[T3] Have another question on 73 T-3 front seat cable

[William Jahn]

Thanks Jim.

 I know I can still get the knobs , from what I've seen at least in the
photo's on JBugs and other sites they show a metal clip that secures the
knob like the seat for and aft wavy flat knobs. I know I removed the knobs
and cover and the side covers before I set them one at a time to get
recovered in the mid 90's I don't recall any metal clips. I did order the
plastic slides for the seat rails the rears are gone and the center ones
are there yet pretty worn. I don't move the seats much , only when I need
to work in the back like removing the battery or getting at all the other
relays and cables and wiring back there. In fact I haven't moved the
drivers seat in so long the pin was stuck so I cleaned and lubed it so I
could get at the regulator. I can see a spring above the knob looking
through the slot , I don't see any housing over the cables on either side,
perhaps since mine is a late model Feb 73 if I recall VW changed this, as
you know in the later years they  made many parts cheaper and perhaps used
what they had left since this was the last year. The car was only 12 years
old when I got it and I doubt the cables were changed . I think what
happened was the PO and I think there was only one owner before me had VW
seat covers pulled over the original ones and at that time got the cables
wrong. Every single stock part was there even the red card board cover over
the regulator is still there. The seats still had the hose hair yet it was
so bad if I sat to long I was sitting on a metal bar right at the very rear
of the seat cushion where the back joins.

 Some time later in the week I will pull the side panels and have a look ,
maybe there is some sort of cable slide sort of like used on self adjusting
drum brakes , it is a stranded cable. Or I can make something. I may need
to pull one back cover up enough to see if the cable should be on the
inside rather than showing .

 As long as it works like the right that's fine, I never noticed the cable
showing until I really looked the other day , I've never seen the frames
with the covers off. After all it's been like this since 85 and neither
cable has broken yet. The 72 parts car I had , had different seats I recall
a knob to recline and different release knobs to move the seats , I
remember because I liked the better yet they would not fit the 73 so it was
a early 72 . I young lady stopped by the shop I was working at in 85 and
asked how much I wanted for the seats I said take whatever you need , she
knew exactly how to remove them , impressed me.

On Tue, Dec 31, 2019 at 1:55 PM Jim Adney <jadney at vwtype3.org> wrote:

> On 31 Dec 2019 at 8:07, William Jahn wrote:
>
> > There is a knob door side of the seat back purpose is to slid up allowing
> > the seat back to tilt forward . The right works , the left does not move
> > up enough and since I've had this car I need to use this knob and the
> back
> > tilt knob in combination in order to simply to tilt the seat back forward
> > .
> > I looked at the right and see a cable with no tube drop down on the
> > outside of the backs outer black  frame pivot arm that has a pivot bolt
> to
> > seat back to the seat base . It works yet I don't think I should see the
> > cable. One the left seat same deal except the cable is looped around the
> > back of the same pivot bolt on the right the cable is not looped . The
> way
> > it's looped around the back of the pivot bolt boss won't allow the cable
> > release knob to move fully up on the side of the seat back.
>
> It's been too many years for me to remember exactly how that release cable
> works, but it seems like you've answered your own question: Make the L
> seat a mirror image of the R and it will work the same. Taking the plastic
> pieces off the outside of both seats is a good way to start. Those late
> seats
> are an awful design, overcomplicated and weak. They don't hold up nearly
> as well as any of the earlier seats. The only good thing about them is
> that
> they share a lot of parts with Beetle seats of the same era, so parts that
> break are often still available.
>
> CAUTION: I believe you'll have to pull off a knob that comes out thru
> those
> plastic side plates. That knob is held on its shaft by teeth on the shaft,
> so if
> you pull the knob with your fingers against the shaft as the knob slides
> off,
> those teeth will take serious bites out of your fingers. Don't let your
> fingers
> touch the shaft, or loop some heavy string behind the knob and let the
> teeth
> destroy that instead of your fingers.
>
> What I can recall is that there's a short cable housing with an anchor tab
> in
> the middle. The cable itself has a spring in the middle. I bought a new
> one
> when I was rebuilding some of those seats, about 25 years ago. I had to
> take
> apart 4 seats to get enough good parts to make 2 good ones, and, in the
> end, I didn't need the cable that I had bought. It's still in the basement.
>
> I may also have a good used cable, I'd have to check the box of seat parts
> that's in storage. But I'm pretty sure I can find that NOS cable assembly.
>
> --
> *******************************
> Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
> Madison, Wisconsin, USA
> *******************************
>
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