The seat belt buckle/receiver on the passenger side of my 00 Protege broke. First the plastic housing kept getting knocked off, then one day while the housing was off someone smashed the release button off. As I was attempting to put everything back together, the whole unit started falling apart. Once springs started flying out of the thing I decided it was time to purchase an new one. Luckily only a $20 part since there is no electrical connector on that side.

Does anyone know if it's 100% necessary to remove the seat? There is some plastic trim between the buckle assembly and the seat that I'm not quite sure how to remove. I'm sure it would be easier with the seat off.

I read around that there are only 4 x 14MM bolts holding the seat on. Does anyone have any specific instructions in regards to locating these bolts? Would these usually be covered by some sort of trim?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

 

I think you make this more complicated than it is. you have the car, just go and look.

The bolts go into the holes right at the floor, similar to this: