'61 front seat bottom removal

[timer2]

I'd like to remove the bottom cushion of my '61 deville to get at the 6 way motor and drive unit under the seat. The manual doesn't help much in way of removing just the bottom cushion. I hope it isn't like the back seat, requiring brute strength cause I can't seem to get it to budge one iota using the pushback and lift sequence. The 6 way seat option works fine except it's a little sluggish in a couple directions. I'd like to just clean it up and regrease the thing. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks    T. Irvin

[Dan LeBlanc]

You'll have to unbolt the seat from the floor and tip it up to access.

[David Greenburg]

I haven’t had occasion to do this on my ‘61, but I’ve done it many times on ‘59 and ‘60’s, and I’m sure it’s very similar.  You just undo the bolts at each corner of the seat, and then you can tilt the seat back for access to the motor and mechanism. A couple of 2x4’s can be helpful to prop it up. 

[timer2]

Thanks, I'll get after it tomorrow.  T. Irvin

[Big Fins]

I would disconnect the battery first. Should you hit one of the switches and have the ground wire removed, you become the ground. It gives a nice tingle when you least expect it.

[timer2]

Update- before I removed the corner bolts, I put the tilt...front and back...in it's highest position. This made getting at the floor bolts much easier. I then removed the moldings at the bottom of the seat, two on each side. I didn't have to use 2x4s to support the seat, I just let it tip back against the back seat. I removed, disassembled and lubricated the transmission, lubed the slide rails and used a square head bit in a cordless drill to run the horizontal rails back and forth several times on each side. I also spray lubed every pivot point on the mechanism. It's now quiet and doesn't labor to move the seat in any direction. The only help I needed was from my wife (she had to push the tilted seat back forward so I could get a couple floor bolts started) and, of course, you guys. Thanks     T. Irvin