Removing inertia belt reel.

[michael4]

Does anyone know how to remove this reel?

From what I can tell it is bolted to the inner sill and not the cross member or floor. I assume it makes use of a captive nut inside the box section.

Do I need to dismantle the reel to get to the head of the fixing bolt and if so, is there a sequence to follow?

(Two mounting point close together is something I have not come across before. (Car is a late two door, now convertible)



([img[/img]

DSC04040.JPG (1.61 MiB) Viewed 697 times

DSC04039.JPG (1.46 MiB) Viewed 697 times

DSC04038.JPG (1.83 MiB) Viewed 697 times

[philthehill]

I am certain that if you remove the plastic cover from the reel you will find the holding bolt underneath.

[Bill_qaz]

As Phil says remove the grey plastic cover it just clips on. It's likely very brittle with age and the clips may break, try flat screwdriver or trim tool if you have one. Standard retaining bolt is under the cover and goes to a captive thread on inner sill.

20251210_151135.jpg (379.29 KiB) Viewed 665 times

[michael4]

Not what I expected. to find...

I understand the pendulum weight etc but no sign of a nice big bolt. The two shiny fixings on the lower plate are not bolts as far as I can tell. Are they some sort of rivet?

DSC04044.JPG (1.97 MiB) Viewed 598 times

[michael4]

I realise now that the inertia reel is not attached at the factory fitting point. It is further back in the corner of sill and crossmember.

The factory fitting point can be seen further forward in my first pics. The other end of the belt is attached there.

The seatbelts are marked as for a Diahatsu Charade, Google seems unable to help with that one!

I do not know how the reel is attached and I fear the only way of finding out may be with a cold chisel running the risk of making a bit of a mess of the sill not to mention the belt.

Any other ideas? I am inclined to put it all back together and forget about tidying up the carpet.

[philthehill]

Take the kick panel off the door opening and look rearwards and see if a fixing strip has been inserted into and inside the box section.
A better photo of the rivets would be of help. I have enlarged the photo but it is not clear as to what those rivets are.

[Bill_qaz]

If Phil's suggestion doesn’t give you a solution. Rather than damage the car chiselling drill through the centre of the visible rivets. Small pilot drill first then bigger until rivet is released.
Fit new seat belts, the reel fixes and the other end to the same factory fitting where your other end of the belt is now.

[taupe]

Look on top of the sill under the carpet?

The bracket riveted to the reel will be bolted somewhere

It is possible that those are captive nuts for the mounting bolts and not rivets in which case you need to find the bolt heads and unscrew!

Taupe

[michael4]

Thanks for the suggestions. I had planned to remove the kick panels to do some anti rust treatment when it gets warmer. I'll leave this job till then.

Thanks again

Michael

[svenedin]

If you are looking for a high quality inertia reel unit but with a more original clasp system, have a look at this: https://www.beltupsafety.com/shop/class ... _values=20

Note that the end of the seat belt on the reel can be mounted to the same mounting bolt as the reel itself. The diagram on the website is a bit confusing but I asked for the installation instructions the other day.

Stephen

[Bill_qaz]

Note that the end of the seat belt on the reel can be mounted to the same mounting bolt as the reel itself. The diagram on the website is a bit confusing but I asked for the installation instructions the other day.

Stephen

Thats what I had already said, both on one factory mount point

IMG-20260131-WA0003.jpg (39.29 KiB) Viewed 241 times

[svenedin]

Note that the end of the seat belt on the reel can be mounted to the same mounting bolt as the reel itself. The diagram on the website is a bit confusing but I asked for the installation instructions the other day.

Stephen

Thats what I had already said, both on one factory mount point
IMG-20260131-WA0003.jpg

Yes exactly.

Stephen