Driver Seat Back Rail Seems Off

[dshaw66]

Previous owner had the seat covers replaced and I don't believe the installer got the rail on the side for folding the seat forward installed correctly. Can anyone point me to a tutorial on how everything should go back together? My driver seat wiggles and shakes and I'm afraid it's going to come undone while driving.

Thanks

[wetminkey]

Man,...mine is a '79, and I've looked several times, but I cannot figure out exactly what I'm seeing,...
I assume that I'm looking at the right side of the driver's seat - at the hinge area, next to the console. But I do not understand what that slotted bracket is doing there!? My seat hinges do not have anything like that.
I'll get some pics tomorrow in good light. My driver's side is apart, and passenger's side is still in the car.
Seats loose? Those aren't metal fillings that I see on the vinyl, are they?
Todd.

[dshaw66]

Man,...mine is a '79, and I've looked several times, but I cannot figure out exactly what I'm seeing,...
I assume that I'm looking at the right side of the driver's seat - at the hinge area, next to the console. But I do not understand what that slotted bracket is doing there!? My seat hinges do not have anything like that.
I'll get some pics tomorrow in good light. My driver's side is apart, and passenger's side is still in the car.
Seats loose? Those aren't metal fillings that I see on the vinyl, are they?
Todd.

That is the driver side next to the console, and those aren't metal filings. I looked at the passenger side and found that instead of that brace going to the back of the seat where it latches to keep from flipping forward, the bracket goes to the hinge screw for the seat back. I took it off, moved the bracket, and rebolted everything to the rails and floor and it's tight and comfy again. I was overthinking it. Thanks.

[DieselSpider]

Are we sure those are the factory seats?

That almost looks home made from hardware store mending plates.

[dshaw66]

Are we sure those are the factory seats?

That almost looks home made from hardware store mending plates.

Purchased the car from the original owner, 80+ year old man. Said they were reupholstered last year, so I would venture to guess the people who put them back together didn't quite know what they were doing with a car this age. I'll take a photo tonight of how the passenger side was and how I corrected the driver side.

[18Fiatsandcounting]

I'm late to the party here, and it sounds like you have the seat problem resolved. I'll just add that later versions of the seats had a retaining bracket (what you've shown) to prevent the driver's seat back from tilting so far forward that the headrest presses against the horn button on the steering wheel. My '69 spider does not have this retaining bracket, and it only takes a few times of tiling the driver's seat forward only to have the air horns go off, before you realize that this was a design flaw that was corrected by adding this bracket at some point in the production years.

-Bryan

[wetminkey]

Wow! How cool that you were able to fix your seat with just that!!
My seat back seemed loose, but it turned out to be a broken and "wallowed out" hinge-point in the frame. All of the metal fillings stayed inside the seat,...glad your's was not that!
Good to hear that you'll be driving in comfort, once again,...!
Makes me think,...one of these days, I'll be that "80 year old man" selling his Fiat,...
Happy Motoring! And happy holidays to you, and your's.
Todd.

[DieselSpider]

I wish I had the original seats regardless of the condition as I can weld new steel back into the frames myself however the previous owner decided to toss them and install a pair of huge Garage Pro seats that are too wide and sit you so high your looking over the windshield frame at the traffic lights plus without a tilt wheel you have to shimmy and slide under the steering wheel to get in or out. Makes it so you have to get out of the car to raise or lower the top and the adjuster is the gear knob style so to tilt them forward and back again requires a few minutes of cranking. If you don't get the angle right you have to stop the car so you can open the door since the seats are so wide you can't get your hand on the knob with the doors closed.

Can you tell I really dislike these seats?

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Can you tell I really dislike these seats?

Well, I had to read your post multiple times, but yes, I do get the impression that you are thinking that there might be better options...!

I understand that there are some things that Fiat goofed up as far as the design, but on the other hand, 99% (well, maybe 95%) of the car is pretty well engineered and I prefer to leave it like it was originally designed, without a lot of aftermarket "improvements."

-Bryan

[DieselSpider]

Can you tell I really dislike these seats?

Well, I had to read your post multiple times, but yes, I do get the impression that you are thinking that there might be better options...!

I understand that there are some things that Fiat goofed up as far as the design, but on the other hand, 99% (well, maybe 95%) of the car is pretty well engineered and I prefer to leave it like it was originally designed, without a lot of aftermarket "improvements."

-Bryan

The aftermarket seats in the Diesel Spider were sold under the Garage Pro brand for about $100 new and are for a full sized American car or possibly a Pickup or SUV so they are HUGE wing backed racing seats with high side bolsters that rub the center console and a wing back that rubs the convertible top frame. I do not believe they are available any more either except for as an office chair.

The after market seats in the Diesel Spider make the Scat 80 seats look tiny in comparison. Imagine something like the Scat 80 below but taller and wider installed in a 124 Spider in Bright Red with the side of the seat bottom rubbing the center console and going all the way to the armrests with a wing back wider than the seats bottom extending over the center console so your arm just barely fits between them. Then instead of an adjusting lever there is a gear driven knob that you have to turn 10 or 20 times to lean the seat forward with no quick release lever. The seat bottoms are so thick you are sitting about 3 to 4 inches higher that the OEM Fiat seats.



The OEM Fiat Seats fit the car. Fiat did not mess up at all with the size of the seats and I would have greatly preferred to have had the old rusty Fiat seats to rebuild rather than the after market seats that they were replaced with.