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Hi guys! Important update. @Shoreguy has brought the following issue to my attention. On his car, there is a small sensor that is attached to the inner belt buckle assembly. For some reason this part is missing on mine, which means, if you have this sensor on your car, you will need to modify the part I sent you accordingly.
He will be letting me know how this modification works out for him. Until I hear back from him I will hold the parts I am preparing so that I can add the modifications accordingly before sending them to those of you who still have yet to receive theirs. I will also let the 3D printer guy know so that he can modify his CAD design accordingly for future prints.
Here is what Shoreguy sent me:
Originally Posted by Shoreguy
Hey Gian
Any suggestions what I’m doing wrong? Am I going to have to modify to fit?
Problem is the black sensor housing will not clear. And it seems the support cross piece is to high?
I replied to him that it seems that sensor is missing on my car, and thus he will have to modify his part. Which he did, and this is what he sent me:
Originally Posted by Shoreguy
Hey Gian
The picture I sent you with the sensor was passenger side. I’m wondering if your passenger side is the same as mine?
Besides cutting the corner out for the sensor to fit I had to cut a relief hole for the sensor wire where it exits the back. Just for a better fit of the two halves I cut a recess on the bottom half for better alignment. Here’s some pictures it should work fine we’ll see.
Those of you that have already received the part, @Ledmi @Chirpy@Schrodinger's Cat@MsMaybe98@dfbender, please modify accordingly or, if you are unable to do so, you can send back the part and I will modify it for you at no extra cost to you in shipping.
Last edited by giandanielxk8; Oct 7, 2024 at 06:41 PM.
Look, these parts will obviously work and like most restorations and upgrades you may have to make some modifications and adjustments to make it work. Take your time and make it work they look great and is way way heavier duty than the original so you should never have to do it again. Yea!
BTW… the color of my covers is. warm charcoal or LEG code
I used Duplicolor Trim and Bumper paint in Dark Charcoal and I’m very happy with the match.
Thanks for your feedback! I'm glad the modifications you did worked out. I will be doing this modifications to the batch that I am in the process of preparing to ship.
Hahaha, ouch, I bet you're glad you already have the ones I sent to replace that. Those old buckle covers really were very fragile after the years of heat and UV baked them to brittleness. I wonder if when new they were more resilient?
Quick question, that ruler you used, is it calibrated in mm? Inches? Centimeters?
Last edited by giandanielxk8; Oct 8, 2024 at 09:22 PM.
do you have to remove the seat belt buckles from his attachement on the floor to proceed? Or you are able to work it out without removing it ?
The seatbelt buckles are in fact attached directly to the seat and not to the floor.
If your old buckle is shattered into pieces it's feasible to R&R with the seat in place. However, given that a little modification is needed for the parts I sent, removing the seat is the more precise route for you to get the measurements just right on how much material you have to grind down with the dremel. You could use Shoreguy's measurements in the above posts as a rough guide to do the reductions and attempt to remove and replace in-situ. It might be finicky, but because the bolt holes of the new buckles face the passenger/driver and not the transmission tunnel on the new covers, it makes it possible for you to fit the new cover without having to remove the seat.
Now, if your old cover is mostly intact and not split apart, you will have to remove the seat in order to remove the belt buckle assembly, unless you want to finish destroying the old cover.
Removing the seat is quite easy to do, but it does require some muscle. All it takes is removing the four bolts at the four corners of the seat rail. When unbolting the seat rail, for the front bolts, you need to move the seat all the way back, and for the rear bolts all the way forwards. Then you unplug the module beneath the seat from the wiring harness ( it's two connectors from a harness that extends from the floorpan, you can't miss them). Then the seat comes out. I do warn that it is damn heavy. Easily about 40 kg if not more; it's doable on your own, but you may want someone to help you lift it out of the car for you. If you have a coupe, make sure to fold the backrest forwards when removing the seat otherwise you will not be able to clear the door frame. On the convertible, it's much easier if you lower the top.
Last edited by giandanielxk8; Oct 9, 2024 at 06:54 AM.
Daniel,
I just happened on this thread today and read through it. I noticed a reference that these buckle covers may be available on e-bay eventually. Is this still accurate? I know I am too late for the initial order. I would like to get 4 of them. I have a 2002 XKR and one of my covers has an edge chipped off so I know it is only a matter of time. I would also be interested in the STL file if you ever release it.
Thanks for any info.
Hi guys, please forgive the delay. I have had a lot of school work these past few weeks and have had no time to prep the remaining buckles. I am prepping them today and tomorrow and will ship as many as possible on Monday.
Pertaining the new members interested in buckles. Please wait until I list them on ebay. I will not be sanding and priming future orders that will be sold via ebay for the foreseeable future as it takes too much time that I don't have as a periodontology resident.
I finished sanding all of the pending orders today. Tomorrow I will do the modification that was detailed by Shoreguy and then I will prime all of them. They should be ready to ship by Monday or Tuesday.
This is the progress so far. Not quite ready to ship yet as I still have to modify them so that the sensor fits. Kind of nervous about that. I'm also waiting for that last primer coat to dry.
@NWXKR@mcusick@Grieby@KC XK8@Norri I shipped the parts yesterday. I couldn't get around to making the modification because my dremmel died while I was practicing. I am now in San Diego and decided I didn't want to make you guys wait any longer.
@NWXKR@mcusick@Grieby@KC XK8@Norri I shipped the parts yesterday. I couldn't get around to making the modification because my dremmel died while I was practicing. I am now in San Diego and decided I didn't want to make you guys wait any longer.
It means that there is a small sensor that is not present on my car but is present on most of yours. It requires a small modification of the internal structure of the buckle cover to make the sensor fit. A dremmel with a bur is enough to get it done. Refer to post #102 on this thread so that you can have a guide on modifying it yourself.
Before I was aware of these, I purchased a set (not cheap) from Octoclassic out of Poland. This photo shows my brown original on the far left, the octoclassic in the middle and these on the right. You can see how much more sturdy these are. And the octoclassic feel as cheap and brittle as the original. And you can take these on and off with screws. I’ve got to dremel a bit on mine for the black sensor that I have.
