My 72 VC has only 2 rows of seats, and the 2nd row seems to only have 2 sets of belts. From another thread, someone said the 2nd row doesn't have retractors, but mine does. Neither works, and only on a good day am I able to pull the belt out. Usually they grab tight, not extending, and won't do anything BUT retract.

Is my model supposed to have retractors? If so, is it fairly simple to repair them so that they release properly? I've opened some retractors and they just explode on me.

And finally, if I wanted to find replacements, what cars would I be looking to get belts from? Both the retractors and the fixed belts that presumably are missing from the middle. It would be handy if they crossed over to several models.

Thanks,

John

p.s. lots of questions from me over the last few days because I took the family, including my 93 year old dad on a 250 mile road trip over the weekend and these little things started to become issues with my wife and kids in the back.

 

John,
I would remove the second row seat and look to see if there are anchor locations for the center seat belts before anything else. The belts could very well have fallen down between the seat and upright over time and they may be hiding under the seat. I've seen that happen before.

 

Your car had belts for six passengers when it left the factory. This was federal law, so there's no fuzz on that. Likely the missing belts got pushed through the gap between the seatback and bottom, so look behind or under the seat.

 

From what I have learned, rear seat retractor belts were an option in 1972.
Many years ago I looked for a set for my car, I even had the model number for the retractor belts, but I finally gave up as apparently they aren't very plentiful.

As for which vehicles to get replacements from, I would suppose any 68-72 A Body for starters as those should all have the same mounting style. I don't know if 73 or later mount the same.

 

Kenneth, I would suggest that rear seat retractors were available because otherwise the side seatbelts would flop either on the side or out the door. I would like to hear from owners of sedans, as they likely have exactly the same setup as a VC

To support Joe's statement earlier, and for the OPs benefit, this is an excerpt from the 72 SPECS booklet showing the 6 seatbelts standard, and option for third seat.

 

The belt number I had came from a 2 door Cutlass, so no concerns about rear seat belts falling out the door.

 

I would hope not

 

Thanks for the good info (particularly the image of the SPECS booklet, pretty cool), sorry for the slow follow up. It's been a busy end to the summer. Looks like the male connector on the middle belt is missing - just a loose belt with nothing on the end of it was tucked under the seat. I'm still looking for tips on getting the outer retractors working again. Neither will extend out of the retractor more than half an inch or so. Very occasionally it will let loose. Most of the problems I've read on the forums are with retractors that don't retract. These are the opposite problem. Any tips? I haven't taken them out of the car yet, and the one time I took a VW retractor apart I had the spring nearly take out an eye.

-John

 

There is a tab on the back side of the retracter that can be lifted up; it is hinged at the bottom. Inside there is the ratchet assembly. It has a pressure release that can be pressed to release the belt if it becomes stuck.

 

I had an issue with the retractors in my Jeep due to lots of dust, leaves, etc. in the mechanism and after opening them and blowing out the debris they have worked fine for many years.
If you do this, be careful when opening them as there is a coiled metal spring that can unwind very energetically.