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Attn Canadians-seatbelt ?
Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 12:48 pm
by fngearhead
I've just done a seatbelt swap on my '91 sedan. YAY! no more motors. So, wondering if anyone could help me find a set of A and B pillar trims for the standard seatbelts, preferably grey. Any of you folks up north wanna go junkyarding? I scored a set of belts from an Outback. They fit almost prefectly. I had no idea how integrated those power belts were. Now just need to kill the flashing red light in the dash.
Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 2:55 pm
by Fishy
I know the yards around me here are pretty much useless but you might want to try searching
http://www.car-parts.com you can select an area to search like Canada or western Canada or whatever. It will give you the name and contact info of the yard that has the parts too. Maybe someone from the board close to there could go check it out for you.

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 1:19 am
by HomeSlice
to kill the flashin light jus jump the conectors in the a pillar. looks like a t
Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 4:07 am
by NuwanD
I have the trim but it's the SS gray, pm me if interested

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 5:53 pm
by fngearhead
Isn't SS gray darker than the L gray? I'll keep ya in mind if I can't find any others.
Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2006 2:57 am
by fngearhead
Another question on seatbelts... Is the Canadian center console deeper than the motorbelt console? I'm assuming it is since mine has the belt retractors in it.
Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2006 3:32 am
by 206er
fngearhead, can you describe how you swapped to manual belts? I HATE the automatics.
Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2006 10:29 am
by fngearhead
It wasn't an exact fit, but I used belts from an Outback, '97 I think, but probably any 2nd gen Legacy would work. I found that the buckles match perfectly with what's already in the car. I wasn't able to get a couple bolts to line up perfect, still need to do some very minor trimming and/or bending, but I did get all 3 major anchor bolts in securely. Those auto belts required me to drop the headliner and most plastic trim to remove them. You also need to lift part of the carpet in the rear footwell area to remove the existing lapbelt. The upper trim from dash to rear seat area no longer fits. The headliner was actually molded a bit different to clear the tracks. The belt indicator light in the dash flashes constantly now, but I'm going to trick the wiring to kill that soon. I got the Outback belts for $14 so really just time invested in this swap. Definitely worth it. Its nice to be able to put seatbelts on when I feel like it. But the reactions from my foreign friends were pretty entertaining.
Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 12:21 am
by Legacy777
Hmmm.....I really would love to get rid of the auto belts. Can you post pictures of the install? Did you take pictures with everything removed?
Regarding the seatbelt flashy guy on the dash. You can just unplug the autoseatbelt control unit. It's the rear of the vehicle.
http://www.surrealmirage.com/subaru/fil ... tion06.jpg
Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 1:33 am
by 206er
do you think 2nd gen legacy trim bits will fit, because I dont want to have a hacked up looking interior.
Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 1:44 am
by ericS2the6
you'll need the upper and lower b pillar trims if you want to do it correctly, along with the a pillar trim. the lower b pillar trim sticks out a bit more at the neck, to allow the seatbelt to easily slide up and down.
also, to really complete the swap to factory level, you need a ca spec headliner. if you dont have one, the ca spec a pillar trim will not completely cover the cutouts in the us spec headliner.
Also, you will need to get if possilbe, ca spec seals for around the door opening. A custom job might be easier.
and like Josh said, just pull the little green box out of the trunk to kill the seatbelt light (and charm!).
Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 4:32 am
by fngearhead
I wanted to take photos, really should have. But everytime I grab my digital, the battery is dead and I just really wanted to get this finished. Its fairly obvious what needs to go though. Just remove everything that mounts through the headliner (grab handles, map lights, sun visors, dome light) all plastic trim (A-B pillar, door sills). Let the headliner drop down out of your way. Then get a 10mm and 16 mm socket and go crazy. There are 2 10mm bolts above the track partially hidden by the headliner. Those were fun to get at without mangling the headliner. The belts from a 2nd gen body will fit, but its not perfect. The anchors match, but I think I need to clearance maybe 1/8th inch off the edge of the retractor/body to make the 10mm alignment bolt line up properly. Any other questions, ask away.
Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 11:10 pm
by jnorion
Can you at least get some photos of the finished product at some point?
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 1:58 am
by IronMonkeyL255
to kill the light, you can just remove the seatbelt control unit in the trunk, since they don't have to control anything anymore.
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 2:11 am
by Subtle
The twgn I bought 3 years ago had the power seat belts and I couldn't stand them.
Got 3-point Cdn belts and plastic trim stuff from Saltair Recyclers on Vancouver Island.
These guys are honest and business-like.
Phone Ed at (250) 246-4675
or email:
subaruman2003@hotmail.com
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 3:56 am
by Legacy777
Honestly.....I don't really care about keeping the A-pillar trim pieces with the spots for the existing sliding tracks.....unless the piece I'm think of is built into the contraption.
Yeah....I'd like to see a finished product at least.
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 4:09 am
by jnorion
Legacy777 wrote:Honestly.....I don't really care about keeping the A-pillar trim pieces with the spots for the existing sliding tracks.....unless the piece I'm think of is built into the contraption.
Yeah....I'd like to see a finished product at least.
That's pretty much what I was thinking too... as long as I can remove the actual sliding piece, I don't care about the slots. I'd rather just leave everything where it is and not have to try and match colors and stuff.
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 9:32 pm
by fngearhead
I'll try to get some pics up soon. The A pillar trim only snaps to the body in one place. The other clips fit into the track. Now that its gone, the trim just hangs from the one clip down by the dash and bounces around. Canadian trims or mods are the only way to go. I pulled the wires on the belt controller and the little red guy quit blinking and as an added bonus, no more key beeps.
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 11:18 pm
by Legacy777
Hmm.....I wonder if you could remove just the part that the belt clips into, that way you could leave the track intact and keep the clips where they need to be.
Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 4:10 am
by fngearhead
The track covers the upper anchor bolt. I suppose you could cut the track and keep just what you need.
Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 5:07 am
by jnorion
fngearhead wrote:The track covers the upper anchor bolt. I suppose you could cut the track and keep just what you need.
That at least sounds like the cheapest alternative, if not the best. That way all you need are parts available at the local junkyard. It might take longer to do, but no shipping from Canada.