on my 85 firebird the lap belt works but the belt that goes across your chest dosent retracked its on both sides drivers and passenger any ideas how to fix?

 

the same thing happened to my driver side seatbelt. what happened is the plastic cover and round gear popped out and the belt wouldn't retract. if your car has t tops you might be able to reach back and put the gear and cover back on, if you don't you will half to figure a way to get in there. i know on the driver side the gear and cover was facing the passenger side hope this helps

 

same thing happened to me, I switched to 4th gen seat belts, made a world of difference!

 

I was able to undo the back of my T-top headliner enough to get a socket wrench in and remove the seat belt from the roof. Mine had the usual problem of the plastic piece coming out. There is a spiral spring inside that plastic cover has to be re-attached to a slot at the end of the roller. To get tension on the belt, I had to turn the white piece several times before putting it back in place. In retrospect, I wish I had given it a few more turns because my belt has a bit less tension than I prefer.

 

My car is an '84 with T-Tops, the plastic cap with the retactor spring on the drivers side is Blue, its on the body sail side. it just pops off enough to release the spring after awhile. its not that hard to fix, but when your turning the plastic part check the tension by pulling on the belt. after I adjusted the tensioner I placed a 2 inch piece of rubber fuel line between the plastic cap and the body. It's never come back out since.