It has been a recent (and recurring) thread on the Karmann Ghia mailing list concerning the poor performance of the aging retractable seatbelts in late Karmann Ghia's.  Various list members have mentioned that they would be interested in any kind of replacement for the stock belts to regain usefulness and safety.  Others mentioned that they had seen retractor that looked similar or identical to those found in Karmann Ghia's, but were unsure of the details.

First off, I just want to let everyone know that I have no formal training in engineering or automotive safety.  Everything you'll read here is based on observations of various hardware components, and my own personal opinion that they will function as a system when put in a different car.  I assume no responsibility whatsoever over what anyone chooses to do with this information, yada yada yada.

I had the chance recently to peruse the seatbelt stock of a local Porsche dismantler, EASY (European Auto Salvage Yard) in Emeryville, CA.  With a little inspection, a few quick notes, some tracings and some advice from the employees there, I've put together a bit of information that I believe will help others in their quest for replacement belts.  I've also gathered a further information from the local pick'n'pull yards, catalogs and suggestions from other interested parties.

While at EASY the first thing I noticed was that the retractors on just about every used Porsche seatbelt were functionally identical to the various sets I've seen or owned in late Ghia's.  There are slightly different part numbers listed on the plastic sides, but otherwise they are -almost- indistinguishable.  First, lets start with the Karmann Ghia seatbelt, below is a picture of one of my spares:

As you can see above, this is a side view of the retractor.  The belt unrolls upward, while the "L" shaped bracket is bolted down to the horizontal shelf that holds and locates the base for the back seat.  It is held down by a single large bolt with a 17 MM ATF (across the flats) head.

To the best of my knowledge, the "L" bracket is Karmann Ghia specific.  There are different brackets used in Bug's and type 3's.  If you don't already have the bracket necessary for the car you own, you'll need to find it first. Now here's the good news:  The bracket unbolts completely from the retractor, allowing you to bolt it onto a different mechanism.  The bracket doesn't suffer from age like the nylon webbing and spring/pawl mechanisms.  So if you have old noisy, rusty clunky retractor mechanisms or stiff, stained, torn or frayed nylon webbing, you can unbolt the old retractor from the existing L bracket, and bolt on a new one.  Well, not new really, but newer.

Here are two pictures that show how and where the "L" bracket is bolted to the retractor body:

Above shows the lower portion of the retractor, showing the two bolt heads holding the pieces together.

A close up shot of the two bolts.  Notice that there is a center hole that is not being used.  This is how the retractor is bolted into certain other cars.

Now lets talk about the differences between the Porsche seatbelts and the Karmann Ghia models that we'll be replacing.  The first main difference is what kind of "Male" end they use, the part that goes into the receptacle bolted to the tunnel.  The bug/ghia male end has a round hole for the locking pin, as you'll see below:

Above the hole is stamped the manufacturer's model number for the part, Repa 01.80054.0

I've verified that the part numbers are an identical match between the stock Ghia belts I'm running and some of the Porsche belts that I found.  Specifically, it seems that most 914's use this male end, and some early 911's.  ( I found this type of male end still bolted in parts cars in a number of 914's, a '72 911, and a few 911's that I couldn't find a date stamp.)

UPDATE: I've also recently found the same type retractor with this Male end in a '75 Audi, a '73 Bug and a '73 Squareback.  I also spotted this male end in '76-77 BMW 530i's that still had the retractor concealed behind the side panels of the car.  It's VERY likely that these may be usable, but would require further disassembly of the car for verification.

While I was at EASY, I was jotting down notes and tracing/drawing various parts to further clarify what I found.  This is a direct trace of the same male end, and I've put guide markers on the paper showing length and width in inches for reference:

The 914 belts that I looked at have a special belt guide to keep the nylon webbing from twisting and coming out incorrectly.  It is a piece of round bar stock that is formed and welded, then chrome plated. It is mounted with the retractor behind the seat pad.   If you choose to use a 914 belt in a Ghia, you'll need to cut off this belt guide.  UPDATE: According to the Automotion catalog the '72-79 911's and the '73-76 914's used the same belt.  I'm told the '70-72 914 Seatbelts were non-retractable.  Automotion is offering rebuilt retractable seatbelts at considerable price.  I don't know if the 911 version is built with the chrome belt guide or not, or if the originals used them.  Here is a trace of it:

Then we come to another style male end, which I found in a '79 924 and and a '78 928, and possibly later 911's:

As you can see, it is a much different design.  It is a Repa model 00004333

Then we come to the third design, which may be the most useful of them all.  This was used on later 924's and 928's:

As you can see, it's almost identical to the original KG/914/911 design, except it has a rectangular locking pin hole.  This type of belt was found in an '80 and '83 924, and a '80 928 among others.  Repa Model number 00007797.  They are numerous and easy to find, and used on younger cars.

So now we have three different male ends that have been put on to identical retractors.  You can't put the wrong male end into any female receptacle other than the model it was designed for, and you can't change the male end without taking apart the belt and having it professionally re-stiched.  Here's the second bit of luck:  the female ends are also functionally identical to the stock tunnel mounted KG version, even though they look quite different.  Below are two pictures of the stock KG female end:

The Porsche versions have the same sized mounting bolt hole, and have a virtually identical length.  You can easily replace the female end with the Porsche design to match whichever belt you get.

Update:  there are a number of cars that have the same type retractors but two male ends that differ from those above.  As with the others, it's possible you might be able to use them but I CANNOT find a suitable female end to match.  The female ends are very short and bolted to the seat, not to the tunnel or other portion of the car.  These include (but not limited to): '76 Scirrocco, '81-82 Scirrocco, '82-83 Jetta, '79 Audi, '82 Quantum.  Unless someone finds a workable solution, you might as well skip these.  Here are some tracings:

The main reason I'm providing this information is to remind interested parties to inspect all portions of the system -before- purchasing the belts.

So now that problem is taken care of, there is one other small item.  The back side on all of the Porsche retractors have a locating pin to help keep them oriented correctly in the car.  The Karmann Ghia retractor doesn't need this pin as it has two bolts to locate the retractor in a vertical position.

In order to mount a Porsche retractor in a Karmann Ghia, you'll need to remove that pin.  Below is a picture showing the backside of the KG retractor: 

Notice the small black hole a few inches above the "L" bracket mounting bolt ends.  This is where the locating pin is mounted on the Porsche retractor.  It's a threaded hole, and the pin is screwed into it.

Some pins have a head on them with a flat top and can be unscrewed with a flat head screwdriver.  Other pins have a point on them, and I guess you would have to remove them with a set of vice grips or some similar method.

So now we have the basics of a core knowledge.  We have a source for replacement seatbelts that is at -least- 9 years younger (using 1974 as the youngest Karmann Ghia, and the 1983 924 that was the youngest 924 I found with appropriate belts).  I'm going to continue updating this web site as new information comes in, certainly if anyone has or finds any further information they'd think is useful, please pass it along to me by clicking HERE.   Next time you're at a junkyard, dismantler or pull-your-own-part type of establishment, pop your head into a few european cars and see what stuff they have, and what year they are.

There are a few other question that I haven't had the time to answer.  To start with, there's a chance that the belt LENGTH is different on the various cars.  Before purchasing some new belts, you should make sure that they are at least as long as the stock belts.  A quick measurement of one of my spare belts shows a belt length between 8 and 9 feet.  Another question that's worth answering is whether or not the belts might be available NEW.  I've always assumed that nobody (including the original manufacturer) would bother to continue manufacturing seatbelts that were only used for about three years on a Karmann Ghia.  Now that we know that the same type of retractor was used on 911's, 914's, 924's, 928's and who knows what else, there's a chance someone out there may be making them, perhaps even Repa themselves.

As a side note, if anyone is interested in where I gathered my information, EASY is located on 4060 Harlan Street, Emeryville, CA.  94608.  (510) 653-3178, ask for Jim or Spencer.  I've no affiliation with them, but they're good people.  I was quoted a price of $50 per belt when I was there.  What price do you put on safety?