72 Plymouth Fury Seatbelt won't come out

72 Plymouth Fury Seatbelt won't come out

Hello,

Any guidance anyone can offer in coaxing the seatbelt out of the
retracted position? It didn't retract back all the way and I now
can't get it to extend.

All assistance appreciated.

Best,

Paul

Re: 72 Plymouth Fury Seatbelt won't come out

lovguitar@aol . com wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Any guidance anyone can offer in coaxing the seatbelt out of the
> retracted position? It didn't retract back all the way and I now
> can't get it to extend.
>
> All assistance appreciated.
>
> Best,
>
> Paul


Try shooting silicone up there might free things up couldn't hurt.

Re: 72 Plymouth Fury Seatbelt won't come out

It sounds like the ratcheting pawl is stuck. If you can rock the
housing that the belt retracts into, you might be able to free it up.
Shake it or tap it. If that doesn't do anything, is it possible to
take the cover off to see the mechanism itself?

They are made up of a spring, a pawl, and a ratchet wheel. There isn't
much that can go wrong. My guess is that the spring which retracts
the belt broke.

Re: 72 Plymouth Fury Seatbelt won't come out

On Jul 7, 3:17=EF=BF=BDpm, Otto Skorzeny <ForrestW...@gmail . com > wrote:
> It sounds like the ratcheting pawl is stuck. If you can rock the
> housing that the belt retracts into, you might be able to free it up.
> Shake it or tap it. If that doesn't do anything, is it possible to
> take the cover off to see the mechanism itself?
>
> They are made up of a spring, a pawl, and a ratchet wheel. There isn't
> much that can go wrong. =EF=BF=BDMy guess is that the spring which retrac=
ts
> the belt broke.

Thank you for your advice. I tried rocking the assembly and that got
me nowhere. I got on the floor in the back and approached it from the
ground up and discovered a round access cover. I pried that off and
was able to put my fingers inside the assembly and manually roll the
belt in all the way. Once I did that, I was able to retract it. It's
a little touchy still and doesn't always go all the way in, but now I
know what to do if it doesn't.

Best,

Paul

Re: 72 Plymouth Fury Seatbelt won't come out

That's great, Paul.

When you pull the belt out to fasten it, does it feel like there is
any resistance? In other words, does it feel like the return spring is
pulling on it? Maybe the spring is just fatigued and doesn't have the
oomph! that it used to to retract the belt all the way. I'm glad you
were able to get it back in. It's a pain having the belt flopping all
over and hanging out the door when it's opened.

Re: 72 Plymouth Fury Seatbelt won't come out

On Jul 10, 6:33=EF=BF=BDpm, Otto Skorzeny <ForrestW...@gmail . com > wrote:
> That's great, Paul.
>
> When you pull the belt out to fasten it, does it feel like there is
> any resistance? In other words, does it feel like the return spring is
> pulling on it? Maybe the spring is just fatigued and doesn't have the
> oomph! that it used to to retract the belt all the way. I'm glad you
> were able to get it back in. It's a pain having the belt flopping all
> over and hanging out the door when it's opened.

Otto,

You nailed it. The spring is definitely fatigued. I suppose that I
would be too if I were standing vigilant for someone to test me since
1972!! I doubt very much that my Uncle (who gave me the car in 1990
AFTER DRIVING IT ONLY 22.000 MILES) ever wore the seat belts. It's
not something he considered important when he bought the car. It's
the law now, of course, and they are being used fot the first time.

I am dong my best to keep the car original. It has the original paint
and the original engine and transmission. I keep it clean and sober
and do my best to keep it running. I drive it once in a while and
restore it as I can.

Thanks for your help in my quest. It is really neat and I remember my
aunt and uncle and smoke a cigar in their honor as I take a drive
around Brooklyn (my uncle John's habit) once a month or so.

Best,

Paul