Seat Hits Driver Door Arm Rest

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ellevee
Posts: 16
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2019 7:07 pm

Seat Hits Driver Door Arm Rest

Post by ellevee »

Hello,
I just bought a single owner 1956 a few weeks ago. It is currently in a shop getting front disc brakes and a booster installed so i can't take pics of it, but i wanted to inquire if anyone would know about my seat hitting the door arm rest.

The seat fabric where the frame is and the arm rest are torn where they touch. The door also has to be shut hard to close because of the frame hitting the arm rest. Anyone else have this experience? and what should i do to address it? Thank you.
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Haz567
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Joined: Thu Mar 02, 2017 1:40 pm
Location: Kentucky

Re: Seat Hits Driver Door Arm Rest

Post by Haz567 »

Something wrong somewhere, seat back frame (if I'm reading your question correctly) shouldn't touch the arm rest, although as I recall it's pretty close. Does the door card look flush with the door metal front & back, top & bottom? No bow in door card? Is the seat adjusted all the way to the rear or close? Seat back/arm rest may get really close if the seat is adjusted all the way to the front. Does seat appear to be a TBird seat?

No other ideas.
ellevee
Posts: 16
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2019 7:07 pm

Re: Seat Hits Driver Door Arm Rest

Post by ellevee »

yes, it's the seat back frame and yes it looks to be a tbird seat. And no, no bow in the door card/panel. The car is pretty much stock, straight, no rust and actually really nice, other than this issue. The interior was redone at some point as the previous owner had the original vinyl pieces in the trunk. I bought the car from a nephew who inherited it after the original owner died. But the nephew has no real knowledge of the history

I suspect, that the seat was mounted off-center from the rails, but i am not sure how that could have happened. When i get the car back, i may have to take the seat off to see if I can find the issue. Otherwise, I may have to have the armrest shaved more narrowly.

Thanks for the response.
ICON 1956
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Re: Seat Hits Driver Door Arm Rest

Post by ICON 1956 »

What your describing seems that the seat rail is misaligned,There should not be that interference when the door is closed. When you get your car back take a few pictures to show us exactly what is happening. Welcome to the forum.
1956 Thunderbird Sage Green
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goldwinghg
Posts: 309
Joined: Fri May 04, 2012 6:30 pm
Location: Houston, Tx.

Re: Seat Hits Driver Door Arm Rest

Post by goldwinghg »

If the seat was mounted off center of the rails. Looks like it would not be the same distance from one door than the other. The holes in the floor from factory,can be seen,looking under the car. I would check this out before,I remove the seat.
ellevee
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Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2019 7:07 pm

Re: Seat Hits Driver Door Arm Rest

Post by ellevee »

That’s a great idea. Thank you. And I’ll post pictures as soon as I get the car back.
CSavaglio
Posts: 299
Joined: Sat May 28, 2016 11:37 am

Re: Seat Hits Driver Door Arm Rest

Post by CSavaglio »

Mine rubbed on the drivers side when I first got the car. There's not a lot of room between the seats and arm rests, so there may be enough play in total between the seat rail and floor pan and between the seat rail and seat bottom to offset it to the side. You should be able to access all of the bolts and nuts without removing the seat to loosen them and see if you can adjust it to where you need it. You will prob have to adjust the seat forward and back to get to them all.

If there's not enough room to get it right and the door panels are flat as suggested above, you'll have to pull the seat and widen the holes a little to give you the play you need.

Oh, one other thing, someone recovered arm rests by putting new vinyl over the old instead of removing the old covers. The original ones were worn from the rubbing and that made it even worse. Something to check too. You can prob tell without pulling the door panel.
ellevee
Posts: 16
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2019 7:07 pm

Re: Seat Hits Driver Door Arm Rest

Post by ellevee »

I appreciate all the advice. I should be getting my car this week. Im always excited about all the things I need to do to make it mine.
1957Birdman
Posts: 396
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2014 8:58 am

Re: Seat Hits Driver Door Arm Rest

Post by 1957Birdman »

Congratulations on getting you "new" T-Bird. If you haven't already I would suggest that you read the owner's handbook. In it are instructions for putting up and taking down the convertible top. The first part of those instructions state to open the doors and pull the seat back forward. So even when new the seats would rub the arm rests when the seat back was pulled forward. One other thing is that the seat back angle can be adjusted to either lean back or be more upright. The adjustment is made with bolts on each side of the lower seat. I would think if the seat is adjusted more upright and the seat is moved forward that it would contact the arm rests.
Regards,
Lew Bachman
1957 Colonial White
ellevee
Posts: 16
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2019 7:07 pm

Re: Seat Hits Driver Door Arm Rest

Post by ellevee »

Finally got my car back from a shop. And had a chance to take photos.

I can now see the issue causing the contact. Seems like the seat back was not placed properly on the driver side (see third pic vs the first pic showing the passenger side). The seat back isn't all the way back. Also the driver side slides forward and back when pushed from the bottom.

Before I take the seat out, is there an easy way to set it properly?
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1957Birdman
Posts: 396
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Re: Seat Hits Driver Door Arm Rest

Post by 1957Birdman »

Hi Ellevee,
Well, it looks like someone didn't install the upper part of the seat on the lower part correctly. The upper seat back has two pins on the bottom of the frame, one on each side. The pins fit into the lower frame in holes toward the rear of the seat. It looks like the passenger side is okay but the driver's side is not in the hole. It is not the easiest thing to do because it needs to be pulled and stretched to fit in the hole and it is really easy to get your fingers pinched, so be extra careful. I would not take the seat out. It is actually easier to do it in the car.
I hope this helps and let us know the result.
Regards,
Lew Bachman, 1957 Colonial White
ellevee
Posts: 16
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2019 7:07 pm

Re: Seat Hits Driver Door Arm Rest

Post by ellevee »

Lew,
Thank you. That was very helpful. I was able to get it fitted properly.
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