Technical Seat removal

[MattGibson]

Hey everyone,

I was hoping someone might be able to give me some advice. As a birthday present I'm getting my Bambino's interior (front seats, rear seat, door cards, sun visors, wheel arch panels, and headlining) re-trimmed. I'm going to strip the interior tomorrow to take to the upholsterers on Monday.

I realise it's a little late in the day, but does anyone have any advice for removing the seats? I had a quick look today, but couldn't see an obvious way of removing the front seats from the runners, or work out what holds the rear seat in place. None of the manuals I have seem to cover much on the interior.

Cheers,
Matt

 

[Bambino]

Matt,

The front seats slide forward and disengage from the front of the runners on each side. They go nearly to the dash/firewall prior to disengaging so its easiest to do it sitting in the rear once you've slid them forward enough so they are free of the fore/aft locking mechanism. They may be stiff due to accumulated dust, dirt and other crap over the years so you may have to lubricate them to get them to go their full travel. Mine were jammed pretty tight. The photo is of my floor prior to restoration - a bit dark, sorry - but it does show the runners and the simple lever/teeth engagement used to prevent unwanted to/fro movement.

The rear seat squab just comes up out of its front retainers and should be removed first. The seat back hinges forward and is quite easy to remove once the squab is out of the way. From memory, removing the two rear 'door cards' makes the job a little easier. I don't have a good photo of the stripped rear interior, sorry.

Hope this helps,

Chris

PS: Happy birthday, whenever it is

 

[MattGibson]

Thanks very much for the info Chris. My front seats don't move at all on the runners, so I suspect I may have a job 'persuading' them today. I'll make sure to have a can of WD40 to hand...

 

[MattGibson]

Chris,

My Dad and I managed to successfully remove the the front seats, but only after a lot of vigorous persuading with a 24oz ball pein hammer! My runners were definitely an interference fit and will be thoroughly greased before the seats go back on. We also had a lot of fun getting the door handles and window winders off, as they were totally different to the Haynes manual. When I have a moment I'll post some pictures to help anyone else attempting this.

Cheers,
Matt