seat belts [Archive] - Chevelle Tech

: seat belts


74 camino
Aug 1st, 06, 3:09 PM
I cant get the seat belts out of my el camino ive tried every thing i know to do

Surfin' 66
Aug 1st, 06, 4:19 PM
Do you mean the star bolts holding the belts to the floor (or whatever they are called) will not loosen?

I had that problem with my Camaro with the rear outboard belts. The bolts were incredibly tight, but I kept on going anyway figuring that I would have to replace the fasteners for sure.

I'm talking a breaker bar PLUS a pipe over the handle. The bolts were so tight that I figured they would be destroyed at any moment, and they remained that tight all the way to the last thread. At one point I tried an air impact, and even that would stall. It took a good 3 hours of serious muscle effort to get those two bolts out. Each bolt was hot to the touch when I finally got it out.

Amazingly enough, when the bolts finally came out, there was no damage to the threads of either the bolt or the insert in the floor.

I figure the inserts must be pinched at the factory to make sure that the bolts never loosen.

bisjoe
Aug 1st, 06, 4:36 PM
Yeh, those are torqued really hard. Same experience with later models, on the '72 they came off easily. Get a torx the right size that fits on the end of a 1/2" drive, and use the longest non-ratchet wrench you have with a 2" or longer pipe around it.