Apologies for the apparent fundamental Q everyone but I really don't wanna start yanking on stuff and end up breaking something.

My driver's belt retractor is not cooperating from an operational standpoint and the belt itself is a little disgusting in my opinion. I wanna give them both a good cleaning to see if things can be corrected before moving to replacement ...

However, it appears that the B-pillar trim that conceals the retractor mechanism is quite nicely installed.

The FSM mentions nothing about trim removal procedures.

I've have never, to date, removed any interior trim pieces since the car was new so I'm not certain of the procedures or the fasteners behind the trim piece.

Input please?

 

Remove door sill then lift up rubber door seal from bottom to top. Then pry off bottom panel first. it should be the one over lapping panel trim piece above it. Then pry the panel that the seat belt retractor is located. I think its 2 12mm or 14mm bolts holding it in place. When taking it off remember the sequence of washers and bolts that are in place.

 

^^^ so just run-of-the-mill plastic rivet fasteners behind the trim piece?

... and simple non-mar trim removal tools will suffice?

I'm honesty most concerned about over stressing and scaring the trim ... it's beige, so it'll develop "stretch marks".

Wouldn't happen to know the placement/locations of the fasteners under there would you?

 

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The top seat belt mount has to be removed also. The two buttons that move the mount up and down pop off, revealing the bolt. IIRC the top belt mount comes along with the belt, so it would have to be removed anyway.
Yes, bottom piece comes off first.

I bent my top piece removing the headliner. Its possible to just take off the top by bending back the bottom piece. There are two plastic tubes that fit through the top piece and help hold it in place.