Oliver:
I rebuilt the retractors myself (it is very easy) and had the
belts rewebbed for $60. One catch, I had to disassemble and reassemble
the belts myself for the rewebbing. Apparently everyone is paranoid
about rebuilding seatbelts because of liability concerns, so they either
refuse or charge outrageous prices. I went to a couple places and they
all had lame excuses - "Too many returns for failure to retract", "I
can't get parts", "I'm busy, but will do it for a bazillion dollars",
etc.
I tore mine down (ordinary hand tools will suffice) but do it
carefully to avoid having the spring pop out. If it does come loose, you
can rewind it by hand which is tedious but very straight forward. I
painted the holders using hammered silver paint. I cleaned and oiled
everything inside, and found one belt had its inertial lock jammed by
rust. This would have let me sail through the windshield in an accident.
Yikes! A little derusting with naval jelly and it was good to go. The
mechanism inside ain't rocket science - if an idiot like me can do it,
anyone can.
In the meantime, I dropped off the webbing at British Auto Works
and they had them rewebbed for me. It is cheap when the shop can point
to you as the person who assembled them when the attorneys start looking
for someone to sue. If the guts are toast, you can buy cores from BAW
and salvage parts as needed. I am sure that if you only want the web
replaced and the belt is already disassembled, any auto upholstery shop
will do it.
Just my experience,
Vance
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-6pack@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-6pack@autox.team.net] On
Behalf Of oliver
Sent: January 05, 2006 4:41 AM
To: 6pack@autox.team.net
Subject: seat belts fyi
i had wanted to repair my seat belts on my 72 TR6, so i sent them to
www.ssnake-oyl.com
they wanted $300+ just to replace the webbing. they would not/could not
repair the retractors.
i guess i'm going shopping for seat belts with a vintage look . . .
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