I can't get the seat belts to pull out far enough to fasten into the buckle before the ratchet catches them. anyone know how to fix this?

Scott

I would dig in and expose the retractor, and observe its operation while extending belt to see if something is amiss.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

If you are lazy, try this trick: use your shop air nozzle to blow into the reel to blast out any / all the dust, fuzz, and crud out of the assembly. I've got good results about 50% of the time. Otherwise, I disassemble to fix like wjajr says. P

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"Louise", a 1976 Dart Custom project, (now sadly reverted to being just an "organ donor" to our other project Darts.)

It really depends on the year, the 1975-1976 models are the better version to have as they use a slightly better pendulum and catch than the 1973 lap belts and the 1974 shoulder 3-point belts in general. I replaced the belts in my 1974 Duster with a 1975 set, since the retractors jammed in them and would hang up even after being belted up, I did what wjajr said to do , but it didn't help (had to leave the cover off to manually futz with the stop and retractor...if you use lube inside the mechanism you may end up wearing it if it's grease, or you may compromise the 40+ year old nylon if WD-40, FYI).

Good Luck,

-D.Idiot

Interestingly, I found that the front belts in our 74 and 75 4-door Darts/Valients had 2 inertial reels per person- lap reel and a shoulder belt reel, but the 1976 Dart 4-door had only the lap reel, with the lap belt being just bolted to the floor. Go figure...

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"Louise", a 1976 Dart Custom project, (now sadly reverted to being just an "organ donor" to our other project Darts.)