I recently had the pleasure of watching Jesse Grooms disassemble & reassemble a retractable seat belt and thought I would share.
I never really thought about doing this before and didn't even know you could...until I bought some belts that were missing the cover and disassembly was required to put a new cover on.
A little practice and it's an easy job. Hope this is helpful.
-peter

( I prefer to use scotch with jobs like this, but it's dealers choice.)


The first step is to get a small screwdriver and pop this little cap off.
WARNING...hold the cap in place and be prepared. It's spring loaded and will want to unwind quickly.
It's not very hard to cup it in your hand and control the spring unwinding.



Pull the cap off carefully and STRAIGHT UP...if that little straight tang in the center doesn't release from the slot in the dowel it will come undone from the cap
and you'll be rewinding it for 15 minutes(ask me how I know)



Next...place the retractor on some bards so you can drive the dowel out.





Unroll the belt and remove the clip with a small screw driver.



At this point you'll be able to slide the belt through the cover.



Position the bracket in the correct position for the cover.



Insert the plastic spool back in the loop and use some VG's to hold it tightly in place.



The clip is not very hard to pop back on...just make sure you get it oriented in the same position it was when you took it apart. (TAKE PICTURES BEFORE DISASSEMBLY!)



Wind up your belt and drive the dowel back into place.



So this is where there's a little practice needed. You're going to want to slide the straight tang in the center of the spring(in the cap) back over this slot in the dowel.



And then CAREFULLY wind the spring/cap 7 times until the little tabs in the cap align with the wholes in the bracket.
The cap should pop back in relatively easily. If not a few light taps with a hammer will work.



And Viola! You're done.

 

Scotch is key

 

Thanks for sharing! Well done. I went through this a couple of years ago, but did not think to photo and share the process. One thing to remember, if you are doing belts from both Driver and Passenger sides, the springs in the plastic cups, and therefore the "wind" direction of the belt on the spindle go in opposite directions. IIRC, the belt should unwind from the side of the spindle closest to the door. The color of the plastic caps will differ from one side of the vehicle to the other. Mine were black and ivory, but I've heard some, instead of ivory, are red, blue, or green. I think one side is always black, but the other side may vary. I guess it depends on which factory/manufacturer the parts were sourced from.

 

x2

 

Thanks for posting this information.

 

I have a couple of comments to add:

• Be careful when handling the spring as it can cut you fairly easily.
• When winding the spring back up, be sure to hold onto the cup securely. One of mine got away, the spring unsprung, and the cap was launched directly into the garage floor, where it shattered upon contact.

 

VERY good point. I just followed the original way that each side was originally rolled and followed that procedure in reverse and it all worked out.
But I really didn't even think about it. Just lucky I guess.

Also good advice. I didn't drop mine when it unsprung...but those spring ribbons shot out everywhere!
I ALWAYS where glasses in the garage...just for such a bone head move.

-petert