It’s been a while since I removed the door pillar trim on either of my Fiero’s. My goal is to access my seat belt retractor mechanisms at the bottom floor of the car. Where are all the tabs/clips on the trim panel? I don’t want to break any off. Secondly, do I need to remove the seats during all this or can I just move them full forward in the seat tracks? Thanks, Kit
I don't think you have to remove the A-pillar trim to get to the retractor. The retractor is in the B-pillar trim, which actually goes over the A-pillar trim, at the rear. To get the B-pillar trim out, you have to remove a screw from the door jamb, at about beltline level, and the metal loop at the top. (Big Torx bit. Sorry... don't remember the size.)
I only remember this stuff because I had to remove my A-pillar trim, and re-situate the B-pillar trim, in order to get my headliner board out. I didn't have to remove my seats, but I wasn't going after the retractors, either.
To directly answer your question, the A-pillar trim has tabs that slide into slots above the window. It has to be slid down and towards the outside of the car, in order to disengage the clips. There is also a plastic clip that is about halfway down the A-pillar. All of it is a PITA to get to.
Yes thats helps. I just installed mine, no need to remove the seats, just pull them forward. Pull the seatbelt back out of the grooves when the panel is loose and you can take it out. With the install I had some struggle getting the panel flush on the upper backwindowside but found out that the sleeve on the upper seatbelt bolt acts a bit as a bolt and can be used to put some preload on the panel so the panel pulls to the side when the bolt is torqued.
Here is the back of the retractor assembly. As for seat belt maintenance, I had thoroughly cleaned these a number of years ago (fully saturated them in soap & water) so this time around I simply saturated a terry towel in Simple Green and wiped the webbing back and forth. Afterwards, I lubricated the ratchet shafts with Tri-Flow.
[This message has been edited by Kitskaboodle (edited 02-12-2022).]
Regarding the pillar trim: I can’t emphasize enough that for the upper portion of the pillar trim that has the plastic “post” fastener, do not pull it away from the interior wall (like your pulling it toward the interior of the car) , it needs to be pulled toward the FRONT of the car. Basically, this trim piece is removed by pulling it toward the front of the car. Otherwise, you will break stuff!
Ok, drivers side seat belt project is done. As expected, the pillar door trim removal / reinstallation was the harder part of this job. Now that the seat belt has been cleaned and ratchet shafts lubricated, the tension is now stronger when you are belted. This was my main goal for the project. Kit
