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Sun Nov 30, 2003 8:42 pm

Anyone have any nifty ideas about how to rig a fix for a front seat missing the pull handle that releases the latch so the back of the seat can be moved up? This is on a 64 notchback where I have a missing one on the passenger side. Thanks for any help!

Gut

Mon Dec 01, 2003 6:05 pm

I was hoping somebody else with more knowledge of the early cars would have answered this, but since nobody did, I guess I will try. The 64 didn't use a pull lever on the side of the seat. It used a spring loaded cable release that was operated by the door. Look at the front lower corner of the door opening and see if there are remenents of the flipper device still there. If so then you need to look under the seat and see if the cable is still at that end. If so, you might be able to loosen the wing nut and take the slack out of the cable and try moving the seat back forward. This might require a couple of tries to get it to work. If however there is no flipper or cable, you might try using a piece of wire sticking thru the front that you can pull to release the latch. Or you can totally disable the latch by tying it in the unlatched position, this will allow you to flip the back rest anytime you want. I hope this helps.

Tue Dec 02, 2003 11:04 am

Thanks Bobnotch. I will take a look for door release. Currently under my driver side seat facing the back seat, there is a white knob that connects via an 'L' shaped cable/tube to the latch on the side of the seat. This doesnt exist on the passenger side and I assumed it somehow was 'lost' by a PO. I will also heed your other suggestions. Thanks again.

Gut

Tue Dec 02, 2003 11:29 am

I missed this at first...

As he said, there should be a cable that runs from the lower door jam to a connection under the passenger front seat.

Here's a picture of the under-the-seat connection (not connected, obviously):
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/scrapbook/63variant/11162002/floor_plate_drivers_side.jpg

The little piece in the door jam can be seen near the bottom of this photo:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/scrapbook/63variant/12202001/doorpanel.jpg

Tue Dec 02, 2003 7:19 pm

did some years of seats have both the door cable release and the knob on the side of the seat? i can't find where my cables hook to the seat. its a '66 and there are both types.

Wed Dec 03, 2003 8:25 am

The knobs only appeared on '68 and later Type 3 seats.

Except for Type 3 Ghias, those are always different...

The cables hook underneath the seat, directly to the lock on side of the seat.