DIY Seat Belt Replacement - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Since no one was able to supply me with a DIY guide to install my red seat belts, I decided to make my own. I did some reading on rennlist about 996's and 987's seatbelt replacement and I then tackled the job. Here is my overly detailed DIY Guide to Seat Belt Replacement I have only supplied the photographed dissembling of the OEM seat belts, just reverse the photo process and that will complete the project. Time Required: 30 MIN for two belts Tools Needed: Torque Wrench, to replace the bolts at 36lbs Metric Wrench Set : 8mm, 17mm Flathead and Phillips Screwdriver BEFORE STARTING DISCONNECT THE BATTERY! FAILURE TO DO SO WILL RESULT IN FAULT CODES AND FAILURE LIGHTS UPON DISCONNECTING WIRES ******************************* >Step One: Remove the Cover Remove the screw holding on the lower part of the cover Next, Loosen the small bolt holding on the upper part of the cover Pull the Cover Strait up to expose the Seatbelt Mechanism **The Order Does Not matter, but I removed the Mechanism Last and I am going to reflect that here. >Step Two: Unbolt Upper and Lower Harness Mounts Pop open the cover and unbolt the top section of the harness. Next, Pop off the cover and unbolt the lower section of the harness. ***CONTINUED***

>Step Three: Unbolt and Remove Seatbelt Mechanism Slide the Orange switch outward to Unlock the wire harness. Then, gently pull off the harness Next, Unbolt the Mechanism After removal of the bolt the Mechanism is still held on my a 3/4 inch "rod" To remove, pull away and outward from the roll bar. There is JUST enough room to do this. Thats It!!! These are the parts left over required to install new seat belts Overall this was a really, really, easy job. I hope I have motivated some of you to replace your seat belts with some new fancy ones. Good Luck

Dude, nice write up! Very thorough and easy to understand. Good point on disconnecting the battery, i bet most people wouldn't think to do that for changing out the seatbelts. peace Larez2

Excellent writeup! I've been contemplating blue seatbelts for a while now. I wish I had known it was that easy, I would have probably already done it.

nice writeup man, but put it in the DIY section for easy find when someone else needs this

I've got this to do this weekend so thanks for the heads up. What size bolts are they that I need to remove? I've only got a limited set of spanners etc and don't want to find myself taking the car apart only to find I don't have the right spanner and can't drive the car to the DIY shop to buy a new spanner as its in pieces Cheers

Sorry I don't remember, The three large bolts are all the same, just pop off the cap that covers the lower harness bolt and see if you got one that fits. Also, you can see the small bolt with taking anything apart. You can check that too. Let me know what the sizes are and I will edit my original post and put it in. Thanks

Small bolt is 8mm Larger bolts are 17mm

HELP Whilst changing my seat belts to some red ones I picked up all was going well until I went to remove the main bolt on the passengers belt: I've rounded the bolt as whomever tightened this has done it ridiculously tight. Any tips or advice?

davej_anderson wrote: > I've rounded the bolt as whomever tightened this has done it ridiculously tight. > Any tips or advice? Dremel tool. -- peer

the last resort but it may just have to be that

I would only worry about getting the bolt off, I'm sure you can get a replacement from Porsche once it is off. Plus, I would not feel safe without it torqued down correctly. btw, try some pliers or a crescent wrench.

Well I bought myself a set of these: In essence its a normal socket that fits on the end of a ratchet with spiral teeth with a reverse thread. I soaked the bolt with penetrating fluid and after about a minute or 2 of swearing and cursing, the bolt finally gave way. I have no idea how strong the booga was who put this on - I'm hardly a svelte chap and it took some effort to release. Having looked at the damage I had caused to the bolt, its actually a very soft metal which I found strange. Oh well, just need to get a new bolt now...

where's the "after" picture?

In reply to the hard to get unstuck comment, just get a pipe to slip over your wrench next time. Leverage makes an impossible bolt easy to release with the addition of 6 inches.

where did you order your fancy new seatbelts? price?

Hi I am new and I am trying to find red seatbealts for my 2000 Boxster, do you know where I can get it.

thank you for this DIY it was helpful when I swapped out my tired black belts for new red ones to match my Guards Red. I actually couldn't find belts for my model year 2003 Boxster but did find some for the earlier Boxster without the connection to the airbag sensor. I was able to swap the black belt in the original retractor to the red belt taken out of the replacement retractor so I still have the functions per my model year plus shiny new red belts! It took only ~30 minutes. eBay 2pcs Red Retractable 3 Point Fix Safety Seat Belt Vehicle Seatbelt Fit Juke Total: $65.59