Seat tracks

[Bird 426]

Has anyone ever drilled the stop rivet out in the seat track of a bucket seat and pulled the mechanism apart? I am the proud owner of a really messed up pair of bucket seats. Track to floor mounting studs are gone, wire for seat adj is gone, and the tracks really need some attention. I want to bead blast most of it, but not with the bearings in there. This car was an old race car, maybe, and there are a lot of odd things going on! I have figured out how to replace the seat adj wire. Will figure out a proper length and solder electrical ends onto a small diameter woven wire cable. Not sure, but seats should be '69 Road Runner with head rests.
Need new seat covers and work on head rests, will check out the place in St. Louis and legendary.
Thank you

 

[snakeoil24]

your asking for a nightmare to take them apart.

 

[Gus chiggins]

your asking for a nightmare to take them apart.

Even Angels would fear to tread.

 

[Bird 426]

Okay, probably saw that coming, that's why I stopped. Well, blasting is out, so will go to plan B or C!
Thank you!

 

[TT from NH]

Well, I'm no angel, so let me hijack the thread. I recovered my 68 Coronet bucket seats. In trying to get the tracks to slide more easily, the mechanism came apart (I didn't drill out the rivet as Bird 426 was going to do). As you can see, there is a clip, a cylindrical piece, and a ball bearing. It looks like the clip is pretty beat up but not broken. I think the ball bearing serves as a locking mechanism to prevent one (like yours truly) from pulling the mechanism apart.

Does anyone have advice on 1) how to clean the track up so it slides nicely, 2) how to put this back together, 3) a place where I can purchase a new clip?

 

[snakeoil24]

Brake cleaner

 

[gkent]

The "bearings" are actually rollers and I believe there are only two per track. Regardless, I cleaned and blasted mine without taking them apart - no issues at all. Clean and degrease first so the blast media has nothing to stick to. Give them another good cleaning after blasting. The tracks themselves probably don't need to be blasted - the grease probably did a fair job protercting them. If they're really rusty, glass beads won't do the trick. I gave up on that crap long ago and now use aluminum oxide exclusively. The stuff just doesn't wear out and will tackle anything as well as leave a nice surface (depending on the coarseness you use). When you're done, spray them with "Wire Rope" lube. Its clear and sprays on like water then the propellant evaporates and leaves a thin, clear film of grease.

 

[71Beeper]

National Moparts up here in Canada has the rail links.

 

[TT from NH]

The "bearings" are actually rollers and I believe there are only two per track. Regardless, I cleaned and blasted mine without taking them apart - no issues at all. Clean and degrease first so the blast media has nothing to stick to. Give them another good cleaning after blasting. The tracks themselves probably don't need to be blasted - the grease probably did a fair job protercting them. If they're really rusty, glass beads won't do the trick. I gave up on that crap long ago and now use aluminum oxide exclusively. The stuff just doesn't wear out and will tackle anything as well as leave a nice surface (depending on the coarseness you use). When you're done, spray them with "Wire Rope" lube. Its clear and sprays on like water then the propellant evaporates and leaves a thin, clear film of grease.

It looks like I only have one roller/clip/bearing set in this track. I am guessing that the other one got pushed out. I have another seat track in my garage and see if I can use that one (although I think it's an A-body track) or maybe use the roller/clip/bearing set. Thanks for the info.

 

[TT from NH]

National Moparts up here in Canada has the rail links.
View attachment 1605562

Good to know. Thanks!

 

[TT from NH]

Brake cleaner

Thanks! Since I had the pieces separated, I simply went in there with a wire wheel and removed the gunk and rust.

 

[Floyd]

There’s some good info in this post:

Seat track disassembly in Interior

 

[dsd1967]

I've done a couple of sets in the past but never thought to take pictures. It's been years since I did them, but I'm positive I had to remove one of those swaged rivets to get one side out. Once the first roller set comes out, I believe the track will move far enough to get the other roller set out. I just machined up new rivets and once everything was cleaned and reassembled I installed the rivet and peened it in by resting the head on some barstock resting on a vise and hitting the other side with a hammer to mushroom the small end of the rivet.

Other than having access to a lathe to make the new rivets, the rest of the process was simple. Just pay attention as things come apart so that you know how they go back together. Or.....do the trick of only doing one side at a time so you have a reference to look at when putting things back together.

 

[TT from NH]

I was lazy (and fortunate). I cut the four rivets from a working seat track off an A-body seat frame punched the track off (first picture). I did the same from the B-body frame. I pressed the A-body seat track onto the B-body seat frame (the rivets/holes match perfectly -- see second and third picture) and welded it to the non-working seat frame on the B-body seat frame. I did two tack welds to the side since the rivet welds were pretty light. A little paint and everything's perfect (last picture)!