Re: [T3] Out with the old, in with the new (some assembly required, welder not included).

[Toby Erkson <air_cooled_nut@pobox.com>]

<x-flowed>I haven't been around enough T3's w/retractable belts to know of any 
length differences.  I've cleaned mine but, like you state, the 
retractor takes some hand feeding now :-(

The stock mounting brackets, at least the ones on my baby, will not work 
as the Vanagon retractors are too long...if bolted to the T3 bracket the 
Vanagon retractor case would protrude into the rear seat kick board, 
thus the need for me to make brackets.  Besides, I didn't mind making 
them, gave me an excuse to do some engineering work and welding 8-D  
But, yes, if stock brackets would've worked that would've been nice as 
more people could upgrade.

   Toby Erkson  --  air_cooled_nut@pobox.com
   '72 VW Squareback Darksider, 5-speed, 2.0L, rag top
   '72 VW Squareback Lightsider, automatic, FI, sunroof, gas heater
   '95 VW Jetta ~ SCCA Solo II; '73 Porsche 914; '81 Honda Gold Wing
   http://www.icbm.org/
   Portland, Oregon



Jim Adney wrote:

> I have several self-retracting belt sets that I thought were from late type 3s, but I had noticed that there seemed to be 2 different lenths of webbing in them. I had assumed that VW had lengthened them to accommodate either people who where shorter, or more overweight, but it's also possible that some of mine actually came from a different VW model and just happen to look the same...
>
> ...It's too bad you had to make those, Toby. I probably have an OE pair here...
>
> In my experience, I really prefer the shorter ones, because those tend to wind up in the reels better. I have a lot of trouble with these, because the springs tend to get sticky over time and stop retracting. I have to hand feed the belts back into the reels. I have a feeling that any liquid lubricant will eventually cause problems, but does anyone out there think they've got a real solution?
>  

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