Seat Frame: New Challenge, Reassembly & Seat Handle Rails Options

[914_7T3]

Looking to have my seat frames powder coated and need to remove the non-painted handle assembly as it contains plastic bushings that will melt at high temperature.

Any idea on the correct procedure and tools required for removal?

[bbrock]

First. Make sure you have plenty of coins to put in the swear jar because you will use ALL of your words. Those little springs are almost as nasty as the trunk torsion bars and I damn near lost a thumb on the first one I did. Not sure if anyone has a better trick, but I wound up just using a needle nose vice grip on the hook part to reef it up around that pin. Hated to do it on a freshly replated spring but I tried many other approaches first, including the one that I think literally cracked the end of my thumb bone and another that resulted in a slipped screw driver and a nice scratch in my freshly painted frame.

On painting the handle, I'd also like to know how hard it is to take apart and put back together. I wound up leaving it on. I cleaned the rail really good and then masked it off to spray the handle satin black. It came out really nice. I'm guessing you could find a replacement rivet so you could just drill out the old one and separate the parts, but something about those rivets intimidates me.

[914_7T3]

First. Make sure you have plenty of coins to put in the swear jar because you will use ALL of your words. Those little springs are almost as nasty as the trunk torsion bars and I damn near lost a thumb on the first one I did. Not sure if anyone has a better trick, but I wound up just using a needle nose vice grip on the hook part to reef it up around that pin. Hated to do it on a freshly replated spring but I tried many other approaches first, including the one that I think literally cracked the end of my thumb bone and another that resulted in a slipped screw driver and a nice scratch in my freshly painted frame.

On painting the handle, I'd also like to know how hard it is to take apart and put back together. I wound up leaving it on. I cleaned the rail really good and then masked it off to spray the handle satin black. It came out really nice. I'm guessing you could find a replacement rivet so you could just drill out the old one and separate the parts, but something about those rivets intimidates me.

Ok, so does that mean securing the spring to the rail first and then wrapping it on the pin? You have to explain it like I'm 6 years old.

I opted not to replate the hardware under the seat frame as they have a bit of a chrome finish. Used steel wool & oxalic acid and they came out pretty clean, but still shows their age. As for the handles, I will do same and not bother over complicating it.

[bbrock]

Ok, so does that mean securing the spring to the rail first and then wrapping it on the pin? You have to explain it like I'm 6 years old.

Yes, that's it. After you have it secured through the little hole in the rail, get a good bite on the hook that goes over the pin with the vice grips and brute force it into place. Have a screw driver or punch handy in case you need it to push the spring sideways over the pin. Be prepared to fail a few times and don't be a dumbass like me and let it bite your thumb. Mines still a little bruised a couple weeks later.

I opted not to replate the hardware under the seat frame as they have a bit of a chrome finish. Used steel wool & oxalic acid and they came out pretty clean, but still shows their age. As for the handles, I will do same and not bother over complicating it.

I did pretty much the same thing. I scrubbed them well with a red scotch brite pad. The chrome finish on one seat was worse than the other so on that one I sprayed the rails with cold galvanizing. It looks nice but not factory so that see won't be as comfortable as the other. I could have gotten by without plating the spring and lever but since I can do it myself now, I had to do it. The lever was a challenge because it doesn't fit in my plating bucket. I plated half while bobbing it up and down to kind of feather the plating at the solution line, then flipped it over and did the other half. I was really happy with the result.