How to take out the seat alone

[T-Bird Bob]

Hello All,
I read on here that if you want to take the seat out, you have to take out the seat with the complete mechanism and you need two people for that.
However, I did it alone, and the mechanism stayed in.
Here is how I did it:
First move the seat all the way forward and all the way up!
Then you need to remove the seat back. It is hold in place by two pins where it pivots.

Check if they are secured by pins - mine wren't.
Now you can disengage the pin with a crow bar or some other lever (excuse my fake picture I am trying to illustrate)

Now tape up the pin to avoid scratching the vinyl (mine had to be replaced anyway). Then, the seat back can be flipped forward and taken out.

The seat is now fastened by 4 bolts and a pin holding the motor for forward/backward motion. (I don't know how a manual seat works.
The bolts are here:



The front bolt is in the front corner and connecting the seat to the rail. In my case it was a Philips head screw with the head facing down (at least on one side) - I think that is the original version.

The rear bolt is right between the seat back adjusting bolt an the pivot.
Remove them on both sides.

Now you have disconnect the motor (mechanically, cable can stay whee they are). The motor is hold in place by two pins. One on the seat front driver side next to the transmission tunnel, one about 10" behind that on the floor. At this point I could flip the seat up and look at the pins.

The floor connection is here:


For illustrations, those are the mounting holes on the rails:
.
Here is another of the front motor mounting pin location:



The pins should be of this type:

The attachment 2UJP1_AS01.jpg is no longer available

I hope this is useful for someone.

Bob

[T-Bird Bob]

Sorry for the hick up with the pictures, they should be in the text where it matters:
I try again:
Pivot for seat back:

Front bolt:

Rear bolt:

Motor connections:

Rail mounting holes:

I hope that clarifies that.

Have fun!

Bob

[paul2748]

The 55 and 56 power seats that I have worked on came from the factory with studs at the four mounting points. I don't know if the 57's were different, but the only 57 I helped a friend with had a combination of studs and bolts so I think the 57's originally came with studs. Along the way the studs may have become loose (they were pressed in) and bolts were used as replacements.

The back studs were angled, which made the seat harder to remove and harder to reinstall.

[DynoDan’55]

I don’t recall removing the seat back (I likely left that up to the upholsterer), but I DO remember the seat assembly being too heavy for one person to merely lift out or set in place, so I used a section of plywood set under the studs to slide it out/in.

[Thunderbird83]

Hi Bob
many thanks for fotos it's very clear and serious
Do you think that for a no power seat the bolts are at the same place
I need to take off the seat and the back for changing the foams
Thanks for your comments

[T-Bird Bob]

The four bolts t the rails are likely the same (but I dn't know for sure).
If you remove those, you might be able to lift the seat up enough to stick your head underneath and check how the mechanism works.
This is how I found out.

Rgds,
Bob

[paul2748]

Taking the seat out when it's non-power is easy. All you do is unbolt it, lift up and pull it out.

[Thunderbird83]

Hi Paul
Do you think that the 4 bolts are in the same place with a not power seat
Thanks

[paul2748]

Never actually checked, but I am quite sure they are. Again, studs were originally used.

Hi Paul
Do you think that the 4 bolts are in the same place with a not power seat
Thanks