As nice as my C5 was when I bought it seven weeks ago there were some things that needed attention. Two things needed to be fixed on the car, one being the driver side sport seat rear clevis (it was broken), and my oil pressure sender. I also had some maintenance that I wanted to do because I wasn't sure were things were at. So I pulled the plugs (they were the original platinum ones) and replaced them with NGK Irridium IV's and replaced the wires (they were the original blue ones) with MSD 8.5mm Super Conductors. Talk about a noticeable difference in idle, smoothness and rev capability. I also had the trans fluid changed (I replaced it with Dexron 3) because the 6sp didn't shift smoothly and jumped out of gear a few times. When I drained it the tranny fluid was dark red; it was time. Thanks to everyone who has posted about that on this forum because you all lead me to make sure I used Dexron 3 fluid in the tranny to avoid any issues. While I was at it I replaced the diff lube (it was black). The results of all of that was a smooth, easy shifting 6spd that is a joy to drive and noticeably more rear traction on corner exit.

That brings me back to the seat, which is the purpose of the thread.

I found another C5 owner who fixed his broken clevis by grinding off the pop rivet, putting on the used clevis, and then spot welding the end washer back on. So I decided to give it a go and bought a really inexpensive used passenger side track and in less than 5 minutes my little Black & Decker rotary tool had the pop rivet gone. I then pulled the seat out of my car and did the same to my broken clevis. I then put the replacement clevis on my seat and ... viola, a working seat. To be fair the replacement clevis was a little tight and thus I had to really work to get it on, basically re-threading the new one. Mine had the white clevises which are a little bigger in the thread section than the black ones that I replaced it with. Also, the bolt that goes through the clevis on the white models uses the grayish insert that goes between the clevis to thread into whereas the black ones seem to be later models, and thus had the metal mount thread for the bolt instead of using a plastic insert.

For the past seven weeks I had two little blocks of 2x4 wood stacked under the rear of the seat to hold it up but not any more. Also, while I had the seat out I decided to look into why the lumbar supports stopped working a day after I got the car home. Sure enough, the nipples had cracked but the bags were still intact. So I used some putty weld epoxy and a few hours later...my lumbar supports were working again and not loosing air. Now I just have to get the oil sender replaced so that my oil pressure gauge isn't pegged, lol, and maybe flush the coolant as a preventative measure as well.

I hope this helps others who thought they had to purchase another track, especially since the driver side sport seat track seems to be a little hard to find at the moment (and way more expensive than the passenger side tracks).

 

For the coolant flush,, Drain ALL the old stuff out and fill with distilled water.

Run the engine till normal operational temps, let her cool and repeat until the drain water runs clean. Refill with the appropriate mixture DEXCOOL/Distilled Water for your area.

There are two Steam Pipe Cross Over fittings on the front of the engine (one on the top front each head). Crack the bolt on that fitting to vent the air out of the block once the coolant reservoir is refilled and at the proper level. Once it at normal temp (running) vent it one more time.

EXCELLENT work on repairing the seat!!

Bill

 

Thanks kind sir. I will follow what you described to a T.

 

I found another C5 owner who fixed his broken clevis by grinding off the pop rivet, putting on the used clevis, and then spot welding the end washer back on. So I decided to give it a go and bought a really inexpensive used passenger side track and in less than 5 minutes my little Black & Decker rotary tool had the pop rivet gone. I then pulled the seat out of my car and did the same to my broken clevis. I then put the replacement clevis on my seat and ... viola, a working seat. To be fair the replacement clevis was a little tight and thus I had to really work to get it on, basically re-threading the new one. Mine had the white clevises which are a little bigger in the thread section than the black ones that I replaced it with. Also, the bolt that goes through the clevis on the white models uses the grayish insert that goes between the clevis to thread into whereas the black ones seem to be later models, and thus had the metal mount thread for the bolt instead of using a plastic insert.

I kind of did the same, but I changed the whole gear/trans/turnbuckle assembly out of a donor seat. I used a bolt and a locking nut instead of the pin insert that the factory uses to connect the turnbuckle to the metal hinge on the seat. I feel the the pin causes the turnbuckle to break, by it partially slipping out of the one side and putting all the stress on the other side. With the bolt nothing will spread from the torque on the turnbuckle fingers at the hinge. I hope that all makes sense and time will tell if it holds up. Also the front and rear turnbuckles are opposite threads.

 

because i have no idea what you guys are talking about !

 

Hopefully these will help.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/g/album/1367405

This is from a thread of a fellow Corvette Forum member. I don't know if he is still making them, and if he is, I wish I would have found this a couple of weeks ago because spending $45 or so shipped definitely beats spending $125 shipped (although I did get two clevis for that price plus some motors that I can take off of the track).
There are two parts that seem to break on our sport seat tracks; A) the triangular support bracket that is welded to the frame, and B) the seat height plastic clevis. IF and when the support bracket breaks people just tend to cut out a new piece and get it welded on, BUT, when the clevis broke it just sent people straight the the replacement of the entire track (rather expensive at that). The clevis issue forced tended to force a track repair because they weren't sold individually and the pop-riveted end washer seemed to suggest that they couldn't be taken off to be replaced to begin with. Finding the Corvette owner that ground that pop-rivet off made the way possible to actually replace the clevis using one from a much cheaper passenger side track a reality. Now, due to your question (thank you for that contribution by the way), I found a thread from member on our forum who also conquered this problem and actually SOLD replacement made clevis'. I'm not sure if he's still doing it, but if you need one it worth attempting to contact him with the above link. If he isn't doing it anymore you can at least get a clevis off of a much less expensive passenger side track (driver side tracks = $350 repair yours - $1000 for new vs. passenger side tracks = $90 - $250 used).

I hope this shed some more light on what we are talking about. The link should give you the pic's you wanted.

 

Yes, your description made complete sense and I believe I understand what you were saying. I actually just have the bolt "slid" in because there wasn't anything for it to thread into since I liked the black nylon insert better than the white one that would have worked. The black nylon seems to be sturdier, ie more harder but also more pliable than the
white nylon that broke. I actually plan on doing what you did regarding a standard bolt with a nut on the other side to finish it off but I have gotten to it yet.

One other thing I found is that I think Chevy over engineered the pop-riveted washer on the end of the worm gear because when I extended the clevis as far as it would go, and angled the seat back as far forward as it would go, the clevis had not been even partially extended off of the worm gear. In other words, it did not seem like we could actually adjust the back of the seat high enough without being physically limited by the seat angles themselves before the clevis would be anywhere close to working its way off of the worm axle. So getting some type of an "end point limiter" like the oem pop-riveted washer forms seems to be unnecessary anyway.

 

THANKS MATE ! Cheers