72 seat removal

[Mad4slalom]

Hi , is there a right and a wrong way to remove seats from a 72 coupe ? Once the 4 bolts are undone does it roll out , or just lift our as is ? Does the back need to be upright or forward? Going to fit my lap belt retractors , are they under a cover under the carpet or under a cover “on”the carpet. Also looking for a pair of belt guides that screw to the inner sill. Any suggestions appreciated.

 

[James Vette]

I see that Corvettes have ruined your sleep schedule like me.

 

[TimP]

I've just been working on the seat area in my 72. On my car once the 4 bolts were removed (which took ages) the seats came out quite easily - they just lift up and the complete seat adjustment mechanism comes out with it. I took out the T-tops to make more space and to stop banging my head but apart from that it was just a case of easing them out of the door opening. Admittedly I don't have the doors fitted on mine at the moment which makes it a lot easier (but I did first remove the seats when the doors were on and I can't remember anything too tricky) and I prefer to take them out in the normal seating position. They are quite heavy.

In my car the seat belt covers were under what was left of the carpet.

I am currently looking for seat belt guides too. They don't seem to be stocked by many suppliers but there are some on eBay. I did find them on the Corvette Pacifica website for about $30 each with bolts (part num E19313). I have used Corvette Pacifica before for obscure parts and I was very pleased with the bits they sent me.

Hope this helps. If you need any pictures let me know.

 

[Mad4slalom]

I've just been working on the seat area in my 72. On my car once the 4 bolts were removed (which took ages) the seats came out quite easily - they just lift up and the complete seat adjustment mechanism comes out with it. I took out the T-tops to make more space and to stop banging my head but apart from that it was just a case of easing them out of the door opening. Admittedly I don't have the doors fitted on mine at the moment which makes it a lot easier (but I did first remove the seats when the doors were on and I can't remember anything too tricky) and I prefer to take them out in the normal seating position. They are quite heavy.

In my car the seat belt covers were under what was left of the carpet.

I am currently looking for seat belt guides too. They don't seem to be stocked by many suppliers but there are some on eBay. I did find them on the Corvette Pacifica website for about $30 each with bolts (part num E19313). I have used Corvette Pacifica before for obscure parts and I was very pleased with the bits they sent me.

Hope this helps. If you need any pictures let me know.

Brilliant Tim thank you, forgot that t top out of the way will help Just getting all the bits together to fit the new belts. Ck has been brilliant , just cant see those guides on the site

I've just been working on the seat area in my 72. On my car once the 4 bolts were removed (which took ages) the seats came out quite easily - they just lift up and the complete seat adjustment mechanism comes out with it. I took out the T-tops to make more space and to stop banging my head but apart from that it was just a case of easing them out of the door opening. Admittedly I don't have the doors fitted on mine at the moment which makes it a lot easier (but I did first remove the seats when the doors were on and I can't remember anything too tricky) and I prefer to take them out in the normal seating position. They are quite heavy.

In my car the seat belt covers were under what was left of the carpet.

I am currently looking for seat belt guides too. They don't seem to be stocked by many suppliers but there are some on eBay. I did find them on the Corvette Pacifica website for about $30 each with bolts (part num E19313). I have used Corvette Pacifica before for obscure parts and I was very pleased with the bits they sent me.

Hope this helps. If you need any pictures let me know.

brilliant , thanks Tim, just getting all bits together to fit my ck dual retractor belts , the slot trims are in the seats so nice to utilise them and get rid of the plasticky later belt stalks that were fitted. Yes, I am a vette night owl too , still not driven as waiting on dvla ,

 

[Mad4slalom]

Brilliant Tim thank you, forgot that t top out of the way will help Just getting all the bits together to fit the new belts. Ck has been brilliant , just cant see those guides on the site

brilliant , thanks Tim, just getting all bits together to fit my ck dual retractor belts , the slot trims are in the seats so nice to utilise them and get rid of the plasticky later belt stalks that were fitted. Yes, I am a vette night owl too , still not driven as waiting on dvla ,

Ps a few pics of the retractor cover area and the belt guide would be handy thank you Going to see if the safety cable is present in mine,, pretty sure its not as it doesnt have seperate lap / shoulder belts at present.

 

[TimP]

Glad this was useful - I'll get a few pictures to you asap. If you have the Factory Assembly Manual sheets F29 and F30 are really helpful and show how everything fits together in this area.

The safety cable you refer to is that the U-shaped wire/cable piece that connects from the bottom of the seat belt mounts on the transmission tunnel to the rear cross member? These are available if you haven't got one but the one piece you can't get (that I can see) is the 'plate asm' that strengthens the seat belt mounts on the transmission tunnel that the cable connects to. Mine is fairly rotten and I'm going to rebuild it unless I can find a serviceable one somewhere.

CK have always been really helpful and it was them that suggested the seat belt guides link to me on e-bay.

I will probably be calling Corvette Pacifica on Monday (they are only open Monday-Thursday) - would you like me to check availability for another pair of guides?

 

[Mad4slalom]

Glad this was useful - I'll get a few pictures to you asap. If you have the Factory Assembly Manual sheets F29 and F30 are really helpful and show how everything fits together in this area.

The safety cable you refer to is that the U-shaped wire/cable piece that connects from the bottom of the seat belt mounts on the transmission tunnel to the rear cross member? These are available if you haven't got one but the one piece you can't get (that I can see) is the 'plate asm' that strengthens the seat belt mounts on the transmission tunnel that the cable connects to. Mine is fairly rotten and I'm going to rebuild it unless I can find a serviceable one somewhere.

CK have always been really helpful and it was them that suggested the seat belt guides link to me on e-bay.

I will probably be calling Corvette Pacifica on Monday (they are only open Monday-Thursday) - would you like me to check availability for another pair of guides?

Thanks so much Tim i have the manual so will scrutinise more, if you do talk to the us supplier then yes I would love a pair . Quite happy to transfer funds to you up front once you are ready to order .

 

[TimP]

No problem - I'll post an update on Monday.

 

[TimP]

I'm not sure if these pictures help at all but seeing as it has been a nice day I took a few pictures of the drivers seat attachment areas.

Front bolt attachment


Rear centre - the four rivets just below the seat belt bolt on the trans tunnel are for the 'plate ASM' that attaches to the two outer ends of the seat belt reinforcement cable. The centre of the cable loops through the rear cross member.



Rear Outer


Seat belt reel cover (in some need of TLC)


The seat belt cover attaches on the sill side to a sill extension plate. I hope yours looks better than mine does.. This is what's left of it - I think a new one might be required.....



The seat belt reel bolt goes through the GRP floor and attaches to the reinforcement underneath (seen here on the bench)

 

[Mad4slalom]

I'm not sure if these pictures help at all but seeing as it has been a nice day I took a few pictures of the drivers seat attachment areas.

Front bolt attachment
View attachment 8939

Rear centre - the four rivets just below the seat belt bolt on the trans tunnel are for the 'plate ASM' that attaches to the two outer ends of the seat belt reinforcement cable. The centre of the cable loops through the rear cross member.
View attachment 8940


Rear Outer
View attachment 8941

Seat belt reel cover (in some need of TLC)
View attachment 8937

The seat belt cover attaches on the sill side to a sill extension plate. I hope yours looks better than mine does.. This is what's left of it - I think a new one might be required.....

View attachment 8942

The seat belt reel bolt goes through the GRP floor and attaches to the reinforcement underneath (seen here on the bench)
View attachment 8938

Hi Tim , thank you for your time in taking those pics, it definately helps to know what bits do what,
I dont know what is under the carpet until I remove the seat but I think I can feel the hump of the retractor cover through the carpet and I see I have the reinforcement underneath the floor. The previous owner said his old belts were rusted up and he ditched them and fitted 3 point ones with a single retractor behind the seat. I am hoping I can just fit a new lap belt retractor under the seat and swap the shoulder belt ones for my CK ones. Will check if the asm plates etc are still in situ and the sill reinforcement is sound, hopefully it is as the cover is there ( I hope ) thanks again for you help and time, I too made use of the good weather and ran the vette motor and found a rattle in the egg crate grill and cured that. Took the buggy for a blast too.

 

[TimP]

This is what you will find underneath the seat belt reel cover:


The green housing on the left contains a switch mechanism (I think) for the seat belt dash warning light.

 

[Mad4slalom]

This is what you will find underneath the seat belt reel cover:
View attachment 8952

The green housing on the left contains a switch mechanism (I think) for the seat belt dash warning light.

Wow! crusty, hoping mine are gone and just nice clean empty spaces to bolt the new ones into .
half the fun of classic car ownership is planning a job , sourcing the parts , researching (or asking the folk on the forum) how to do the job, running through it a few times then finally doing it before finding the next job on the to do list , then sitting down and adding up how just much money the car in the garage has actually cost you

 

[Mad4slalom]

My view from the office today whilst fixing a rattly grill

 

[Mad4slalom]

Glad this was useful - I'll get a few pictures to you asap. If you have the Factory Assembly Manual sheets F29 and F30 are really helpful and show how everything fits together in this area.

The safety cable you refer to is that the U-shaped wire/cable piece that connects from the bottom of the seat belt mounts on the transmission tunnel to the rear cross member? These are available if you haven't got one but the one piece you can't get (that I can see) is the 'plate asm' that strengthens the seat belt mounts on the transmission tunnel that the cable connects to. Mine is fairly rotten and I'm going to rebuild it unless I can find a serviceable one somewhere.

CK have always been really helpful and it was them that suggested the seat belt guides link to me on e-bay.

I will probably be calling Corvette Pacifica on Monday (they are only open Monday-Thursday) - would you like me to check availability for another pair of guides?

My retractor covers are in place under the seats, the cable is in situ as well. So am hoping I can bolt the new belt bits straight in

 

[Emc]

I've just been working on the seat area in my 72. On my car once the 4 bolts were removed (which took ages) the seats came out quite easily - they just lift up and the complete seat adjustment mechanism comes out with it. I took out the T-tops to make more space and to stop banging my head but apart from that it was just a case of easing them out of the door opening. Admittedly I don't have the doors fitted on mine at the moment which makes it a lot easier (but I did first remove the seats when the doors were on and I can't remember anything too tricky) and I prefer to take them out in the normal seating position. They are quite heavy.

In my car the seat belt covers were under what was left of the carpet.

I am currently looking for seat belt guides too. They don't seem to be stocked by many suppliers but there are some on eBay. I did find them on the Corvette Pacifica website for about $30 each with bolts (part num E19313). I have used Corvette Pacifica before for obscure parts and I was very pleased with the bits they sent me.

Hope this helps. If you need any pictures let me know.

I have guide kits complete ,in next week £37 delivered