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Seat removal, no slide adjuster

2K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  Castrique 
#1 ·
I recently got 89 Graduate that was not in great shape. Redoing carpet and trying to remove passenger side seat. Appears there is no seat runner adjuster lever. The seat is in full back position. I have unscrewed front bolts on runners to floor but can't access back ones and with no runner lever cannot get seat to slide forward?



Any thoughts how to get to access rear bolts/move seat?

Thanks for your help
Craig
 
#2 · (Edited)
on the later spiders it is a big "C" shaped lever running around, and just under the front of the seat pan....maybe you just missed it, if you haven't before had a spider...?

if it indeed is missing it will be tough....the big "C" shaped slide release has 2 holes either side, that fits into the 2 bent out 'tangs' of the silver coloured spring attachments and when you pull it up it releases the slide....but, some leverage is needed to move those....

photos here shows the rails and slide release to give you an idea how it looks:
Alfa Romeo Spider Passenger Side Seat Rail | eBay
 
#3 ·
Thank you for response. The driver side seat has the C shaped lever but not passenger side. Don't know if there is flex in the C lever so can be slipped over tangs with seat bolted to floor. I can only imagine C lever removed or broken off after seat installed. Anyways as you say, is a difficult situation.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Don't know if there is flex in the C lever so can be slipped over tangs with seat bolted to floor....
I recently had my seats out and even with the seat base upside down on the bench, getting the C lever hooked in to the tangs took some strength.....but yes, you just put one side in on those two tangs and then bend/flex it in to hook in the other side.
edit: the difficulty in trying say to release the slide levers is that both need to be released together, and held that way together, to allow the seat to slide...or it will just hang up in the next tooth on the rail.

try using the C lever from the other seat when that is out the car, at least you will get a good idea what you need to do following that as an example.
 
#5 ·
If the lever is broken off you may be able to insert a couple rods in the ends to apply release pressure. If not possible here is a method I have used.
Remove the seat bottom cushion. There are 4 bendable metal tabs, 2 on each end.
Locate the approximate area of the two rear retaining screws. Drill a hole in the metal seat bottom over the hole. This will not compromise the integrity of the seat bottom. From this position you can insert the correct tool to loosen the screw on each side.
If the lever is not there at all you may be able to use a suitable pry lever behind the seat and against the rear platform wall to push the seat forward. I used a 2x4.
Suggestions only, so decide if these are appropriate for you. Most of the times I have used these methods were on Alfa's being parted and damage was not a concern.
Cheers, Jon
 
#9 ·
Some progress. Got C lever to catch tangs and was able to move seat forward. New problem - one of the bolts has buggerred up head such that the Allen wrench will not fit snug - some rounding out from incorrect prior installation. Any thoughts on how to get this bolt out? Have seen some youtube videos about reaming out and drilling but there is not much room to work with. Ideas appreciated.
 
#11 · (Edited)
I would probably just drill the head of the bolt off, then once you have the seat and rails out of the way, try to drill a smaller hole in the middle of what's left of the frozen bolt and use an EZ-out in combination with PB Blaster and heat from a torch to break it free.
If worse comes to worse, some times I've even had to just drill out the center of the stuck bolt as close to the threads as possible, and then peel what's left of the old bolt away from the nut threads, and follow up by chasing the nut threads with a tap.
 
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