[1970Chevy]

I just finished replacing the floor pans in my '70, and put the drivers seat back in today. When I went to slide the seat back, it wouldn't move. I inspected the tracks, and there is no wire going to the side opposite the handle. I guessed there should be, and this is why the seat wont slide. Does anyone have a picture of what a correct bucket seat track should look like? I'm hoping I can fix this easily, thanks for any help.

 

[J_Fairchild]

1970 chevy, Sorry I don't have a picture.But There is no connecting wire between the bucket seat tracks like bench style. There is a large return spring on inner track to help it go forward and no lock per say.Inner track should move freely.
Did you lube tracks up before instalation?
Could track be on backwards? Silly Question
Are the mounting points on floor square?
Just a few ideas to toss out. Hope this helps. Jim

 

[Steve442]

If the seats worked well befor the floor change i would think the floor tracks are not square.

 

[1970Chevy]

Thanks guys, I'll double check to make sure the mounts are square.

 

[BK72SS]

I think 1970Chevy is reffering to the wire that connects to the seat adjustment lever and then connects to the other track so that the seat can be moved forward and back. I have a similar problem with the drivers side bucket seat in my 72 chevelle the wire that connects to the adjustment lever has broke (you can look under the seat and see it) lucky for me it broke with the seat in the position that I like so it's not a top priority right now, but I will fix it sometime.

Brandon

 

[RAMBO]

Originally posted by BK72SS:
I think 1970Chevy is reffering to the wire that connects to the seat adjustment lever and then connects to the other track so that the seat can be moved forward and back.
Brandon

Brandon- Stock bucket seat tracks did not have a locking mechanism on the inboard track, or a wire running from the outboard to the inboard to actuate one. The inboard track just slides free- there is a spring on it to help pull it to the back.

If your tracks have the locks on the inboard ones and a wire between the two to actuate it, then at some point in the past someone used bench seat tracks on your seats instead of the correct bucket tracks...

No big deal they still work, just wanted to clarify- stock bucekt seat tracks did not have the inboard lock, or a wire to actuate it.

Ben

 

[BK72SS]

Ben,
I'll try phraseing it differently, I'm reffering to the wire that connects to the lever that you use to slide the seat foward and back and the other end connets to the other track so the seat will move foward and back. The wire that goes between each track on my driverside seat has broken, if you look under the seat you can see the wire connected to the lever used to move the seat and the other piece connected to the other track. I'm 100% sure that my chevelle never had a bench seat, I have two build sheets that show it came with bucket seats and I have talked with the original owner at a car show a few years ago and he said when he bought it off the dealer lot it had bucket seats, I'm the third owner of my 72 and when I bought it in 1997 the only non stock items on it were a chrome air cleaner and valve covers and a dual exhaust with turbos. Everything else was bone stock even the radio and coil were original, maybe I phrased the name of the part wrong. What is it suppose to be called?

Brandon

 

[J_Fairchild]

I have not seen that set up except on bench seats as Ben said.Could they be from another Gm product line? Or maybe a line change by seat supplier when the other ones ran out? But any way,do you think you could get a way by using a coat hanger or maybe find another real stiff wire from hardware supplier to make work? Just a thought.......Jim

 

[BK72SS]

Jim,
I am going to remove the seat and repair it sometime, but since it broke in the position that I like it in I'm not in a hurry to fix it right now. I will go to a hardware store and look at the wire they have and see if any looks similar, a coat hanger will be to thick to work. It would be nice if I had a digital camera so I could post a picture, I know it has to be the same as other 70-72 chevelle bucket seats and I'm just phraseing it wrong or not describeing it right.

Brandon

 

[chevl71]

I have pulled stock GM buckets out of A body cars and found that some do have the wire going over to the other side. I don't think they were Chevy, but they were "A" body buckets.
I think any stiff wire would do.

 

[20round]

hey guys, i have parted out over the years,10-15 68-72 chevelles.and most of them with buckets, and not one set of buckets came with the a "adjuster locking wire" as GM calls it in there fisher body manual..i still have about 4 set of buckets left, if anybody needs a picture i can send them one of the tracks, that are untouched..so in closing, i agree with jim and ben although it could be a b.o.p. set up? but i have parted several of those also , and never seen that set up on buckets, only benchs. .troy

 

[DanD]

I have seen them both ways.

 

[s5757s]

From my years of parting out different A body GM models. Lemans, GTO, Cutlass, 442 & Skylarks I have found this wire on bucket seat tracks.Mostly found on 71-72 year models. I don't think they were used on the Chevelle, El Camino and Monte Carlo's.

Good luck

S5757S

 

[RealRed70]

I have actually seen quite a few of those with the wire to the inner track. Some even on Chevelles and Montes. I will agree, mostly see them on 71/72 models. I have used a coat hanger many times wire to fix the broken wire. It works just fine. Bench seat tracks will not fit buckets without modification to the seat frame. Bench seat bolt patterns are shorter where the track mounts to the seat. The floor bolt pattern is the same distance apart for bench or buckets.

 

[Bryan59EC]

Might try using a bicycle brake cable for this.
pretty strong stuff and with the right goodies you can make it a bit adjustable
in case you measure too long.

 

[Bryan U]

hey guys, i have parted out over the years,10-15 68-72 chevelles.and most of them with buckets, and not one set of buckets came with the a "adjuster locking wire" as GM calls it in there fisher body manual..i still have about 4 set of buckets left, if anybody needs a picture i can send them one of the tracks, that are untouched..so in closing, i agree with jim and ben although it could be a b.o.p. set up? but i have parted several of those also , and never seen that set up on buckets, only benchs. .troy

troy, if it wouldn't be a problem can you post a picture of those tracks. 68 drivers side is locked to the front. Thanks

hey guys, i have parted out over the years,10-15 68-72 chevelles.and
most of them with buckets, and not one set of buckets came with the a "adjuster locking wire" as GM calls it in there fisher body manual..i still have about 4 set of buckets left, if anybody needs a picture i can send them one of the tracks, that are untouched..so in closing, i agree with jim and ben although it could be a b.o.p. set up? but i have parted several of those also , and never seen that set up on buckets, only benchs. .troy

 

[RAMBO]

troy, if it wouldn't be a problem can you post a picture of those tracks. 68 drivers side is locked to the front. Thanks

Hey Bryan, welcome to TC...
FYI- You replied to a posting from 9 years ago, which was a reply in a thread started 18 years ago! Many posters are likely no longer on this site.

As someone mentioned above, 71-72 buckets came with a slightly different kind of tracks that had a latch on the inside track as well as the outside.
All 66-70 buckets only had the latch on the outside track and the inside one is just free to slide.

I don't have any photos to share- the tracks look the same, except the inner track will have a short locking "arm" in the middle of it that points to the center with some holes in it for the actuating rod, where the outboard track has a larger lever arm that sticks out the side and a smaller arm on the inside with holes for the actuating rod.

Since the 71-72 style were only used for 2 years they are much rarer to find. If you have 68 seats, you most likely have 66-70 style tracks.

Its very common for the tracks to freeze up. Take the seats out lube them up with wd40 and work the slides back and forth until they move freely.
If they move freely unattached- they will move free in the car, unless the seat is installed crooked which jams the tracks.

-Ben

 

[Droptop72]

It just so happens I just got done refurbishing my 72' seat tracks, and as you can, yes my 72's have the little wire connecting the two sides. Also, in the process, I broke the the one on the drivers seat, so you can see that I replaced it with some steel cable and a couple lead cable sleeves. The size is a little overkill, but it was the smallest cable I had laying around and didn't want to make another trip to the hardware store.

 

[Capt Casey]

Here are the 66-70 bucket seat tracks...

These are from a 68 hope these help.