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Re: Traped in my 73
After your note, I look at my '79. My first thought was to slide a Slim Jim behind the buckle and trip the catch, but the double bends in the male buckle won't allow that.
The mechanism in the '79 is very simple. I don't know how much it has changed from '72, but it is a long narrow "U" of steel that the bottom pushes on the outside and thus the inside of the other side moves away from the male buckle end.
It is tight, but a small screwdriver, like a jeweler's screwdriver, can be slid down the edge of the male buckle on either end to trip the "U" clip. Directly behind the male buckle, the opening is too tight for even the Slim Jim to fit.
Experience with bad seatbelt buckles were that the "U" clips or other plungers had rusted, and so squirting in some Liquid Wrench and exercising the button many times freed them up. Even some silicone spray. WD40 usually just makes a mess with no results.
Glad you got out.
After your note, I look at my '79. My first thought was to slide a Slim Jim behind the buckle and trip the catch, but the double bends in the male buckle won't allow that.
The mechanism in the '79 is very simple. I don't know how much it has changed from '72, but it is a long narrow "U" of steel that the bottom pushes on the outside and thus the inside of the other side moves away from the male buckle end.
It is tight, but a small screwdriver, like a jeweler's screwdriver, can be slid down the edge of the male buckle on either end to trip the "U" clip. Directly behind the male buckle, the opening is too tight for even the Slim Jim to fit.
Experience with bad seatbelt buckles were that the "U" clips or other plungers had rusted, and so squirting in some Liquid Wrench and exercising the button many times freed them up. Even some silicone spray. WD40 usually just makes a mess with no results.
Glad you got out.
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