Topic: Rear seat belt protectors visable when seat is installed?

[Angela]

I wish I had used a digital camera all those years ago when I disassembled the fastback. Looking at my Kodak moment, I think, but am not sure, the yellowing seat belt protectors are visible with the rear seat installed. I'm not sure I can see the plastic protectors on the two center belts, but I'm pretty sure about 1 inch of the yellow-ish protector sleeve is visible poking through at the sides, as the rear seat belts pass between the seat and the interior plastic/fiberglass quarter panels.

My question is whether or not the plastic protectors *should* be visible when the seat is installed? The Osborne assembly manual shows a strange bend in the belts at the rear seat (side belts, not the center two) and I wonder if the bend was meant to keep the protectors from being visible when the seat was installed. Pics would be helpful if anyone has some. Thanks.

[Angela]

To be clear, when I say "yellowing protectors" I am referring to the plastic sleeves that slide over the belts at the end of the seat belt which bolts to the floor.

Also, if anyone has any tips as to the "process" to install the rear seat, please let me know. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to hook the top anchors first, and then pound down on the front of the seat???

[Angela]

These are not my belts, but you can see the yellowish material I'm referring to in this pic. Again the question is whether or not the plastic protectors *should* be visible when the seat is installed?

[J_Speegle]

If I remember correctly - your working on a 67 San Jose- correct?

Just in case there is a difference don't want to look through the wrong pictures or post a different year

[J_Speegle]

Hope I got the year and plant right or these will not do you much good

On some examples it was not visible. Might be due to improper installation or not pulling on the outer belt to get the sleeve past the edge of the seat cushion

If you notice that on the one with the sleeve not showing the seat belt is not stretched/pulled out as far

In any case here is a small sample - hope it answers your question

[Angela]

Thanks Jeff; you da man!

[Angela]

Anyone able to describe how to install the rear seat? I can get the upper two hooks to catch, yet no amont of banging on the front of the seat seems to lock the front two tabs into place. What am I doing wrong?

[lancelot66]

I literally just did this last weekend on our SJ 66 fastback. It looks to be pretty close to the same as in Jeff's pictures. You're approaching things right, doing the top hooks first. The bottom part of the seat was a real bugger for me too. Always has been and it seems like I always forget how to do it because I don't do this everyday, for sure...maybe 4 times now over the span of 27 years...
I had to crawl back there, with the front seats all the way forward. Put my knees on the floorboard and facing square to the back seat bottom, pushed really hard down and back at the same time on the front/top area where your legs would overhang, if you were actually sitting down in it, and got the passenger side to finally hook up doing this. I've never been able to get the other one to hook, so it must be a bit tweaked in alignment or on that outside spring wire/support that you'll see and feel in there. It's not very easy though. I'm 200 lbs, 5'10" and it's work just to get myself scrunched back in there. Fastback rear seat areas were build for smaller people and/or kids in my humble opinion...! Good luck to you Angela!

-Lance

[lancelot66]

Should have also mentioned a couple otjher things too:
1). "Colored language" is of no real value in this exercise.
2). Doing this at the same time you're trying to keep the belts pulled tight enough to not lose the sleaves behind the seats (again), without asking for some help perhaps, is also not recommended.

I'm really bad at asking for help, as my wife can attest to...

Regards,
-Lance

[Angela]

Thanks Lance. I've tried and tried and cannot get the front "catches" to catch/mate with the seat. This is so irritating. To be sure, I'm supposed to be trying to get the hooks/catches which are welded to the floor pan, to grab the spring section of the bottom of the seat, yes?

Also, do you think your observation that only one catch engages is a common issue, or one associated with just that particular car?

[J_Speegle]

Thanks Lance. I've tried and tried and cannot get the front "catches" to catch/mate with the seat. This is so irritating. To be sure, I'm supposed to be trying to get the hooks/catches which are welded to the floor pan, to grab the spring section of the bottom of the seat, yes?

Yes the "loop" section on the bottom seat cushion should be "grabbed" by the floor bracket when "locked" in place

Also, do you think your observation that only one catch engages is a common issue, or one associated with just that particular car?

I've had to reform slightly, either the seat frame in that area or the floor brackets at time.  Most of the time I can reach in from outside the car kneeling, pressing the back of my lower shoulder against the front seat as leverage and pushing rearward. As the seat frame travels up the ramp in the floor bracket they can then drop down engaging the two

I find this job much more enjoyable than trying to unlatch a stuck one

[67gtasanjose]

The bottom part of the seat was a real bugger for me too. Always has been and it seems like I always forget how to do it because I don't do this everyday, for sure...maybe 4 times now over the span of 27 years...

Having undone far more than reinstalling rear seat bottoms,(as a teenager, I worked salvage yards, the first thing out of the car was the rear seat bottom...CHA-CHING!!!) I've learned it takes quite an effort to shove the seat back far enough to release it. This also means it can take quite a bit of effort to reconnect them. First, make sure the wire of the seat frame isn't bent. It should be straight. The rearward force needs to be down low on the bottom of the frame of the seat, near the carpeting and you can feel it go in when it is right. If you are pushing against a hard seat back (such as a Deluxe interior seat) you will probably break the seat back. It is one of those jobs that practice makes it easier, but it really CAN be done, though maybe not by somebody without significant upper body strength.

Richard

[J_Speegle]

.................. If you are pushing against a hard seat back (such as a Deluxe interior seat) you will probably break the seat back..........

Good point

[67gtasanjose]

First, make sure the wire of the seat frame isn't bent. It should be straight.

It is possible the wire framing of a seat that HASN'T been engaged correctly to be bent in the process of TRYING to engage it (improperly) or having people sitting on it while it wasn't installed all the way. This could possibly use a photograph to illustrate the point, but I don't remember taking photos of that area when upholstering them and right now my seats are wrapped/taped and stored so it would be difficult to take a picture. I DO REMEMBER straightening the wire while the upholstery was off which would have explained why mine had been so difficult before. When I test fitted them after the upholstery work, they went in rather easily. My front seats were out at the time so my (now oversized "self") was able to install them rather easily.

Richard

[Angela]

Thanks a ton to everyone who commented above. I'll give it another go.
A few remaining questions/observations I have are:
(1) I wonder if my carpeting goes underneath the seat too far? I let the carpet go under the seat a few inches, stopping just short of the seat catches, which seemed reasonable but perhaps is not?
(2) It seems like I need to push both backwards (towards rear of car) and downwards at the same time, if I want the seat to latch. That said, I don't know how to achieve that, since the seat foam seems to suck up most of the force.
(3) If anyone had a picture of their seat installed, perhaps I could get a sense of (a) the gap between the top of the bottom seat section and the bottom of the seat back and (b) where the front edge of the bottom cushion is supposed to be with respect to the quarter panel trim. I can gleam some sense of this from the pics Jeff posted, but more pics might shed more light?