small screwdriver/awl to reach into and release the ratchet if it is stuck.
hth Big smile

|UPDATED|10/29/2015 3:32:25 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

Joel Adams
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Re: 74 rear shoulder belt retractor

Posted: 10/30/15 12:09pmMessage 3 of 4

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danascar

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Germansville, PA - USA

Joined: 1/28/2010

Posts: 865

Vette(s): 1974 Coupe 358ci 4 speed Black w/Medium Saddle interior w/79 custom leather seats. . 1999 C5 Convertible, 6 speed, Atomic orange, Oak interior.

Adams' Apple said: The shoulder belts are the "Inertial" type devices. There is a weight on them that swings forward under hard braking to lock them, otherwise they are free-wheeling. You should be able to tilt the retractor up(where the belt comes out) and get it to roll out, assuming that it is in the locked position. You may have to try it up/down/sideways to get the weight to move. Just pull gently on on the belt.
The seatbelt retractors under the seats are ratcheting....they will lock if you try to pull them out too quickly. Those require a small screwdriver/awl to reach into and release the ratchet if it is stuck.
hth Big smile

That's exactly how I freed the retractor up. Found installation instructions and it said they are dependent being level to operate properly. Put the retractor on a level piece of cardboard and repeatedly pulled belt a few times and it released.