The Final Word on Dino GT4 Seat Belt Repair | FerrariChat

The Final Word on Dino GT4 Seat Belt Repair

Discussion in '308/328' started by oelboxer, Mar 22, 2019.

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  1. oelboxer

    oelboxer Karting
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    #1 oelboxer, Mar 22, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2019
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    As many Dino 308 GT4 owners know, the seat belt receivers are problematic. Commonly referred to as "exploding seat belts," the receivers can quickly become useless when the delicate plastic cover surrounding the PRESS labeled release button cracks, and the internal parts spill out. When I bought my GT4, the driver's seat belt receiver was held together with copious amounts of duct tape, while the passenger side was totally inop. I searched for a replacement set of receivers for six months and found nothing. I was determined to keep the car as original as possible, so the idea of buying the completely incorrect and modern-looking replacement seat belt kit wasn't appealing to me. On top of that, installation involves the arduous process of removing the back seat and drilling out all of the side panel rivets in order to access the seat belt reels. It seemed ridiculous to rip out the entire factory system and replace it with incorrect belts and receivers when all I needed were two receivers or the parts to repair them. At one point, Sltillim (Spencer) attempted to do a short 3D printed run of the plastic covers, which would have allowed us to repair our old receivers, but it proved unfruitful.

    It just didn't seem possible that there was nothing out there to keep the car original. I began researching the DIno belts, looking for any piece of info that might lead me to some parts. I discovered that the original belts for US cars were manufactured by Robbins, a well known and often used maker of safety belts in the '70s. So I started researching other companies who used Robbins belts in that time period. GM was a biggie, and I found a belt that looked exactly like the DIno belt. Jackpot, or so I thought. I ordered a receiver. When it arrived I tested it in the car and found that the Dino male section would go into the receiver but never click to lock. Then I tried it in the back seats and it worked perfectly. I had never before realized that the front and back seat belts were slightly different - the make ends on the front seat belts were approx 4mm longer than the rears. This extra 4mm was south of the square hole that locks the belt in place, which meant the GM pieces were too shallow, by 4mm. Discouraged, I kept digging. I found that VW had utilized Robbins seat belts, as well. Many image searches later, I found a Volkswagen belt that looked perfect, down to being what looked like 3-4mm taller. The belt only appeared in 72-73 Beetles. I found a set, ordered them, and was so happy when I heard the sound of that click that meant the belt was locked.

    So that's the long of it. If you want to keep your Dino GT4 original, and want to repair your original belts without having to take apart the entire car, read the step-by-step tutorial I threw together.
     
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  2. oelboxer

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    It's pretty easy to do this repair. It takes a little patience but not at all difficult.

    The first thing to do is to remove the little plastic cover from your donor VW seat belt. To do this, I found the best tool was a very small flat head screwdriver. There are four small tabs that hold the plastic cover in place, and you can see in the photo below the orientation of these tabs. Popping the upper tabs first seemed to work well. They're a little more delicate than the lower tabs so I found it best to minimize the stress on them. Use the photo as a guide to where you need to push the tabs so they release. Once I released one side of the top, I stuck another screwdriver in the gap to keep the cover from just popping back in while I worked on the other side. The photo at the very bottom shows the seat belt shell so that you can get a better idea of where the locking tabs sit when installed, and where you need to gently pry.
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  3. oelboxer

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    One the cover is safely off the donor belt, you'll have the following parts. The image below shows what order and orientation the parts fit into your seat belt shell. Transfer the parts over to your Dino shell and install them in this order. Of course, if your original Dino parts look better than the VW parts, use them instead. I picked the best of each to make the nicest complete belt possible.
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  4. oelboxer

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    Finally, with the inner pieces sitting in the seat belt shell, you can click the plastic cover into place. I found it easiest to lay the pieces into the shell, then with my finger through the hole of the plastic cover I pressed the button all the way in, the clicked the cover into place. Super easy! Now you have your seat belts back, and with far less expense and work than replacing the entire reel and buckle assembly. And if you're anything like me you love keeping things original and correct.
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  5. oelboxer

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    Finally, if your plastic/rubbery seat belt support cover was as trashed as mine was, I was interested in seeing if I could restore that part, as well. As it turned out, I was able to modify the VW covers to almost perfectly match the original Dino pieces. As you can see from this photo, they are very close to identical at the top, but the VW part is much longer and ends in a finished off, rounded piece. The Dino part ends more abruptly with a simple bolt hole at the bottom. My answer was to trim the VW part to mimic the Dino part. To remove the cover sleeve from the VW belt, you have to deal with a small rivet near the base. Since I was cutting that part away anyway, I just popped the plastic from the rivet with a screwdriver. A simple tracing was plenty to get the exact trim my Dino pieces had. Then I drilled the bolt hole out and it was a nearly perfect match.
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    Above you can see that the cover sleeves are almost identical except for the length and the way the ends are finished.

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    Below, you can see the finished product on the left, along with the raggedy remnants on the right.

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  6. sltillim

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    I made a 3-D printed cad model and sent them to verrel to make a production replacement. I’ll check with him to see where hes at.
     
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  7. kiwiokie

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    Any update from Verrel?


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  8. Verell

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    Actively under development.
    I took delivery of an EPAX-X1-JD Resin 3D printer last week. The first Ferrari part I tried printing was the belt buckle cover.
    It seemed a good part to use as a test case. My intent was to verify I could print it, then use a copy of the CAD drawing to make CAD drawings for the production mold.

    Unfortunately as you can see, i was only partially successful & am trying to figure out what caused these problems: Also, obviously I used massive overkill on the number of supports!
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    As you can see there's a flaw to the left of the button opening!
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    A side view reveals a void inside the cover, and a V shaped groove along the top edge. Not visible in the pictures is a similar V-groove along the bottom edge.

    What's puzzling is that I can't see these problems in the CAD file I received from sltillim.

    I'm going to cut this one apart tomorrow & see if the shape of the internal void provides some clues.

    My current suspicion is something went wrong when I saved the CAD drawing in the format for printing. so II'll be e xamining that file to see if I can spot the problems as well.

    I probably won't be able to make much progress until the week after Christmas as we have lots of family stuff happening & Unobtainium takes big chunks of my time.

    Will try to keep you posted.
     
  9. kiwiokie

    kiwiokie Formula 3

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    Thanks for the update Verell. Resin pipe organ is impressive :). Technology is remarkably accurate and repeatable once you can get it to the point that it works!


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  10. robertgarven

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    Great job by all!!

    I could use new PRESS stickers!
     
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  11. kiwiokie

    kiwiokie Formula 3

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  12. robertgarven

    robertgarven F1 Veteran
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  13. Verell

    Verell F1 Veteran
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    That's fer shure. I've been getting lots of experience with TurboCAD on this project. Had forgotten a lot since the last time I used it.(sigh).

    NOTE: Experience is what you get when things don't work the way you expected.

    Anyway, I had a couple of break-throughs on the buckle bezel this week. STillim sent me a CAD file that I've been able to use to print a good buckle, also I've finally figured out how the bezel CAD design was put together. Tonight, (well, guess it's this AM now) I believe I've got a CAD file I can use to 3D print the first half of a mold. If all g oes well I'll be printing it all day tomorrow.
     
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  14. kiwiokie

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    Excellent news. Hope the printing goes well.


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  15. kiwiokie

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    Any update on the 3D printing process?


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  16. Verell

    Verell F1 Veteran
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    I finally finished printing a pattern for the mold half toat makes the bezel's bottom. Once I have the bottom mold, I can mount one of the parts on top of it & make the mold for the top. I should have the 1st parts by the end of the month.

    I'm also waiting on STillim to send me a buckle with the puxhbutton & spring so I can test to make sure everything fits together with my bezels.
     
  17. kiwiokie

    kiwiokie Formula 3

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    I can send you mine if you wish as they are removed from the car right now and two are already disassembled.


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  18. Verell

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    The bottom silicone mold half will be poured this afternoon for overnight cure, & hopefully the top half will be poured tomorrow. If all goes well I’ll have a part to test Friday afternoon.

    I received STillim's buckle so I can verify the fit.

    If the test part is good I’ll start work on a four cavity mold next week, & should be able to supply a few bezels from the first mold.
     
  19. Verell

    Verell F1 Veteran
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    3 forward, 3 back 8^{

    3 forward: I finally have a molld & these are the first parts out of i t.

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    3 back: Each time I tried inserting a bezel into the buckle I would break off one of the round posts(sigh). - Yes, I broke all 3 of the ones pictured.

    I'm 3D printing a couple to make sure that the printed ones can fit into the buckle., then can complare them to some more cast ones.
     
  20. kiwiokie

    kiwiokie Formula 3

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    Nothing’s ever easy! Thank you for your persistence.


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  21. Verell

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    I figured out the problem. The bezels are a bit too large front (tongue side) to back(strap side)!! The width side to side is fine.
    The 3D printed ones I got from STillim are also too large which is why my molded ones are oversize.

    So I have to back way up & essentially start over!! Fortunately I kept good design notes for most of the steps.
    First step will be to figure out what the dimensions need to be, then print out a few to verify the new dimensions.
     
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  22. Verell

    Verell F1 Veteran
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    I've had several inquiries about progress on this project.
    Bottom line is that I've had to put it on hold due to COVID19.

    Unobtainium is now basically a 1 person show as my faithful assistant is sheltering at home (as am I). Just trying to stay on top of orders for current products & customer correspondence is about all I can do.

    Seems like everyone sheltering in place is working on their Ferrari!!! Business is good, but I'm over a month behind on orders for some items!!!

    It hasn't helped that my computer died & I lost ALL of Unobtainium's files! I'm slowly recovering them, but it's not fun.
    I just verified that I have recovered the CAD & 3D printing files for this project(WHEW!!).

    I do hope to get back to this project, but I think it'll be in late fall.
     
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  23. sltillim

    sltillim Formula 3
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    i know you did a lot of work on top of mine, but let me know if you need my 3d files.
     
  24. Verell

    Verell F1 Veteran
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    stillim, I still have the files
    When I 3D print parts from the .STL you sent me they come out just enough oversize to not fit the buckle. IIRC about 1.5mm oversize! BTW, the parts you so kindly sent me are also oversize by the same amount so it isn't my 3d printer.

    Would be a simple scaling edit using TurboCAD.. However, for some reason TurboCAD can't properly import them without losing lots of the top's texture pieces. I spent 2 or 3 days trying to recreate the texturing but was still having problems ((sigh). That's when I put it on the shelf. Then corona-virus hit & my assistant can't come to work so I'm running flat out on orders for existing products. Seems everyone sheltering in place is working on their Ferrari & wanting parts!!! Currently I"m about 6 weeks behind on orders for several items!!!

    I've got a convoluted work-around figured out using my slicing tool, but since it doesn't give me dimensions, just a slider for scaling it's going to take several trials to re scale to the correct size. Hopefully things will slow down & I can get back to it.
     
  25. sltillim

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    Yeah, I paid someone to replicate that texture in a digital format. It was beyond basic skills.
     

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