What is it called

[russgill]

My '87 GN has a plastic part that is on the lower inside rear of the door frame. I am told it is for adjusting the tension on the seat belt, the handle on the driver’s side one is broken off. I'd like to get a new one, but really don't know what the name of it is so I can do a search.


Any help would be appreciated

 

[olds443]

I doubt you can get them new still. They rarely break. You can get one at a junkyard or I can give you an extra I have, just pay the shipping.

 

[russgill]

Olds,
I appreciate the offer. After looking in the body manual it appears this part is called a comfort lock. Looks like a shaft with, for lack of a better definition, a fork on one end and the lever and mounting bracket on the other.

Let me ask you a question, would there be any reason that someone would cut the little plastic piece off that engages the door? If there is a good reason, maybe I don't want to replace it.

Thanks

 

[1chance]

That peice often break's on old car's, it actually retract's the seat belt when the door is open, to pull the slack out so you dont trip on it getting out!

 

[robertmee]

Relative to this discussion, is the seatbelt only supposed to retract on door open? I'm used to spring tension belts that return when you unhook them and yank on them a bit. I will say, the belt really snaps on door opening.

 

[olds443]

I'm tired so I hope this makes sense; generally you would remove your seat belt while the door is still closed, then you may give a slight tug to get it to retract or just open the door and it will retract. Now that there is no tension (?) on it because that arm is broke when you release the belt it prtty much wants to retract right away.

Anyways, I have owned 8 G-bodys and only had 1 break like that. It was a 79 Cutlass with over 135k miles. That being said, it is just plastic and is old so I guess they are bound to break.

As far as I know there would be no benefit or reason to cut that arm off.

 

[russgill]

Olds,
I'll take you up on your offer. I will PM you.

Thanks

 

[turbonut85]

FYI you will have to remove the rear seat bottom, lower interior trim, and behind that, is a steel pocket that is bolted in that houses the seatbelt. You have to thread the "fork" end into the seatbelt mechanism. You wont be able to get it in there without removing the above listed parts. Good luck, and feel free to ask ?'s if you need. HTH ---Keith

 

[russgill]

Wow

Thanks for the input. Guess nothing is easy on these little darlins.

Russ

 

[olds443]

I did it by just removing the lever from the hole in the door jamb and using a flashlight to carefully get the "fork" around the belt. I would give that a try before tearing into everything, which honestly just adds about 30min to an hr to the job.
try it and see if it works.

 

[russgill]

I did it by just removing the lever from the hole in the door jamb and using a flashlight to carefully get the "fork" around the belt. I would give that a try before tearing into everything, which honestly just adds about 30min to an hr to the job.
try it and see if it works.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Again Thanks
Russ

 

[russgill]

Ok I was unable to get the lever in as suggested by Olds, but I was able to see a lever with a hole in it insde the jamb, could not see any part of the belt at all, I presume I should?

After I screwed around with the belt the lever with the hole in it had moved up to the point I could just see it. Does the end of the lever go into that hole?

Not going to pull the back seat out until next week.

Thanks

 

[russgill]

Final Chapter

We installed the lever yeasterday, removed moldings and back seat and one screw from lower panel. We were able to get our hand in and get the lever in took about 15 minutes.

Thanks one and all for the help. Have a great holiday.
Russ