So, I was getting aorund to cleaning out the garage this weekend and I have my original seats ready to hit the curb...

That got me to thinking... When I hit a hard stop with the new (86) interior I installed, the unoccupied passenger seat back likes to flip forward. Was something changed? Do I need to swap some parts in between the old and new seats?

The interior came out of an 86 Convertible, mine is an 84.

Not wanting to repeat the past mistake of throwing out something I actually need, only to have to buy it again later at a premium.

Any thoughts on this?

Is there a little cable attached to the seat base and the seat back that is broken? Can't remember if these have the cable or not. I keep getting my G's and J's mixed up..

Some of the seats have that cable, some don't. I believe the cable is used with the recline lever, if you have that feature.

Here is a couple of picts of mine I took today.......


Drivers side -



And Passengers side -



If you have these, you should need to raise those tabs to allow the seat to flop forward. I noticed mine on the passengers side is locking about half the time when I took these....never noticed it before. I'm an old fart and don't thrash 'em around like I did 30 years ago...LOL, so I didn't stop fast enough to flop the seat forward. Anyways..... if your old seats lock like they are supposed to, you can remove that plastic cover and unbolt those side mounts off the old seats, and swap them on your good ones. You can save the hardware if you want, those seats in my picts were originally out of a 4 door. I just swapped the 2 door hardware over so the backs would flop forward, instead of being fixed in a 4 door. Hope this helps a little :-)

So I tried to do this and had some problems posting....

Here we go again...

Thanks for the pics Orlen, they are pretty close to what is on my car.

The interior I purchased on eBay was off of a wrecked 86. The whole thing was like $130 so I am still happy I am assuming the tabs were broken internally somewhere when that car met its destiny. I will pull the sides off before I trash the old seats and we will see what we have.

Thanks for the input.

Interesting issue.Never had that happen in sunny ever.Proves to be entertaining what you find tho.Yet to find some good used J seats in any junkyard adventures yet.Not that I need them but,would buy if solid to sale.I would love to check out this other yard about 2hrs from me but,lately just tooooo busy and weather lousy on my days off I planned to go(da!@#$^%## it).And more colorful words.I have not forgot your console request btw.Nothing yet from last visit at the super sweet pull a part yard.

Thanks Ron-

Have a great Thanksgiving!

ok, got the old seats down from the storage shelf and removed the side hardware. I will put them on when I get a few minutes one of these days...

Heck, maybe I will get some time yet this weekend.

Nothing beats a free upgrade! :-)

So the job that didn't need to be done kust keeps getting better.

My old seats look just like Orlen's. My new ones have fabric all the way to the outside with no upper plastic. The little "lift" handle sticks right through fabric. The underlying mechanism appears to be similar. Trying to fix what I had I got up close and personal with them. There is a little cylinder at the end of a plastic pull tab (orlen mentioned it) that goes up when the tab is pulled by the lift handle on the back of the seat. It also goe up automatically when the seat is pushed forward. If I put a little screwdriver in there to keep it down, the seat locks as it should.

So, back to the differences, the old unit has a one piece plastic lift handle. The new one appears to be plastic over a metal bar. It has to be two piece somehow to get through the fabric. I guess I have to decide how much this little annoyance means to me as it appears I will have to cut the fabric one way or another.

Just wait until I start going after the turbo wastegate spring in a future installment...

Paul, you got me to thinkin' and I slipped out the house and took a few picts of the stock seats in my 'ole lady's 98 Cav. Sure 'nuf they seem as you describe. I have read on a few threads that all 3 gens seats will interchange, and it might be that you have a different gen in yours now. If that is the case I'm lost, I haven't stretched my legs that far yet...LoL

Orlen-

Yep, that is what I have except it is the pontiac fabric...

so how do I get that little handle off?

The other problem is the old ones appear to be one piece . It sounds like I need to rip some fabric

JOB DONE.

I had some time today and replaced the seat recliner assembly on both seats. They are not exact but close enough. Seats no longer flip flop

SUPER!! Did you have to cut, scissor or tear the fabric to get access? Inquiring mind wants to know....LoL


.

I did have to cut just a wee bit around the release. It was much easier once I took the seats out of the car LOL.