Howdy. The seat release lever on the passenger side of my 69 coupe does not release, and the seat does not travel forward. It is stuck all the way rearward.

I need to move the seat forward so that I may unbolt it, remove it, and fix the problem.

The mounting bolts do not have nuts on the end, they are screwed into a mounting plate. So unbolting from the bottom is not possible.

Obviously can't see under the seat, as it is about 1/2" off the floor. I don't know if the lever is broken at the end or if the track and the glide are rust-welded together.

Does anyone have any clever, non-destructive ideas on how to get the release lever latch to, well, release?

 

The release mechanism is a simple cog/tooth that prevents seat movement. There are several 'detents' along the tracks that can engage this cog. The lever is spring-loaded, so that any movement after release of the lever will cause the seat to "latch" in the next detent.

Problems with your seat can be:

Mechanism is rusted so that the lever will not release;

Mechanism is damaged so that it CANNOT release;

The lever is no longer attached to the cog mechanism so that the lever has no action to release the seat.

I would offer the approach I would use in your situation:

1. Try to diagnose exactly what is wrong with the latching mechanism. Use a small, bright LED light and a small mechanic's mirror to look over the mechanism (which is at the front of the seat). Move the lever during inspection to see what moves and what does not.

2. If rusted, use PB Blaster and the long extension tube to shoot liberal amount of penetrant on the offending areas. This probably needs to be done several times over a day or more to get rusted 'stuff' loose.

3. If the release mechanism functions, but the seat will not move, your problem could be one of the seat rails being rusty and not allowing seat movement...even though the release has been accomplished. In this case, hold the release lever "ON" while using a length of 2x4 stood vertically behind the seat as leverage to force movement of the seat. Shooting PB Blaster on the rails BEFORE trying this is a good idea, also.

Goodlluck!

 

Hi sd,
What position is the release lever currently in?
'Lock' or' Release'?
Can you move it against the spring's tension but it doesn't unlock the track or is it stuck in the unlock position but the track won't move?
Regards,
Alan

 

Hi Alan,
Thanks for your input. I did manage to lift the front edge of the seat up, and fit a piece of 2 x 4 under the mounting brackets. This allowed me to (no kidding) stand on my head and look under the seat, illuminated by a high brightness LED flashlight.

Let me clarify, the lever works as a lever should, and the spring pulls it back into place. So I am left either with rusty tracks, OR the ball end of the lever is broken off in the receptacle on the track.

I'm betting on rust, as the head standing exercise proved to be illuminating. In that my head got wet from squishing the carpet with the aforementioned fat head. The car was out in the rain a couple of weeks ago, and it apparently found its way into the seat well. I presume this may have happened once or twice over the past 47 years, so the rust theory prevails.

Tomorrow I shall apply PB blaster..

Again, thank you for your input.

 

Hi Alan

24 hours after the PB Blaster drenching, the seat track came loose. With a mighty big grunt....

 

Hi Sd,
Well that's VERY good news!
Sounds like 7T1's suggestion #2 was the answer!
Regards,
Alan