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Chuck was nice enough to spend the afternoon with me yesterday AND he figured out how to replace the release handle on the back seat of my '89 wagon. I previously had checked with some local mechanics and dealerships about the problem and the options offered were either:
1.) Pay them to do exploratory surgery on my back seat, with no guarantee of success, or
2.) Swap out the entire back seat ($150 plus shipping & labor). At least they had the grace to look embarrassed when I told them that was f***ing ridiculous.
Although it would suck to not be able to ever lower my back seat again, my main priority was freeing up the seatbelts trapped behind the seat so we can put in the infant car seat. I was thinking about just taking out the back seat, freeing up the seatbelts, and then reinstalling the seat, but...
I couldn't swallow either option #1 or #2, so I sent Chuck a cry for help. He said he'd be happy to take a look and at the least, help me take out my seat. I figured if my seat is going to be annihilated, I might as well participate. :-) We trooped out to a pick 'n' pull where he had previously spotted a blue vinyl back seat in decent condition. Our first thought was to just swap out the seat back, but then Chuck realized the handle was pretty easy to pop out and the seat release mechanism was pretty straightforward. The handle stem fits through a slot, and the release cables are then connected to the stem by a couple of lock rings and a plastic washer.
It turned out to be one of those things that is simple to assemble - but not easy. Putting it back together probably took close to 40 minutes, because of the stubborn lock rings. The little lock rings were difficult to pull off and downright frustrating to put back on. We're thinking they were probably machine-stamped on. But we got it reassembled, reinserted it into my back seat and it worked. Not as well as before, but it does the trick. And now that I know what pieces are involved, future repairs are under control.
Many, many thanks to Chuck who sacrificed his afternoon (and his appointment with the cable guy) to slog through the slushy junkyard with me for a little plastic handle! Another Brickboard success for the annals of history...
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