Seat belt retractor cover

[timski69gmc]

Okay, so I am cleaning my seatbelts up, and going to dye them.
I can get the cover off the retractor itself, but how do you get the belt end through the cover. I wouldn't think the retractor would have to come right apart. Even then, the hole where the belt comes through is pretty narrow.
I have read a bunch of the rebuild threads, etc, but haven't found this step.
It's probably simple, but thought I would seek advice before I break something.