S2pid quick qu..how do the rear seats stay up in a 356?

[Burma-Shave]

My rear seats are usually folded down, as the inertia reel for the front belts is (slightly) in the way of them sitting fully upright. They go 95% of the way, but there doesnt seem to be a catch/release mechanism to hold them upright like there is in my 964..can someone humour me and tell me how are they meant to work? The owners manual doesnt mention it..

I am going to subtly relocate my inertia reels, once I figure this out..

[Gary71]

Do they have (or used to have) a little leather strap that clips on a press stud over the back edge of the rear parcel shelf/bulkhead?

[cubist]

There should be a staple-shaped bracket either side for the leather straps to run through...

[40 scout]

Mines got a wavy washer on the lower outer fixing screw for the seat back -it gives a bit of resistance to hold the seat back up.

My mates has not got this and his fall down as soon as you touch the brake !

Steve

Ps will e mail you a pic if you like (hard to post with a I phone)

[58A - 71E]

Johnny, dont know about your C, does it have seperate seat backs?
On the A the solid seat back is held up with bungee cords - see crap pic below of Hendrick's fantastic 59A - its tucked away in the corner

[roy mawbey]

Johnny,

The bungee cord is an original 356 item and mine is the same as Hendriks even down to the colour. Mine as you can see has a small round circled hook for the bungee end secured into the top of the seat upright. The other end is clipped into the small chrome fixing that takes the belts for luggage.

My back seats have always been usually in tbe upright position and the bungee works great never let me down or made the seat clonk on decelleration etc.

[img][img]http://i443.photobucket.com/albums/qq15 ... he0001.jpg[/img][/img]

Hope this helps

Roy

[Helen]

my 356c has 2 seat backs (like a 911) but (unlike a 911) there dosn't seem to be anything to hold them up in place.
strangly one of the seat backs will stay put where as the other will fall down as soon as the brakes are touched.

i just leave them in the down position all the time.

in down position

in up position

[Hendrik Moulds]

Thought that map looked familiar!
As far as I know (having owned As and Bs) the A had the bungee cord, but the B (and C) didn't have anything to hold the seats in place.
I suppose they thought that if someone was sitting in the seat they wouldn't need anything to hold the seat in place and if they weren't being used for passengers then they would be used for luggage/belongings so would need to be upright.

[Ren]

Both my t-5 and my friends came without anything to hold rear seats in place but we found that after fitting a new carpet kit and seat covers etc that the seats would not stay in place when they used to. My friend opted for a set of luggage straps to hold the seats in place which helped but didi not cure the problem. And only recently my friend found that the cover for the tunnel had not been put back and one strap had fallen in and soaked up some excess gear fluid. Nice bit of patina...... not...

I think the spring washer sounds like a good idea and will pass that on to my friend. Myself - I sold my seats and when the left side is fixed will have a factory (style-repro) roll bar fitted so no rear seats to worry about. It does make the rear look rather empty at the moment though.

[Burma-Shave]

Aha, qu not so stupid perhaps. And maybe it isnt the seatbelt reel causing the problem..

So it seems later cars had nothing to hold the backs up. I guess right enough they assumed that seat occupants would hold them up, but it just falls on my 3 year old like a tombstone. I'll try the curvy washer trick too..

Thanks for the pics, those bungies are very quaint...perhaps they deleted them when they moved to disc brakes

[roy mawbey]

Hey Johnny
Don't tell me you really wouldn't like to get out the solvol autosol and polish those lovely 11" diameter aluminium drums!!

Roy

[40 scout]

Hi Jonny

The wavy washer def works - drove mine all afternoon - seat backs stay up no probs (not a bungee in sight!) - couple of photos here

www.flickr.com/photos/35984440@N06/3777443457/

www.flickr.com/photos/35984440@N06/3777442511/

Steve

[Kalvin]

Your issue stems from having inertia reel seatbelts fitted into the captive nut that Porsche set for static belts. I had the same issue but it was not a problem as I had decided to retro fit static belts anyway.

I purchased the period correct belts from 'Quickfit Safety Belt Services' and I know that they could also modify the mounting points and fit inertia reel belts as well. They would do the job in a couple of hours while you wait if you wish.

I'm not their salesman but the products are of the highest quality and it gives you another option to consider.

http://www.quickfitsbs.com/gallery_porsche.asp