Seat Reclining Mechanism

Talk about the E-Type Series 3

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TheDampMan
Posts: 83
Joined: Sat Jan 20, 2018 4:22 pm
Location: Stoke on Trent
Great Britain

#1 Seat Reclining Mechanism

Post by TheDampMan » Wed Jun 06, 2018 1:54 am

Hi All
I recently replaced the seat reclining mechanism on the drivers side because it had broken for a new unit from SNB only after a couple of uses it failed again in the same place SNG have replaced unit but wondered if there is any advice?
Image
Thanks
Steve
Steve
1969 Series 2 Roadster
BMW Isetta

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MarekH
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Joined: Wed Jul 21, 2010 8:30 pm
Location: Surrey
Great Britain

#2 Re: Seat Reclining Mechanism

Post by MarekH » Wed Jun 06, 2018 9:24 am

Dear Steve,

The advice is to not lean back on the chair at all unless the recline lever is fully down.

The mechanism works by way of a set of interlocking steel teeth which are pulled away from each other by the lever. If you are putting any force on the back of the seat as you adjust the recline, then you wear the teeth against each other and even a small amount of damage is permanent damage. The mechanism now has free play and continues to grind away at itself until the teeth are insufficiently interlocked and jump.

This also means that the new reproduction part has to have no free play between the teeth if the lever is down and this was obviously not the case, otherwise there wouldn't be a problem.

In use, I would also advise that you sit as far back in the seat as possible and as upright as possible. This means there is less leverage on the top of the seat and thus less scope for wear on the teeth. If you sit forwqard in the seat and lean back, you are putting the whole the weight of your upper body against the mechanism and if the top of the seat has any free play when attempting to rock it back and forward, then premature failure of the mechanism is guaranteed.

It is quite a complicated 3D piece of geometry to pull the interlocking teeth apart and any misalignment means the mechanism will attempt to jump given the massive amount of leverage that is exerted on it by people who weigh more than Norman Dewis.

kind regards
Marek

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malcolm
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Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2014 10:44 am
Location: Fleet
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#3 Re: Seat Reclining Mechanism

Post by malcolm » Wed Jun 06, 2018 10:24 am

another tip - if you are sliding the seats back, do so with pressure at the bottom of the seat back. People tend to just push back with their shoulders, and that makes my (worn) mechanism give way and the seat back flies back.
Malcolm
I only fit in a 2+2, so got one!
1969 Series 2 2+2
2009 Jaguar XF-S
2015 F Type V6 S

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