Installed Manual Belt canadian trim pieces don't fit right.

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kimokalihi
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Installed Manual Belt canadian trim pieces don't fit right.

Post by kimokalihi »

I just spent about two and a half hours hunched over in my 91 ss removing the passenger side auto belt system and installing my new 90 manual belt system and trim pieces.

The panels do NOT fit right in the USDM cars. The auto track runs behind the top a pill panel and the T shaped panel and since it's behind the panels, when you replace them with the canadian trim pieces after removing the auto belt track the panels sit right up against the body. So it's like 1 inch difference and the headliner does not reach far enough anymore and isn't covered by the panel. This results in a ugly looking interior because the body is exposed above the trim panel.

I didn't get a picture because I don't have a camera but I'll get one later.

Another problem I had was that I was forced to remove that fuzzy piece of gasket that goes around the inside of the doorway running along the whole belt track. I couldn't get the panels to click into the holes without removing that gasket. That makes it look weird without it too.

I have WRX seats in my car so I had a free bolt hole since they only use 4 instead of 5 to mount the seats. That's where I chose to install the seat belt female end. I saw a picture of somebody who had installed this on one of the bolts that's actually being used to bolt the seat into place and that had a ridge above it that stuck out and wouldn't have worked very well due to it getting in the way of the seat belt buckle.

It feels nice and snug and safe but it doesn't look very nice in the upper trim panels.

Anyone have pictures of their manaul seat belt trim panels? Am I the only one who had this problem? It seems as if you'd have to either use the stock trim or get the canadian headliner to go along with everything.
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Post by Legacy777 »

I'd like to see pictures. Some of your issues I have been wondering about how everything all fits together.

I'm not sure when I'm going to embark messing with mine....
Josh

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kimokalihi
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Post by kimokalihi »

Yeah I was pretty bummed with the results as far as looks go with the trim panels. The belts work great. I'm going to check and see it I can just drill out a hole in the stock b pillar trim for the seat belt bolt to go through and see if I can just use the stock panels.
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Post by Legacy777 »

kimokalihi wrote:Yeah I was pretty bummed with the results as far as looks go with the trim panels. The belts work great. I'm going to check and see it I can just drill out a hole in the stock b pillar trim for the seat belt bolt to go through and see if I can just use the stock panels.
That was one of my thoughts too, mark the hole and dril.... If I needed to cut up the track to get it out of the way, yet keep the section around the a-pillar so it looks ok, I'd do that too.
Josh

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kimokalihi
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Post by kimokalihi »

Yeah I think you'd need to remove the track since it's connected to the motor which needs to be removed to insert the seat belt mechnism for the manual belt. So if you left the stock panels on there it would look better because there wouldn't be the gap in the headliner but there would be a small 3/4" gap where the track used to be but I think that would look better than the headliner issue.

I need to get pictures of this. I can get them today I just have to use my cell phone because I don't have a camera. Better than nothing. I guess it takes decent pictures if the lighting is good.
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kimokalihi
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Post by kimokalihi »

Alright I got those pictures. The lighting was piss poor so they're not great but you can see the body in the gap between the panels in the doorway and you can see the headliner gaps too.

Image
Image
Image
Image
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Post by kimokalihi »

I haven't put the oh shit handle back in yet so those holes will be covered but the larger ones are there to stay until I go back to the stock panels.

I thought other people have done this before? How come I haven't read anything about the fitment issues?
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Post by Legacy777 »

kimokalihi wrote:I haven't put the oh shit handle back in yet so those holes will be covered but the larger ones are there to stay until I go back to the stock panels.

I thought other people have done this before? How come I haven't read anything about the fitment issues?
Possibly because they're not as picky as we may be....
Josh

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Post by Legacy777 »

kimokalihi wrote:Yeah I think you'd need to remove the track since it's connected to the motor which needs to be removed to insert the seat belt mechnism for the manual belt.

My thought is to leave the track portion in at the top part of the A-pillar near the windshield, and remove the portion in the vertical part of the B pillar where the doors are. I would have to cut/destroy the mad-mice seat belt assembly, but I think it could be done to provide a better overall fitment. I would probably also cut off the piece that moves or remove it so it isn't sticking out.
Josh

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kimokalihi
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Post by kimokalihi »

I dunno I think you leave any part of the track in you have to leave the whole thing in and that would mean the upper seat belt bolt won't be long enough anymore. I think if you only removed the track in the b pillar(cutting it?)the Bpillar piece may not fit right because the Apillar is sticking out too far.

It's tricky.
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Post by chochocho »

dang, that's not good. i have some manual seatbelts too that i purchased here a few months back but have yet to install......

does it matter on the year of manual seat belt and year of car?
kimokalihi
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Post by kimokalihi »

As far as I know it's only color differences. But I could be wrong.
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Post by wtdash »

This post is a few weeks old...but I did mine - '90 Legacy w/'91 manual belts - back in Aug. 08 (?) . Sorry I haven't posted it on here yet...got pics, too.

There is definitely a fitment issue between the auto belt's headliner and the manual/Canadian trim pieces. If you're able to get the headliner too, you 'should' be able to get very close to a factory look.

I drilled new holes for the pass. side OS handle, which helped cover up some of the gap.

I used the auto belt's shoulder bolt on the upper B-pillar since the plastic bolt cover wouldn't fit right on the manual's bolt. This bolt is thinner/longer, so I'm a bit concerned about its strength....I guess I'm just hoping it's overbuilt

I plugged in the connector under the driver's seat and on the A-pillar's connector just connected the 2 wires to each other. When turning the car on the 'fasten seat belt' light blinks for a few seconds and then goes out . I don't know whether those w/airbags will have other issues??

I also removed the auto belt's assembly under the center arm console...probably not necessary, and if you do this you'll lose a couple of mounting points for the console - I've had no issues, however.

I had to 'help' the headliner's pre-formed A-pillar corner in order to get the trim piece to fit...flattened it out a bit to get a better trim fit.

Unfortunately about 1/2 the plastic tabs that hold on the manual trim were broken when I rec'd them....so I had to ghetto a couple places by using screws to connect the trim.

The fuzzy gasket doesn't fit right, as mentioned above, but I was able to get my trim to still work, albeit not 'factory fit'.

They added an adjustable shoulder belt..in '92??...and should be interchangeable from '90-'94.

For me Function triumphs over Form, and manual belts are great. After 2+ months, I'm still glad I swapped 'em.
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Post by nottofast »

So where are you guyts getting the manual seat belts from? Any source? Thanks!
evolutionmovement
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Post by evolutionmovement »

Should there be a rubber trim piece covering the metal around the door? Looking at the picture, I can see rubber trim on the inside around the back side window that would likely cover the exposed metal if the front had its own similar trim. As for the headliner, you could recover it. Vinyl sheet's (or something else, if you prefer) pretty cheap. I had meant to do that with my wagon, but never bothered.
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Post by ScottyS »

If I get around to it soon I will post pics of my setup. FYI I pulled out some rubber around the doors and left it off, leaving a gap, but I'm not really interested in perfect looks.

This generation got super-cheesy interiors anyway, why whine about some little gap? The substandard interior alone is enough reason to not screw with the 1st gen Legacy in my mind.

I'm thinking of leaving my whole headliner out if/when I get around to replacing the sunroof.

At least you don't have the stupid electric belts anymore, that's reason to rejoice right there.....

Oh, and larger than 800x600 pics FTL!
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Post by SLODRIVE »

I converted our old Legacy to manual belts and hads to deal with most of these issues, even though I just used 95+ belts.

I ended up keeping ALL of the original trim above the door panels. It's actually really easy to pull all the junk out of the seatbelt track...if I remember correctly, I pulled out a pin holding the motor on and simply pulled the cable and buckle out. I didn't even unbolt the track from the body. I then used the mounting hardware and lower B-pillar trim from the '95, and trimmed the top of it just a tad to allow the belt to fit underneath. The later trim piece isn't exactly the same shape, but it still fit and wasn't really noticeable. There were NO gaps between any interior trim panels either.

I wish I had taken pictures, but it came out looking somewhat factory, with the little plastiic covers on the upper mounting bolts and all. I hope this can be of some help!
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Re: Installed Manual Belt canadian trim pieces don't fit right.

Post by SWRT »

Yeah, I know this post died forever ago, but how the heck do you get the a pillar trim back on? The clips are super weird. They're not just pushing clips, but they have some kind of clip that goes around a metal piece maybe? I'm not really sure. I could use some advice so that I don't break them
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Re: Installed Manual Belt canadian trim pieces don't fit right.

Post by Legacy777 »

Can you point to which clip & trim you're referring to in my pictures?

https://main.experiencetherave.com/suba ... seatbelts/
Josh

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