1970 Lap belt repair

[Joe W.]

Hello,
Can anyone tell me how to go about taking apart the lap belt metal housing?
The roller inside of it is rusted and I cannot get them to adjust.

Thank you.

Joe

[Terry M.]

Re: 1970 Lap belt repair

I have never had occasion to do it, but I have seen buckles with the cover (shown to the left of your photo) removed. I assume it just pries off.

[Jack H.]

Re: 1970 Lap belt repair

Piece of cake, Terry! Insert a wide, flat blade screw driver into the parting line between the cover and the buckle housing and twist GENTLY. The cover will 'snap' off, exposing the belt fabric and pinch roller.

The pinch roller was simply zinc/cad plated and over the years of being in contact with belt fabric, the plating wears away resulting in surface rust.

The pinch roller is interference fit captive in the belt buckle housing slots. To get it out, clamp one side of the housing in a padded vise (you don't want to scratch the housing chrome) and use a set of padded channel locks to 'spread' the opposite side of the housing.

With the pinch roller turned at a near 45-degree angle relative to the buckle housing side slots, it'll simply drop out with a gentle degree of spread deformation.

Last, after you've replated the pinch roller and cleaned up the inside of the buckle housing, consider laying in the final finishing restoration touch. What's that you ask?

Well, when the buckle cover snaps loose, grab the cover and look at the inside back. You should find a long rectangular yellow line. This is the reminant of the pressure sensitive adhesive that was on the back of a rectangular strip of foam rubber the factory originally installed that's probably turned to dust with time/age.

The foam was installed to press between the fabric routed over the pinch roller and the buckle cover to thwart 'rattling' noises. Savvy interior judges will take a female buckle and shake it to see if the foam is intact. If the buckle assy rattles, kiss an originality point bye bye because the restoration of the buckle is incorrect (missing foam)...