2800 Retracting Seat Belt

americium

americium

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I found a curious issue with the seat belt in my 69 2800. I drove it for the first time a few days ago and the sequence goes like this... I get in and pull the seat belt out and latch it up (they are over the shoulder belts in the front seats) then I adjust the seat back a few inches as I was too close to the steering wheel and needed more room. I drove to the local gas station and fueled it up. Getting back in I couldn’t get the belt to extend out. After a couple minutes I looked at the retractor behind the seat and saw that it was at a severe angle with the belt getting, I thought at first, hung up because it wasn’t coming out nice and straight. So while it was at that angle I pulled on the belt straight from the retractor and it was still not moving. Then I realized that the inertia stop mechanism must need to have the retractor nearer vertical in order to free up. So I moved the seat forward and moved the thing to a vertical position and like magic it frees up.

My question is has anyone seen this before and is there a workaround? It’s a bummer if I have to slide the seat forward every time I drive it. Here are pictures of the two conditions. (all that brown stuff is the seat foam going back to the earth)

B18D85F3-E87B-4D16-ABF0-C74C6A6E8332.jpeg


6954A040-5474-4FB4-B5AA-E222AFB34BE2.jpeg
 
Dick Steinkamp

Dick Steinkamp

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Those are aftermarket inertial reel belts. They probably aren't going to work with the seat all the way back. Some other brands may be smaller, or you can try to source originals which are probably not inertial reel type.
 
HB Chris

HB Chris

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I had this same problem and had to make a new anchor point a bit farther back as I also need my seat as far rearward as possible. That position only accommodates the fixed belts.
 
americium

americium

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Interesting.., ok thanks guys. I do have a box of seatbelts in the spare parts, I’ll look through those and see if there are any of the options you mentioned. I like the moving the attachment point idea but that would be down the road.
 
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