edrach Posted May 13, 2006 Share Posted May 13, 2006 I've owned this '91 wagon as my daily driver for the last three years. The car is perfect except for the stupid automatic seatbelts; I'm amazed no one has been choked to death with these yet. Not one of Big Brother's brighter ideas. Besides the choking hazard and annoyance, the glider mechanism has started to fail (yea, I know it's been 15 years!). I was thinking about replacing the mechanism with one from PAP but I'm sure it's just as bad as the one I have now (and I haven't bothered to inquire what new costs). I found out a while ago that Canada wasn't required to have these automatic belts and used a standard lap/shoulder harness. I do use my seatbelts so I inquired of a Canadian member if he knew of any Canadian wrecking yards that might have donor belts for my car. A phonecall to a wrecking yard on Vancouver Island that specializes in Subaru only found a set of belts with all the hardware and trim and $200 for both sets got me the belts. Thanks again to dominical1 for the help in finding the yard and getting the parts. Installation is pretty straight forward as long as you're careful removing the seats and the trim. In spite of the fact I didn't see the old parts come out, I managed to get everything back together properly. The old headliner doesn't quite match up with the new trim but I don't really care about that. The new belts are comfortable and don't chafe across my neck like the old ones and the stupid retractor is gone. Slight update. I had done the driver's side first and was happy with that side even though the trim pieces didn't fit all that well (much narrower since they didn't have to clear the slider track). Now that I'm doing the passenger side I'm finding that the trim pieces don't mount the same way. In retrospect, you just need to drill a large hole on the original column trim piece to allow bolting in the seat belt fitting and then re-use the original trim. You have to live with the un-used slider channel, but everything fits much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
backwoodsboy Posted May 13, 2006 Share Posted May 13, 2006 We had a '92 loyale that had the same difficulty. :-\ We used to use em by the emergency disconnects at the B pillar....and then click the lap belt seperately. We sold the car.....but its real nice to know that manual belts will transfer over.....as there are lots of loyales running around still, and I may just be owning one again soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodsWagon Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 Those belts always piss me off. I don't have the problem with choking (I'm 6'4"), but the movable bit often smaks me upside the head when I'm getting out in a hurry. They get me an insurance discount, so they unfortuanately have to stay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tin Soldier Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 I did this same kinda of swap on my 92 loyale. I found the same problem. The trim didn't match up at all. The headliner had been cut back to far and some of the holes for mounting where different. But I still liked the result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Range Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 Can you re-use the buckles on the insides of the seats on a '91 Legacy? wanted to know cause I'm getting a guy to pull the parts for me in BC and he knows nothing about subaru, and if I can re-use the buckles bolted to the seats it means less work to pull the parts. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingbobdole Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 I just did this on my XT6 due to the STi seat trying to kill thhe seatbelt. I just stole parts out of a early non power belt turbo XT, trim and all... the rear worked well, but the front still needs some lovin... the way the 2 pieces mount are different and my 6 doesnt have the right points... other then that the belt went right in and works great, but I cannot get the belt light to go off... ohh... and I also have the power belt in the pass side... ha ha for them:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pootco Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 (edited) Hi, New guy here; first post. Nice-looking forum. My question is this: The automatic shoulder restraint motor(s) have stopped working. I've checked the fuse box down under the dash by the hood latch, but all the fuses appear to be good. Is there another location to check? Failing that, I'll need to replace both shoulder restraint/motor assemblies. From what I've read, that will not be fun. Is it legal in the US to retro-fit generic retractable shoulder harnesses and bypass the track thing altogether? Anyone done that? Most basic question would be, how do I fasten the generic belt to the doorpost? Think there'd be be room to drill new holes? Thanks, Tim Edited November 20, 2010 by pootco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 Hi, New guy here; first post. Nice-looking forum. My question is this: The automatic shoulder restraint motor(s) have stopped working. I've checked the fuse box down under the dash by the hood latch, but all the fuses appear to be good. Is there another location to check? Failing that, I'll need to replace both shoulder restraint/motor assemblies. From what I've read, that will not be fun. Is it legal in the US to retro-fit generic retractable shoulder harnesses and bypass the track thing altogether? Anyone done that? Most basic question would be, how do I fasten the generic belt to the doorpost? Think there'd be be room to drill new holes? Thanks, Tim Dunno if you have a legacy or a loyale. But I swapped my GL to manual belts, it wasn't to hard. In the GL at least, the manual belts use the same mounting holes as the auto belts. Thet way they don't have to make a separate body for different seatbelt types... I have auto belts that work awesome and the computer from a loyale if you want to rebuild yours... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 You should be able to find regular seatbelts in 1990 legacy and maybe early 1991's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 You should be able to find regular seatbelts in 1990 legacy and maybe early 1991's Nah....all the legacies from 90-94 were auto seatbelts. He needs belts from a 95-99 Legacy. He'll need the buckles too because they are different in the new ones. Old ones will need to be cut off of the seat frame.......Or upgrade the seats as well:grin:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pootco Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 Nah....all the legacies from 90-94 were auto seatbelts. He needs belts from a 95-99 Legacy. He'll need the buckles too because they are different in the new ones. Old ones will need to be cut off of the seat frame.......Or upgrade the seats as well:grin:. Thanks, guys. Sorry, earlier I edited out too many details: I have a '93 Legacy 4-door sedan, Model L (2WD, auto trans., 4-cyl. engine). But you guys pretty much already knew the year & make, based on the presence of auto seatbelts. You guys are good! Still haven't ruled out a fuse problem. The auto belts stopped working about the same time I installed a new powered antenna, which soon stopped working, too. Hope I didn't fry something. Where is the auto belt controller box on my car? In the trunk? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 for a legacy. you'd have to get the donor parts out of a canadian spec one for the trim and stuff to match. I've often wondered if the belts out of a '95-99 legacy would work. the trim probably wouldn't line up, but you could just drill a hole in the B-pillar trim, and from there, the rest of the system is pretty simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 for a legacy. you'd have to get the donor parts out of a canadian spec one for the trim and stuff to match. I've often wondered if the belts out of a '95-99 legacy would work. the trim probably wouldn't line up, but you could just drill a hole in the B-pillar trim, and from there, the rest of the system is pretty simple. It's bolt in. Nothing in the B pillar changed for the second gen legos. edit* duh, yeah some mods to the plastic in needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T'subaru Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 The first xt6 i picked up had non functioning belts so i figured id check them out after getting fsm's. Having gotten used to hooking them up manually.....call me old school..but after driving an xt6 with functioning belts, id pull the fuse..i dont want my belts moving unless i move them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pootco Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 Problem solved. It was a blown fuse. Shoulder belts are working good as new! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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