Power seat switch question, 1965 Lincoln

[frasern]

The seats can be removed from under the car, with the tracks and skirting still attached, if the bolts are not too rusty. My "68 parts car was parked in a puddle for untold years, yet I could remove all 8 bolts (bucket seats) without a problem.

[George W]

Are you saying the seat tracks are bolted in from the underside of the car ?

[frasern]

The tracks are bolted through the floor, the front has long studs with nuts beneath. if they wont turn, the stud will. the rear uses bolts. If the bottom of the track, inside the car, has gotten rusty, they will be difficult to remove, as that is where it is threaded. Wet carpets and salty footwear can cause this. I tried to post a picture but failed.

[TonyC]

Actually, yes, he is. I can confirm that; the anchor bolts for the track mechanism go through the floor pan, accessible from under the car. That means that, if you remove them, you need to treat them with some kind of watertight sealant when you put them back in.

---Tony

[mge825y]

Rather then take a chance on damaging the switch I’m sending the switch to John Brewer for refurbishment. I’m having some difficulty getting access to the seat bolts as the carpet is in the way. I may have to wait for the switch to be returned so I can move the seat mechanism to be able to gain access. There’s a button with an attached string through the carpet that secures the front and rear sections of the carpet together under the seat. It appears that I’ll need to cut that string in order to move the front carpet out of the way to access the seat bolts and the motor/drive mechanism.

George - Sending your switch to John Brewer is the smart play. I've sent John Brewer all of my switches and relays for him to clean and test. Takes the guess work out of what is going on and what the root cause of issues are. In my case, my seat switch was good, but one of the two relays under the seat on my '63 was bad. Plus, my seat mechanism was a mess and needed to be rebuilt. John does good work.

[RMAENV]

+1 on sending to John Brewer for Rebuild and test. John is very good. I have purchased some parts form him and talked on the phone.

Let us know if he found any burnt contacts or other age-related issues with the seat switch.

If it is the switch (I believe it is), it will save you a whole lot of work and aggravation not having to take the seat, the motor and the mechanism out. If it is not the switch, then it is probably stripped gear(s) (there are 3) in the seat transmission. I believe John has the gears also. I am still betting on the switch being the issue.

[TonyC]

Maybe temporarily...but if that transmission has never been opened up since it was assembled in 1965, you will go through that aggravation after all, when one of those nylon gears strips itself after being jammed up by the peanut butter that's in there now. Take it from me, it's not a question of "if," but of "when." Even if the gears run fine now (in fact, I dare say especially if the gears run fine now), you would do yourself a world of benefit in preventive maintenance by going through the headache of buying new PTFE grease, taking the transmission out, disassembling it, cleaning all the bluish peanut butter out of there, and repacking with fresh grease. That will make sure your seat does not develop physical problems for at least another quarter-century, maybe longer. Besides, I'm pretty sure that your car is not your main, let alone sole, means of conveyance; so you would not necessarily be pressed for time and/or immediate need, as, say, I would be in the same situation.

---Tony