jimk

My '96 Olds 88 bit the dust, (blew a hole in the piston, according to a shop mechanic in Billings), so I'm back working on the door latch of my 91 Cutlass Supreme (what a pain!) for the driver's door again. The problem was a broken (from age) plastic linkage clip, but the whole mechanism had to be removed - requiring an oversized pop-rivet tool purchase. I've got the mechanism back into the door, but over time, the seat belts have retracted so much that I can't re-attach them to the door. I've got the shop manuals for the 91 Cutlass Supreme, but there is no information as to how to release the locks on the belt retractors so that I can get them hooked up again!

NOTE: They are wound so tight that there's absolutely no slack to back them off and release the locking mechanism, so I'm at a loss as to how to finish putting the door back together and having seat belts.

I'm without a car until I get this fixed, but I do have a mini-pickup for run-around and parts pickups.
Any help would be appreciated.
TIA
jimk

CRUZN 66

Are you trying to install the seat belts with the top point still attached to the door???
From past experience, if the seat belt mechanism is not in exactly the correct mounting position the internal lock will not release... Sometimes by holding the retractor mechanism in various positions while pulling on the belt with an up/down motion it will release... It is possible the lock is jammed with the belt material or the belt overlapped upon retraction and won't allow any motion to release the lock...

jimk

Thanks for the advice - I didn't have to remove the belts from the top of the door, but I found that by removing the plastic covering on the seat-belt spool, there is a lever to release the tension so that you can pull the belt out and be able to re-attach the belts to their proper position prior to re-installing everything else so as to put it all back together again.

I put it all back together again,(except for the inside decor/covering) testing the door latches each step to make sure I could still open the door from the inside and out, and the next morning I couldn't open the door from the inside or out! I ended up bending the door latch system, drilling some holes in the door frame, and finally finding a way to trip the door latch and open the door. (Once the latch system is riveted in place and screwed to the door frame, the screws are not accessible unless you can open the door - what a screwed-up way to install a door latch!). Anyways, after bending up the latching/door handle plate, I had to figure out another way to open the door from inside and out. so now I have a DIY/Redneck door opening system which works from the inside and from the outside. I'm a Montana Redneck, so it wasn't too hard to figure out how to do that, using the old latch, a couple of pieces of old linkage, some clamps, etc. I'm not into restoration, I just need something that will work and be legal!

NOW, to get this thing running ------ the gas was in the tank since 2013 and I added 5 gallons of fresh gas, but now I guess the shellac has clogged up the fuel system. I put in a new filter after pouring in a full can of SeaFoam, but it still won't start. I'm assuming the injectors are clogged and so my next project is to figure out a way to unclog the injectors without tearing the whole engine apart. Whew, how many trials do I have to go thru to get this pig running again?

I'm as ignorant of these 'new' fuel injection systems as I am of computers - another disadvantage of advancing age!