SEAT BELT ADJUSTMENT

[red69bug]

I just got my (new to me) 1969 beetle up and running and I tried to adjust the seat belts and they won't budge. They are the belts that have a little metal bar across the top of the locking device that you push down to adjust the straps. They don't look rusted and I sprayed WD-40 all over and inside the adjusting area. Is there a trick to making the straps move.???? Or should I just invest in new ones. They do have the shoulder strap as well as the lap strap as one unit.

[hambone]

You should get new ones, but you should be able to free up the ones you have. Under the buckle plastic guard, there is a toothed bar of metal that slides slightly out of the way to make the strap move and adjust. Some times you just need to pull/push the belt itself until the bar moves. Maybe they're stuck on yours? In either case reel style Beetle belts are affordable and a great upgrade for safety.

[JLT]

I've been looking for those after-market seat belt retractors .... the kind that mount on the belt itself. (They aren't to be relied upon for adjusting the belt length for crash situations ... they're just for rolling up the belt neatly when it's not in use so it doesn't end up getting smashed in the damned door.)

Anybody know where these can be had nowadays?

[Amskeptic]

I've been looking for those after-market seat belt retractors .... the kind that mount on the belt itself. (They aren't to be relied upon for adjusting the belt length for crash situations ... they're just for rolling up the belt neatly when it's not in use so it doesn't end up getting smashed in the damned door.)

Anybody know where these can be had nowadays?

Volkswagen offered those reels when the cars were new, nobody liked them. I have trained all who ride with me to neatly fold and hang up the belts.
Colin

[dtrumbo]

I've been looking for those after-market seat belt retractors .... the kind that mount on the belt itself. (They aren't to be relied upon for adjusting the belt length for crash situations ... they're just for rolling up the belt neatly when it's not in use so it doesn't end up getting smashed in the damned door.)

Anybody know where these can be had nowadays?

You can get 'em here.

http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp ... 6-111-704A

... but they really suck. I have a pair that I won't be using. You can have 'em if you want. PM me your address and they're yours.

[Bookwus]

Hiya Dick,

... but they really suck....

How so?

[Amskeptic]

Hiya Dick,

... but they really suck....

How so?

They rarely have enough tension to wind up, if the belt is slightly off-center the edges jam up and they won't wind up, even on a good day they barely tidy up the mess anyway, and they are ugly white.
Colin

[bus71]

My 71 bus had the optional retracters when we got it. I agree on above problems. We just fold belts and set them on the seat.

[dtrumbo]

Hiya Dick,

... but they really suck....

How so?

Colin pretty much summed it up. They can't wind up all of the belt to make it really tidy because the "roll" would be too big. The ones I'm sending to JLT are black, but that doesn't change their behavior.

I have to admit, part of my loathe is not completely the fault of the wind-up dealie. I bought the gizmos with the subconscious desire to make my non-retractable belts retractable. Well, that's not what they're meant to do. Even with them on I still couldn't reach the glove box because the belts weren't the retractable kind. Of course I didn't expect them to fix that limitation, but given the fact that they didn't do what they were designed to do very well, that's when I gave up and retro'd Vanagon retractable belts. Ahhhh... sweet bliss!