Repairing Seat Back Play

I had recently begun to notice that there was a lot of play in the seat back of the driver's seat. I hadn't noticed this at all when I bought the car but it has progressively gotten worse. After doing a little research, I came to the conclusion that it was probably the Allen head bolts that hold the seat recliner mechanism.

To get to these bolts the seat must be removed. After sliding the seat all the way forward, the two Allen bolts in the track are accessible in the rear. Once they are removed, slide the seat back and there are two Allen bolts at the front that are located on the front of the seat track. In my case, I had unplugged the seat belt mouse system. If you have not already done this, you will need to unplug these prior to removing the seats. I placed a towel over the threshold to prevent accidental scratching.

With the seat out of the car, I removed the Allen bolt that holds the recliner adjuster. On the rear of the seat, remove the main panel. Removing it reveals the single screw on each side panel. With all of the leather pieces out of the way, said bolts are now visible.

On the outer side of the seat, there are both outer and inner bolts. The inner side has a large spring on the outside with the same inside bolts as the outer side. As I expected from my research, the outer bolts were tightly fastened. However, the inner bolts on both sides were finger loose. There are serrated washers on these bolts to, theoretically, hold them in place forever. However, they didn't.

The problem here is a lack of space. To get an Allen wrench to fit I had to cut the end of one off to reduce the amount of tool just after the bend. Two of the three bolts are now accessible although you must have the seat tilted all the way forward for one and then all the way back to get to the other one.

The real issue here is the one bolt in the rear of each side. Tilting the seat does nothing to give access to these bolts. I used my cut down Allen wrench and could not get it to seat. The Allen wrench was short so I used a needle nose vise grip to help get the Allen wrench into the correct position. I did manage to get it into the bolt on both sides and turn it once but the bolt did not line up so I could get the wrench back on it.

A more drastic step was needed. I broke out a hammer and a small chisel. Using the chisel, I made a notch in the side of the head of the bolt. By inserting the chisel and a small screwdriver in that slot, I was able to move the bolt in the right direction to tighten it. Once I had moved that notch as far as I could, I made another notch and repeated the operation until the bolt was tight. I decided mangling the edge was permissible as I could see no other option and the bolt will never see the light of day unless someone totally disassembles the seat. If that ever happens, then the bolt could easily be replaced with an unmarked one. The plus side is that all of the seat back play is gone!!! Success!!

Both seat back adjusters had some paint scratches so I bead blasted and painted them. And I found the solution to another issue. Every time I turned the car, I could hear something metallic clunking at the driver's seat. I removed the screws holding the surround for the emergency brake and rear deck release, pulled up the carpet and found a small metal bracket. Not sure where it goes but it should not be making noise any longer.
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Nice, like your write up and photos. What a relief huh, I went crazy with mine before I spent a weekend doing this same task.

I ended up having to order new screws from Ricambi as I found that there were pieces missing, some of the Allen's had been over tightened and the some of the heads were damaged from improper tightening. My guess, half hearted attempts to tighten the screws with the seat in, yikes.

If you are reading this, I would recommend using locktite in the screws.

 

I think that small metal bracket goes behind one of the front seat retaining bolts.

Please check it....part 62844500

I may be wrong.

 

Thanks.

 

Great write up. Your car is so nice, I hope you don't sell it.

 

Yes. And there is one for each rail.

 

Terrific write-up. Wish I had the time, skill and patience to tackle this job myself but alas its in the hands of my machanic.

 

I will check that out. So this may not have been the source of my rattle. I will do some more investigating. I cleaned and conditioned all of the leather today and shampooed the carpet. I am letting the carpet dry before putting the seat in.

This is going slower than normal as we picked up a new puppy last Saturday afternoon. Very much like having a new baby around. Took her to the vet yesterday and she had a reaction to the shots. Had to take her back and let her spend a few hours there while they monitored her. She is back to being Hyper Piper today!

 

The was an amazing post. I have what I think is the same issue, when I get in the back vertical portion of the seat rocks. I bought it this way with 9700 miles and I think it's due to me getting in and meaning against the seat to lower myself in. Not sure I am as patient as you but after spending 1000 bucks at Ferrari, 720 part to replace the door handle mechanism that broke, I'm down with giving it a shot!

 

Excellent write up indeed! The plethora of pictures is extremely helpful.

The cut down allen wrench is brilliant! My seats are wobbling again since their last tightening in 2010. This manufactured tool will save a ton of time, and prevent the irritation/frustration I remember dealing with the last time around.

Thanks for posting!

 

I posted my first year experience with my 355 and found a number of messages relating to my experience with correcting the seat rocking issue. As such, I thought I would refresh this post as the process is documented in a very thorough fashion.

Ricambi Diagram:
Ferrari F355 M5.2 (1996+) Parts : Table 130 - SEATS AND SAFETY BELTS -VALID FOR SPIDER-

My issue was with the screws holding the seat firm, #67 in the diagram above. I ordered new parts from Ricambi, but you may be able to find a more cost efficient solution from your local Ace Hardware Store (or equivalent). While in there, I simply ordered new screws for all placement (#67, 6 per seat; #70 #73, 1 per seat). The culprit was #67, two had been screwed in too tight, stripped and were loose as a result. When putting them back together, I used loctite to seal them (#67) with the hope that they stayed put this time around - so far it's been a year with firm seats (no rocking).

The overview provided under the Fchat resource was thorough, but I took it a step further as I wanted every one of those screws (#67) tight – there are 3 on the “outside” of part #66 AND 3 on the inside. The 3 on the outside are easy enough to secure as is 1 or 2 on the “inside”, however there is one that is an absolute beast on the inside of #66. For this, I took it a step further than the Fchat article, actually removing the staples from the “flap” of leather towards the bottom of the seat (photo 16 I think) and pulling the foam aside to get to all 6 screws. I did not have the part referenced in the diagram, but instead took a dremmel to an old allen wrench and shortened the "arm" of the piece to fit the one screw on the "inside" of part #66 that is simply a bear to get to.

It’s important to remember to loctite the screws as you replace them to prevent the rocking in the future. My advise, put the seat on a workbench to access the area easily, do not be in a hurry, slowly and carefully remove the leather and move aside the foam and make sure you get all 6 screws tightened. And be careful when removing the seat, it is heavy!

 

Decided to resurrect this thread. Once again, my seat is rocking.
Sitting in a Dentist chair waiting on an implant, I see him take out a neat tool:
Dental Universal Implant Instrument Prosthetic Restoration Hand Driver Tool Kit (Ebay listing)

Any DDS on the site ever try this? 20mm head part looks small enough presuming one can find the right size hex head for our seats.
Obviously, we dont need the torque wrench functionality. I was looking for a used one to try.