Rocking seats

Are you going to the Jaguar Slalom event on Saturday? We can take a look at them afterwards.....

 

I think I am going. Need to get the boss's OK first. Are you guys going for the FCA track event at College Station on the 29th

 

Cool, hope to see you there Sameer. We'll let Jason play house for a while.. I guess that's the price he has to pay to play tomorrow night... LOL

I will not make the 29th event.... family obligations that weekend... Besides, I want to get the rear spacers on before I start to push it too hard. I was able to catch the last "wiggle" before she got out of hand and I wasn't even pushing her very hard. I will be pushing harder on the track.

 

I finally managed to fix my rocking driver's seat today.

Previously, I had tried tightening up the 3 allen-head screws that are on the outside of the seat (shown below in the first photo), but found they were already tight.

Today, I pulled the seat out of the car with the idea of taking it further apart to see if there was something else I could do. I pulled off the trim pieces and found that there are also 3 allen-head screws that go in from the inside, opposite the three that are accessible from the outside. The second photo shows where these screws are (two of them are highlighted, the third one is bured behind the mechanism).

On my seat, all of these "inside" screws (3 on each side) were very loose. I was only able to get an allen wrench on the two that were most accessible -- I snugged down the third one just by turning it with my finger, just so it wouldn't fall out.

Net result, no more rocking seat. I am really glad that annoyance is gone.

- Eric
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I am embarassed to say that I can't figure out how to remove that panel that covers the screws. I tried but couldn't get it off. I didn't remove the seat. Do think I can do it without removing the seat?

Jay

 

I very much doubt that you will be able to get to those screws with the seat(s) in the car. The good news is that pulling the seat out is not very difficult. Just make sure you use the right tool. To get to the front screws, I used a ratchet with an allen socket head (6mm) along with a 6 inch "wobble" extension (which allows a slight angle between the socket head and the extension). For the rear screws, just use the ratchet without the extension. You will drive yourself nuts if you try to remove those screws with a regular L-shaped allen wrench. (A ball-end allen driver also didn't work, because the screw heads are not that deep.)

Once the seat is out, the trim panels come off as follows:

Remove the 8 screws on the seat back, pull off large rear trim panel. Then there is one additional screw (near the top of the seat back) that holds the side trim panels in place. Remove that screw, and then pull off the side trim panels.

Frankly, you may be able to get to the additional "inside" screws I referenced in my earlier post without pulling off the trim panels. I had already removed the trim when I found the screws, and I didn't think to check if they were covered up by the trim when I reassembled.

- Eric

 

Nice post!

 

Jason, the inner screws look to be exactly the same as the outer screws, although I did not try to swap them so I don't know for sure. Anyway, matching the outer screw would probably be a good place to start.

- Eric

 

Sincere apologies for reviving an old thread, but this thread was EXTREMELY helpful to me this past week and I just HAVE to get my two cents in.

As previously identified, it is the "inside" set of screws that is the source of all the trouble, and tightening down two of the three per side is fairly easily done. That third "buried" screw is a huge pain to get to, but I think I'm just "obsessive compulsive" enough that I HAD to tighten that one down as well. I first tried using a "midget ratchet" (like the one at http://www.mytoolstore.com/chapman/chaguns.html ) but the bit was too long to fit in the space I needed to get into. Next I tried using the hex bit from a cheap screwdriver (one of those where all the tips/bits store in the handle) in the midget ratchet, but even that was too long. So... I locked one of these cheap hex bits into some vice grip pliers, and introduced it to a grinding wheel. It took a little time, but I was able to grind it down enough that I could then get the ratchet with my newly customized bit into the space needed. Amazing that all I needed was that ever-so-slightly-shorter hex bit. The bit did try to slip out the back of the ratchet (not being a proper bit for this tool, it lacked the locking notches/ridges), but I was able to jam a flat head screwdriver behind the ratchet to prevent this from happening.

Here is a pic to try and help explain. The penny is there for scale (it was under the seat when the seat came out, so I put it to use). The top bit is the proper bit that came with the midget ratchet set. The top of the lower two is a standard bit from one of those screwdrivers with the bit storage in the handle. The bottom of the lower two is the exact same as the one above it, but after it has been ground down.

Reading over the previous posts, it probably isn't worth the effort just to tighten that third screw on each side, but for those with some degree of obsessive compulsive disorders, perhaps this will help!
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One last note... in my car, many of these screws were completely missing! Initially I ordered some new ones from www.ricambiamerica.com to be sure I got the right ones. After I got the seats out, there were more missing than I thought, so I went to the local dealership and grabbed a few more. I want to make it clear that these are the "official" screws for this purpose, and I got the EXACT same screws from both locations, however... these screws are ever-so-slightly TOO LONG! If these are tightened down all the way (even with the proper toothed washer that should go along with it), the screws will extend far enough into the ratcheting reclining mechanism that the seat will no longer be able to adjust the reclining angle! By grinding about 1/8 of an inch off the tip of the screw made them just right, and all worked perfectly once this was done!

I've already spent way more than I should have on my "rebuild project" and fixing this by spending just a few bucks on screws was extremely satisfying! Especially considering I was a hair's width away from spending big bucks on a new pair of seats!

 

Jason,
I bought my screws from a company called Fastenal.
Sorry do not have part number

 

Good one Glenn, I buy a lot from them as well.

It's much more important to get hardware that works than what logo is on the bag.

 

True that! I was just really worried that if I shopped around... I would pick up a part that might be "slightly off." However, now in hind-sight (hind-sight is always 20/20), I see my mistake. In the diagram below I ordered a stack of the "#5" screw (I was missing a few of these as well), when what I needed was the slightly shorter "#17" screw.

Apologies if I caused any confusion here. I guess the lesson here, as it relates to the previous discussion, is that the screws that tighten from the "outside" of the seat ARE NOT the same as those that tighten from the inside.

Note the difference between #5 and #17 in the image below:
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Oh yeah, and for sheer simplicity and ease (I'm extremely lazy by nature) I would suggest getting them from Ricambi America ( www.ricambiamerica.com ). The "visual catalog" is incredibly convenient, and easy to navigate. The screws and washers are super cheap (by Ferrari standards) and when you don't make silly slip-ups like I did, you KNOW you are getting the right part that will fit properly.

For the two screws in question, on my car (a 1990 348TS), here are the parts:

"Outside" screw: http://www.ricambiamerica.com/product_info.php?products_id=237338

"Inside" screw: http://www.ricambiamerica.com/product_info.php?products_id=254280

Hope this helps... and I hope Daniel doesn't mind that I'm re-posting a graphic from his website. *sheepish look*

 

reviving again, as I am trying to sort out some issues...

Drivers seat rocks..
I've got a 94 spider, and my seat leather doesn't look like the seat in post 30. I've got leather covering up both sides of the outer "wheel" on the left and the spring assembly on the right. Small holes cut out for the screw on the right for the spring assembly, and several holes on the left side as well. Also, the bottom portion of the seat leather is different, making it next to impossible for me (so far) to get to the second "inner" screw. I can't even see or feel the third screw, so not going to even attempt. I did find the one accessible inner screw on the right loose, but the left was tight... Any ideas on how to get up in there to the second screw, short of cutting down an allen wrench?

Anyone else have seats like this that they have tackled? At work, don't have pictures yet...

Also, I'd like to access the "outer" wheel on the right side, but am concerned the spring is under tension, and I'd hate to take it apart only to not be able to get it back together again. Anyone do this?

I did find I was missing two of the #28 screws on the outer wheel on the left, and got them ordered today.

 

I have the same issue and Jim at Pocono Motorsport is going to look at it in the Fall
He thinks its the side screws but I made sure they were all tight, both inside and outside. I think a lever is worn but he says whatwever it is he will fix it. I will report back after

 

I have the same issue with a 95 spyder.
The seat bolts are out (some PO stripped all four of them) with new ones from GT Car parts waiting. Having a spyder makes getting the seat out of the car easier. But dang, it's heavy.

I did take off the side trim. The outer hex bolts were tight. It was the inner ones that were very loose. I dremmeled a bit off a hex wrench & was able to get to the bolts with a bit a fiddling around.
I'll dab some paint on the bolt heads to discourage them from coming loose again.

I'll also take a look at lubricating the seat belt retractor as it probably has lots of dirt or grime in it.

 

Thought I'd let folks know -
I couldn't really get a good tightening down on the rear inner bolt of the three. If anybody found a way short of disassembling the seat tilt feature, I'd like to hear it. But tightening the other two stopped the seat from bouncing back & forth while sitting in it.

I did check the belt retraction mechanism. It was clean, so there wasn't much I could do. I suspect it wont retract too fast due to the metal/leather sleave it goes through on the back of the seat. I loosened it a smidge and we'll see.

While the seat was out, I gave it a good leatherique as well as the rest of the leather on the drivers side.
I also took the opportunity to try out the brush for my porter-cable 7332 on the carpets.
That and resolve worked wonders. Very impressive.

After reconnecting everything, the seat wouldn't go back all the way. I read some threads & tried the "reset" procedure - disconnecting the pot & moving the seat - but that locked the seat out from the ECU. As noted, a battery power on/off cycle cleared it right up. Turned out the bolts are different from the front of the rails and the rear. The front's bigger heads were blocking rail gliding. Swapped them to their proper positions and all is well.

 

One other tip:

If your seats bump or grind going back & forth - loosen all four bolts so they are seated, but not tight. Run the seat forward & back a couple times. Then without jostling the seat, snug the bolts down. Otherwise the seats/rails can bind.

 

Were you able to stop the seat from rocking?

 

Completely? No. But it's way better than it was. This winter I'll dissect the locking mechanism further. I also noticed my 8 year old Mazda is starting to do this too.