68-69 Seat Backs Revisited

[Chuck G.]

I just looked at my neighbor's 68 coupe. He has the plated metal pads on the seat bottoms and a 7/8 inch diameter 1/2 inch tall black plastic stop which is secured to the seat back with a phillips head sheet metal screw, not a machine screw. There does not appear to be any accomodation for a threaded rod in the seat back. My 69 has a threaded female fitting which accepts a 5/16x18 threaded rod which contains a rubber bumper. By screwing this in and out, you can adjust the angle of your seat back. Here's the question: Are the seat backs themselves different ? Did the early type (68 to some point in 69) not have a threaded female fitting, and use a self tapping sheet metal screw to secure the plastic stop, and did the later type (some point in 69 and on) incorporate the threaded fitting, allowing the use of the threaded rod with the rubber bumper on the end ? I have another friend with a very late 69--built in December, 1969. His seat backs have the threaded rod assembly too. My 69 is a very late August, 1969 car. Any thoughts ? Chuck Gongloff

[Joe L.]

Re: 68-69 Seat Backs Revisited

Chuck-----

Well, I've got a little more that I can add to this discussion now. A good friend of mine is the original owner of his '69. He drove the car for the first several years and subsequently parked it in his garage where it's sat ever since. The interior is completely original. His car was an early '69 , s/n 7234, built in November, 1968. I had him check his seats for me. His car has a round, non-adjustable, white plastic upper bumper affixed with a single screw on the seat back and a round, black plastic lower bumper affixed with a phillips head screw on the seat cushion. Also, he says that his car did not come with the muslin bag of shims to adjust the seat back angle, but I'm not so sure on this one. Incidentally, his car DOES have the stainless steel clips in front of the seat cushions to secure the seat belt when not in use.

My '69, s/n 29531, was built on September 13, 1969. It has the adjustable upper bolt with attached black rubber bumper on the seat back and the round,black, plastic bumper affixed with a phillips head screw on the seat bottom. My car definitely came with the tie-string muslin bag containing 4, 1/4" thick rectangular shims painted metallic silver. It did not contain any round shims. I remember this bag very well----the day I took delivery of the car, September 30, 1969, I found them in the rear compartment. For a long time I wondered what they were. I still have the shims, but I've lost track of the bag. My car also has the stianless clips on the front of the seat cushions.

[Jack H.]

Re: 68-69 Seat Backs Revisited

See my comments to Chester on his '68 query (Firewall). In any Corvette restoration there will be running changes to think through. This is an area where you don't want to put out an APB for the 'correct' answer!!!!

You want to do some research to see if you can figure out/narrow down the alternatives before you act. The AIM system is one heck of an audit trail that can be used positively in our restorations and it isn't used by many as well as it could/should be.

In my response to Chester, I detail a proceedure for playing detective. This query of yours falls into the same category. The seat items you question were installed in St. Louis on the final line, so there's an AIM audit trail of what, when, where. Make it work for you!

Last, the screw in bumpers were not, in my opinion, used for seat back height adjustment. Why? The proceedure is NOT called out in the owner's manual or Chassis Service Manual. AND, Chevy continued to ship cars with with the 'chew tobacco' bag of seat shims. If the screw bumpers really solved the seat back adjust problem, bet your bottom dollar the bag of shims would have been HISTORY!

These guys would've killed their grandmother for an extra $1/unit cost saving. They didn't ship unnecessary parts for very long (if at all).

When I got my uncle's '71 he HAD unscrewed the bumpers to effect a seat back tilt. They had bent shafts and had broken the seat back/bun rail spot welds with the increased moment arm stress! The current service replacements I put in their place were VERY DIFFERENT in terms of bumper shaft material and length (nothing shows when bumper is installed).

My 'guess' is someone had an idea to save money and 'improve' the seat design but it didn't work....

[Gene M.]

Re: 68 Seat Backs Observed

Chuck your neighbor's '68 appears exactly the same as my early '68 from your description.

[Jack Freeman]

Re: 68-69 Seat Backs Revisited

I ordered a 69 conv.and took delivery in March 69 and my seats had no type of adjustment except the bag of shims. My car was #20xxx (wish I knew the rest of the number) My car did have the "tobacco sack" with the shims in it although I dont think I ever knew what they were for. I wonder how many 69s still have the 1/2 or 9/16 inch wrench with the cat that I presume was used to remove and install the H/T. I think the seat back rested against a hard rubber or maybe plastic piece with no adjustment.