Removing 114 115 front seats....

[Idle]

OK. So I know to remove the two 10 mm bolts in the front of the tracks.

And I know you reach the two rear track bolts from under the car through access holes.

But what I can't figure out is what size are those rear mounting bolts? I tried 6 mm, 5 mm and 5.5 mm and nothing seems to fit tight enough.

Are any of those the right sizes? Could it be my bolts are just rusted up a bit and nothing is going to fit correctly? From what I can see they look very clean.

These rear bolts, as well as I can see through the access holes, appear to be coated with something white. I could be mistaken on this; it could just be the natural color of the metal and it only looks white from where I am standing.

So has anyone ever removed these rear bolts and can you remember what the correct size is? If there is a specific tool made these bolts?

[Sugar Bear]

Removed them a few decades ago but have no recall of anything peculiar, nor special tool. Hoping someone didn't use SAE fasteners on yours.

Good luck!!!

[Mike D]

What bolts are you trying to take out? The seat retaining bolts are accessed by sliding the seat to the front-most position.





Haven't got into the rear seat in quite awhile. Looks as though it's time to renew the padding. Flippin' horsehair crap. I replaced the bottoms' padding but it looks as though it is time to do the backs/uprights. It's always something!

[meltedpanda]

They should be 8 or 10 mm. But if an SAE socket fits someone may have retrofitted?

[Idle]

Originally Posted by Mike D

What bolts are you trying to take out? The seat retaining bolts are accessed by sliding the seat to the front-most position.

Attachment 154418

Attachment 154419

Haven't got into the rear seat in quite awhile. Looks as though it's time to renew the padding. Flippin' horsehair crap. I replaced the bottoms' padding but it looks as though it is time to do the backs/uprights. It's always something!

That's what I was expecting to find since that's what I have seen before. I have heard of these tracks that were only reached through access holes under the car but this is, I think, only the second time in the last 50 years I have ever seen them.

But I did know of the way these were mounted so when I slid the seat forward and the bolts were not there I knew I had to be dealing with the under floor bolts. It is just that nothing fits tight enough to remove them.

This is a parts car so I will just cut the floor out with a saw and take a better look at them. I might even be able to figure out a way to post a photo. If so maybe this thread will be helpful to others going forward.

[Idle]

Originally Posted by Mike D

What bolts are you trying to take out? The seat retaining bolts are accessed by sliding the seat to the front-most position.

Attachment 154418

Attachment 154419

Haven't got into the rear seat in quite awhile. Looks as though it's time to renew the padding. Flippin' horsehair crap. I replaced the bottoms' padding but it looks as though it is time to do the backs/uprights. It's always something!

The backs are simple if you have enough extensions for your ratchet wrench. There are just two nuts at the bottom of the seat, 10 mm nuts, in the corner next to the doors, and two that hold the top of the seat to the back panel which are reached through the trunk. These are 8 mm,

The biggest thing to look out for is the armrest falling out on you when you are removing the seat from the car. It shifts the balance of the seat and can happen so quickly it can cause you to drop the seat back.

I always have someone help me when pulling the seat back, but that might be because at my age everything is a little more difficult.

[Mike D]

I was referring to the padding dropping from the seat back onto the floor step well. I had re-done the rear seats previously.

I'd certainly like to see any pictures you get from the front seat rail removal.

Mother Benz never ceases to amaze me with some of the things done differently. Every time I think I've seen it all, she surprises me.

[Idle]

Originally Posted by Mike D

What bolts are you trying to take out? The seat retaining bolts are accessed by sliding the seat to the front-most position.

Attachment 154418

Attachment 154419

Haven't got into the rear seat in quite awhile. Looks as though it's time to renew the padding. Flippin' horsehair crap. I replaced the bottoms' padding but it looks as though it is time to do the backs/uprights. It's always something!

SOLVED!

There are 10 mm bolts in the front. Easy to see and get to.

The rears are just the same. Slide the seat all the way forward. They are not as easy to see and are not as easy to get to but this is a function of being unable to get a socket in there easily. A 10 mm box end will slowly take them out.

My problem was the seat rails were frozen. So I lubed up them up and got them moving but not moving enough. They were just shy of going forward enough to see the rear 10 mm bolt heads.

But after cutting them out (the body is rusted beyond repair) I could see them from a different angle and realized the problem. So a bit more lube, a bit more work to free the frozen rack, and a bit of work with the 10 mm box end wrench and in less than one minute they were out.

Thanks everyone for responding to this. Hopefully someone in the future will be able to save some time by learning from my mistakes.

What was really throwing me was the access holes in the chassis. And the inability to clearly see what I was dealing with.