Can anyone tell me what to use to take up the space for the fix for our rocking seat? I am going to fix mine soon, and if I take things apart and don't have the right parts around the garage, I am gonna be upset. My vett is my only vehicle and I don't feel like biking to Home Depot

I remember seeing washers used and other homemade pieces.

Grazie!

Rob

 

Washers will work. In fact, anything will be better than the rubber GM uses.

Be aware, though, that the area the washers need to fit is not completely round and you'll need to file/grind one edge.

Charlie

 

http://robbs.js-x.com/ken/vette1/

 

I have all the info on how to do the fix, but none of the info says what SIZE washers are being used. This is what I need to know before I begin.

Thanks for the input!

 

I found all the info I needed doing a " Rocking Seat " search!

Much thanks!

 

Search for Lowes nylon spacers. There is a GREAT post in here that has a MUCH simpler repair method and uses nylon spacers rather than metal washers which I suspect is less stressful on the seat rails.

Charlie

 

Oops. wrong name. here's the entire post. sorry

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Well, after doing this fix I had done an extensive search over the forum for all the details to do this the most effective way. So I thought I'd consolidate the pertinent details from several posts in order to make it easy for the future "rockers" out there! So here they are w/ the appropriate kudos for all the authors. I've added some of my own pics to illustrate too and a few comments. Overall the fix worked great for me and I included a specific pic of the actual nylon washers I bought at Lowes to make it easy to find them. Enjoy all!

Prosecutor's comments for seat removal:

The seat is held in place by four bolts. The two front bolts / nuts are covered by plastic caps. Pull pins on the plastic caps and pull caps forward to expose front bolts. I don't recall the size of the bolt / nuts ...but it is a standard size.

Loosen and remove the front bolt things. Move the front seat all the way forward on the track to reach the rear bolts, loosen and remove.

Tilt the sear toward the center console to expose the wiring. It's just a male and female plug. Look at it and figure out how to unclip it. You can just see how it works. You can lift the seat out easily if the coupe or vert top is off. Be careful not to hit the interor or paint with the seat tracks.


Here's DADE01's comments:

1. Remove the four bolts that hold the seat to the car. 15 mm socket.
( move the seat all the way back to remove the front bolts, then
move the seat all the way to the front to remove the rear bolts.)
2. Raise the rear of the seat as high as it will go. This is needed to get
to the rear # 40 torx bolt.
The torx bolts are hard to get to. I had to use a vise grip clamped to
the torx to get them loose. My torx set is for a socket ratchet.
You may be able to find the ones that look like an allen wrench.
3. Before you remove the seat move it to the middle of the track.
4. Disconnect the electrical connector. Hard to do. Took as much time
as all above.
5. Remove the seat. I placed mine upside down on a card table.
Had a piece of cardboard on the floor so not to get the top of the
seat dirty.
6. Most Important step. Make some marks with a marker on the tracks
were the two #20 torx bolts are.
I ran a line from one side to the other. Making a line on both sliding
tracks.
This will help you get the tracks back in alignment. I did not do this
on the first seat and had a lot of trouble getting them back in
were they were to start. Will bind and seat will not move.
7. Remove the two # 20 torx bolts. ( do one track at a time )
8. Remove the # 40 torx.
9. Now you can remove the screw track. Move the tracks back and
forth, it will slide out. You do not have to take the tracks apart.
10. Unthread the silver block. You can also try counting turns, It will get
you close to were you began. I also wrapped some electrical tape
around the screw rod to help get back to the same spot.
You will see the destroyed rubber stops that cause the rocking and
slop in the track.
11. I used nylon washers 3 each side in each block. I put two in
front and one in back of the silver block. There still will be a little
movement but none is noticed when back in use.
Got the washers from Ace hardware. I took the whole thing down
to Ace and fitted washer till I was happy with the fit.
Size of washers are 7/16 screw 3/4 OD .440 ID. 25 cents each.
12. I also used some bearing grease to repack the block. Had that.
13. Thread the silver block back on the screw rod.
14. Slide the screw rod back in the tracks, you will have to move the tracks back and forth to get it back in place.
15. You will see it needs to go in a bushing and a little rod fits in a slot from the motor that runs the seats.
16. Your marks should line up. If not pull the whole thing out and adjust the block until it lines up. ( a real pain, but if you don't the seat will bind.)
17. Do the other side.
18. Reinstall seat.


Here's Ken Robb's awesome detailed pics/instructions link, but remember that it's no longer necessary to remove those white ***** per DADE01's comments:

http://robbs.js-x.com/ken/vette1/

Here's Comtrans' addendum to Dade01's comments:

1. I ran a piece of masking tape from the side of bottom track over the top track and down the other side. I then cut the tape between the two tracks to assure correct realignment when finishing the job.

2. A friend told me that the reason for the rubber in the original block was to cushion the movement. If you put metal washers in instead of the nylon that Dade01 suggests, you would have a metal to metal movement that could cause the block to break.

3. I did use a torque bit that was shaped like and allen wrench to get the #40 bolt out. I could not fit a socket in. This fit right in and saved a lot of time. I got this at Auto Zone.

4. By mistake, I left the seat all of the way forward when I disconnected the power. This ended up working in my favor though, when I took the threaded shaft out it was all of the way to the end and made for much easier realignment.


Now, here's my comments w/ pics on this. Yes, I was rocking the night away on this one baby!

1) Comtrans was right on the money about keeping the seat all the way forward prior to disconnecting the power connector. Even though I did his masking tape thing on the tracks (illustrated below), it turned out it was unnecessary IF you kept the seat all the way forward as that silver block is all the way at the end. Thus, when u reinstall it on the screw shaft, just screw it all the way to the end again. You won't need to mark anything that way and both screw shafts will be equally aligned on reinstallation. However, if one left the seat between all the way forward or back, then the tape deal is a necessity for alignment.

My pics w/ comments:

Below is one of the tracks before I unscrewed the #20 torx screws:
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v433/berryj/CIMG1114.jpg
[/IMG]


Here is the tape on the track before removing the #20 screws to keep alignment just right. Turns out it wasn't really necessary as stated above:



Here's the tape cut w/ an exacto knife and separated after removing the #20 bolts:



Here's the #40 torx almost all the way out:



Nice pic of the screw shaft within the track. That silver block is located where the 2 #20 torx bolts are:



This is the screw shaft after removal from inside the track. Note that it is all the way at the end due to the seat being all the way forward on removal from the car. ALWAYS remember to remove one shaft at a time to avoid confusing which one is on which side of the seat:



This is the silver block after I had installed the nylon washer in it:



This is a pic of the Lowe's nylon washer's I needed to do the job complete w/ the dimensions so u can find them yourself. You only need one per silver block, for a total of 4 to do both seats. I used my drill w/ a 7/16 bit to core them out a bit to fit the screw shaft. I used my vise grips to hold the nylon washer on its side so I could drill it out. You have to be a bit generous w/ the drill bit and work the bit from side to side as the screw shaft is slightly bigger than 7/16. I then used a small round metal file to smooth out the inside of the washer:



I did repack each silver block w/ grease, but I also greased the other various metal parts under the seat as well.

I figured while I had the seats out, I might as well do the Reflectix insulation deal as my wife keeps complaining how hot the car gets inside. Overall, this stuff seemed to delay the amount of time it took for the interior to heat up, but it still will heat up after a 2 hr cruise keeping in mind I have LT headers and high flow cats putting out some serious heat. I think I'll have to line the underside of the tunnel sometime to eliminate more heat. Here's a couple bonus pics of that:



By the way, does anyone know what this plug is for? I'm talking about the plug at the bottom of the tunnel where it meets the metal floor. It wasn't attached to anything, but I think it would be for active handling if I had it. It didn't come w/ my 99 vert.

Hope u all enjoyed this little presentation and summary of the rocking seat fix. If I left someone out in the kudos, my apologies. No more rocking seats!
__________________


Charlie

 

Crusemon,

I copied and printed this post earlier today! I appreciate your help though. I do wonder if the nylon washers will hold up or end up like whatever GM used in the first place.

Thanks again!

Rob

 

The original buffer was rubber. You may have found bits of rubber on the carpet. The nylon provides some shock absorbing action with greater resistance to damage but not as rigid as the metal washers which I am concerned would put excessive shock load on the rest of the mechanism.

Charlie

 

I see your point. Nylon washers it will be. I see the size that was used so I think I am all set!

Thanks Charlie!

 

I just repaired my rocking chairs last night. Nylon washers from ACE #NYXH. I used 2 per rail, 4 per seat. I reviewed all the reports and improvements and took the following route. This is an easy fix. 1) While the seat is still in the car, raise it the highest position. 2) Run it all the way forward. 3) Remove seat from the car. 4) Do not split the rails. Wrap rail with masking tape and then cut it with a razor for future reference point. Remove the 2 small screws torx-25. 5) Remove the large bolt torx 40 with torx 40 held by vise grips. 6) Tip seat over so front edge is up. 7) With a screw driver push the jack screw toward the back off of the flex cable and it will fall out thru the back of the rails. 8) Unscrew the jack screw from the block and clean out the aluminum box. 9) Grind a flat spot on the bottom of the nylon washer so it will sit low enough 10) Use the nylon washers, one on each side of the nut. One washer needs to be ground thiner to fit. Nylon washers from ACE #NYXH. (If you do not want to grind thinner, then just use one NYW-XL. But this will have alittle play so is not the preferred method.)
Note: I did this job in the shop on an old carpet. There were little ***** of grease and old rubber washers. So do not do this job in your living room. Reassemble is self aligning due to the seat run all the way to the front.

 

In reference to the earlier post - Use the nylon washers, one on each side of the nut. One washer needs to be ground thiner to fit. Nylon washers from ACE #NYXH. (If you do not want to grind thinner, then just use one NYW-XL. But this will have alittle play so is not the preferred method.) The ACE #NYXH have 1/2 ID X 3/4 OD X 1/8 thick.

 

A washer on either side of the block is much preferred for buffering. GREAT input.

Charlie

 

I'm gonna use this method! Thanks!

Rob

 

I have rocking seats as well and after looking at the photos, it occurs to me that it may be possible fix the problem without disassembly.

I am going to cut a tapered slot from the OD to the ID of the nylon after thinning it down or cutting down the sides to fit into the box. The tapered slot will be slightly wider than the track screw diameter at the outside edge and smaller than the track screw diameter at the inside of the washer. The idea is to force the slotted washer down over the jack screw relying on the nylon to flex enough to let it spread open, but pop back into place once past the slot. Because the slot is smaller than the jack screw at the ID it shouldn't come out.

This seems too easy. What am I missing.

Charlie

 

Hey if one of you guys can do this for me, I can send you the power adjuster, etc, whatever is needed.. Please PM if you are interested..

Compensation of course for your time + parts etc, or dinner on me @ Carlisle!

Ellis