Seat Installation

This seams like the simplest of jobs, four bolts, easy. Not so fast, putting in a seat can be "not too bad," but it is not easy. Even with no carpet in the car I was was considering burning the whole lot! So here are the steps that worked for me and hopefully the process will go "not too bad" when I do it again with carpet. First step was to clean the rails. The bottom rails slide right off and it is important to clean the top portion where the rails fit together. I used some brake cleaner to get the gunk off. Then I put a light coat of Teflon grease on the rails and fitted them together. Not so fast. If you have both seats out you may have mixed up the rails that fall off. The rail with the stop block bolted to it goes on the outboard side of both seats at the rear end so the block can hit the stop bolt on the bottom of the seat.

 

Next I got 1 1/2 inch long bolts and installed them from under the car in the rear seat mount holes. This will hold the seat in position and in alignment while you start the front bolts. Make sure to put the spacers on the studs so that the rails will be even with the floor. One more trick before dropping the seat in, the inboard rail will fall off when you lift it, and you don't want it falling on your new, or old, body work so zip tie it in place towards the front of the seat so you can easily cut it off once in position. Okay, now you can drop the seat in position. I don't know why there are three holes front and rear on the seat rails but it should only be one or two. If you are tall, definitely install the seat as far back as you can, the studs in the floor should go through the third hole from the back, this will line up the front seat anchor holes with the second rail hole from the front. Cut your zip tie, slide the seat all the way back to the stop on the rail. Now you should have okay'ish access to the front bolts as seen in the first picture. This still isn't easy to reach, but it can be done. Don't forget your 1/4 inch spacer. I used a racheting box end wrench which made it go much faster. Now you can proceed to the rear bolts, which are easier after you slide the seat forward and flip the seat back up as well. Don't use washers on any of the bolts, there is very little clearance between the mechanisms on the rails and the bolts and if they hit you won't be able to move the seat. Maybe just remember to tighten the bolts once a year.  I did this without carpet just because I am not at that point of my restoration, but as it turns out this would have been so much harder to do if the carpet was in the way and the seats were not setup properly first. Good luck if this job is in your future.