inertia reel seat belt won't reel in

[RC70SCoupe]

My ORIGINAL passenger side seat belt in my '72 Targa seems broke

The belt was accidently pulled out completey, and now it won't reel in

Other than taking the interior panels off to gain access, anyone have any ideas? Once I do get to the reel, repair or replace?

[sithot]

PEP. Professionally Engineered Products.

http://www.peparts.com/StoreFront.bok

Good luck,

Tom

PS: I once had a reel that wouldn't retract but I figured it out. A tree had caused it to lock in position (around me). Go figure

[68911USA]

If you hold the belt where you can be sure it's pulling straight out of the retractor, giving a firm "pull" to it but not snatching it, will that get it to retract? I had this happen once on a different old car ('69 Benz) with Repa retractors, and this would happen from time to time. I could pull on it firmly, making sure there was no angle to the pull to the retractor, and then slowly feed it back in as it began to retract, keeping light tension on the belt. Also, if the retractor has moved from vertical inside the panel, it can make it impossible to reel in just due to how the mechanism works. Perhaps when it got pulled all the way out, it also moved the reel a bit inside the panel? Just an idea.

[jhora]

Great advise from 68911USA...I have had them do the same and sometimes just the angle jams it...
Sometimes the inertia wheel locks and it needs to just move a little to release..if the spring is broken then you will have to remove it...I have replaced the spring before but it is a challenge....compact thing and it will "kill" you if it gets unwound....
Good luck!!