Seat back pops back

[rdelmendo]

Hi all-

The drivers seat back pops back a click every now and then making for a very un-Porsche-like driving position...Does anyone know how to stop this?

This is on '69 hinges if that makes any difference. Thanks a lot in advance!

[oscillon]

Hi all-

The drivers seat back pops back a click every now and then making for a very un-Porsche-like driving position...Does anyone know how to stop this?

This is on '69 hinges if that makes any difference. Thanks a lot in advance!

Not sure if the '69 hinges are that different from the earlier models, but I wrote this little blurb a while ago about stopping the popping for my '66.

think I may have "cured" the auto-recline feature...

After thinking and futzing for some time with my '66 seats, I realized that the auto-recline problem is linked to maintaining a constant geometry of the seat hinges when your weight shifts on the seat back. I have looked very closely at a number of hinges only to realize that the problems that we all have are not due to the wear on the conical spline that keeps the seat in a set location, but is directly linked to the ability of the hinge to keep that simple sprung lever system in the prescribed location.

The cure, for recliners that have the no slip pins installed (post-356 seats), was directly related to the tightness of the hinge nut that sits below the return spring. When I took the controlling hinge apart by removing the return spring (the big one), the keeper plate and the large nut, I found that the plastic washer that separates the outer part of the hinge (the part that connects to the seat back) from the inter part (connected to the lower), had completely disintegrated. The lack of a proper spacer coupled with a nut that is locked in a particular spot to enforce a prescribed tightness of the hinge, leads to a wobbly seat. This is bad.

To solve the problem I cut a piece of gasket material (maybe not the best choice, so this part may change) to replace the destroyed spacer between the halves of the hinge, retightened the large nut, replaced the "keeper-plate" and reinstalled the large spring (not for the faint of heart). The result seems to be a transformation of the seat. Chances are good that the same procedure should be done to the inner hinge as well as the system is exactly the same, just without the recline mechanism.

Hope that is helpful.

Dan

[rdelmendo]

Thanks Dan! I'll try to adjust as you suggest.