F-body-fan

Hi Guys, So I remember many moons ago getting a recall notice for my seat belts on my 87 Camaro. I seldom ever wore my seat blets back then, The belts worked fine so I ignored GM's attempt to have mine updated....

Well fast forward 20 years & now both of my front buckles are not working. Too funny, is there still a fix for this? I have no clue what the update would have even been? new belts, or something else?

Thanks,

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

See if you can find the recall paperwork and then go to the dealer. However, a lot of people have reported problems with dealership service not wanting to perform the recall procedures due to the age of the recall notice (even though the recall is for the life of the car if it hasn't been previously performed).

The fix is still the same. Hawks and others carry the repair kits with new buttons and springs and such. The belts can be done in an hour or less.

F-body-fan

Paper work is long gone. Never cared at the time, so I just tossed it. How does it come apart? I searched the forum & couln't find the info. Does the plastic button hold everything in? Looks like there is not much to the kit.

Rhett86IROC

Take the plastic cover off and push up on the silver/steel thing while the buckle is in the latch assembly.

F-body-fan

Well, went to pop the plastic cover off the first seat belt & it broke apart. Barely used any force at all. Were these glued together?

Then, I opened the glove box & guess what was in there?? The letter from GM dated in 1994, stating that I never brought the car in for the recall & that the seat belt update is valid for the life of the vehicle. I just ordered a repair kit, so I will probably still take care of it myself.

cookie21

iTrader: (2)

theres kits on ebay for about 10 bucks with enough to do front and back belts i just did mine.

89RS_82Z

iTrader: (2)

yea the stealerships are jerks about it

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

Just buy it and do it yourself. I wouldn't want a dealership touching my car, and the fix is relatively easy. The kit comes with all the parts needed to do all 4 buckles, and should take 10 minutes. They were not glued together. The plastic piece snaps in to the metal part under it. The worst part about fixing them is positioning the spring, and it's not that hard.

F-body-fan

Wierd thing is, I don't see anyway for the two plastic halves to go back together without glueing them. No clips there. I didn't try another one for fear of breaking another.

But the two plastic halves should just seprate from the mechanism? No special tricks?

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

You messed up big time... All you had to do was to pop the pink button out by prying behind it at the top. It seems you split your buckle in half, and there's really no going back on that, as far as I could tell when I did mine.

There is a thread lurking around (may be a sticky) that has the original GM dealer documentation describing how to fix the buttons... I think I downloaded a copy, but I'd need to find it.

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

Two plastic halves???

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Yes, I almost split mine trying to get it apart... With the instructions I got with the kit. Not very specific...

:edit: PM me your email address and I'll send you the whole recall packet I have saved... Instructions are on page 50-55...

F-body-fan

When I read above "take the plastic cover off" I figured it was the plastic cover over the buckle assembly. Whoops. I didn't realize it was just the plastic release button. At least I only wrecked one of them......

Speaking of things being wrecked, does anyone make the plastic sleaves that the belt goes in? Mine are starting to split apart a little. Gotta be a common problem....?

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

You are just supposed to pry out the red button, replace the spring, and snap in a new button.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Yes, the sleeves over the belt webbing on the front receivers seem to like to split a lot. Mine were cracked all to crap when I bought my car, so one of the first things I did was to remove them... The belts were just flopping onto the seats anyways (I'd guess that the first 2 inches or so were broken right off of the receivers), and the sleeves seem to only be a decorative thing that also kind of helps to keep the receiver buckle in the right position, so I didn't miss them much. Not hard to hold the buckle with one hand and put the belt into it with the other.

Personally, not having done it before, I would have started with one of the rear buckles first to figure out how to do it right, if I didn't have the instructions I did with my repair kit. That way, since nobody uses the back seat anyways, in most cases, a broken buckle wouldn't be too much of a big deal.

Check around on the classifieds for a new receiver if it's one of your fronts that you split. There's guys parting out and others who get stuff from yards all of the time. I'm sure someone has a receiver in your interior color.

Thirdgen Ranch

iTrader: (5)

We have the kits available on our site. Here's a link if you're interested.

http://thirdgenranch.com/-strse-1157...elt/Detail.bok

86T/A_Ram_Air

First of all if its an open recall you don't need the paper. and the dealership is required by law to perform the work. if they won't do it, tell them you are calling the Federal Highway Traffic and Safety Administration. guarantee you they do it

F-body-fan

So Can I buy new seat belt recievers? I got the GM kit & when I popped the the second button out, the black plastic piece that attaches to the button broke instead of the botton coming off, so now that receiver is junk. I just want to scrap these things & buy new ones. Or is that not an option.

henryd3

iTrader: (128)

I've got a set of clean solid used black front receivers with red buttons if you would be interested. PM or email me your email address for pics and other info, Henry

F-body-fan

Henryd3, I would buy them in a blink, but mine are dark red

Thank you for the offer. Not sure how hard it will be to find red ones.

henryd3

iTrader: (128)

Well, good luck with that. Mine were originally all gray, but not easily found. I put in the black receivers which hardly show anyway, and since the console and so much more is black they fit in well and sure beat that droopy look. LMK if you change your mind

sonjaab

SURE.............Like they care !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I tried that with several GM dealers AND the GM customer service 800
hotline..................

I got the runaround and the big blowoff...................

Rhett86IROC

I feel bad for making you break your cover! Mine didn't have a cover on the belts when I got it so I figured they took them off.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

The plastic sleeve "covers" over the front receivers, that hide the webbing and the lower mount, tend to break due to age and the fact that most people just grab the latch instead of the whole assembly (grab the latch down at the bottom where the sleeve covers it as a whole). And probably partly for the same reason the red buttons go bad, that they weren't very well UV-stabilized... Mine were broken when I bought my car, as I stated above, and I've seen plenty of F-bodies in the junkyard that have the same issue.

:edit: Oh, and F-Body Fan, try looking on eBay and the site sponsors (Hawks, Modern Day Muscle, Thirdgen Ranch)... I know Modern Day Muscle has several items for sale on eBay that have the dark red seat belts, but for the rear... Maybe they have the fronts or can get some. If not, I'd call to some local junkyards and see what they have (check www.car-part.com first).