OK, I give up. How do you do it? How do you get the old springs stretched around the new grid?

Thanks in advance,

Russell

Another approach to the same problem:

The 23 turn springs go toward the front; the 15-turn springs toward the back of the seat.

Art, you're a genius! Thanks for this tip.

Ron,

Sounds like you might be working on your seats??

I was too cheap, or impatient to buy IPD's grid, so after a lousy attempt failed, became determined to fix the old one:

Art Benstein wrote:

> Ron,

> Sounds like you might be working on your seats??

I need to work on my seats - I've found a couple springs on the floor, and the driver's seat is sagging badly in both of my cars. I tried getting the springs back on once, and gave up in frustration. And, I just happen to have a brake spring tool like yours.

Did not get the link pasted correctly. Here it is in copyable form if I flub it again:

http://users.erols.com/benstein/grid/

After much trial and error, I figured out a way that one person can do it rather painlessly. First, with the seat out, position the seat so you have good access to the bottom. Next, hook the grid onto the four (or five?) spings on one side of the seat. Then, secure one spring into the other side of the seat (I recall that you may be able to get the first spring or two in without any problem - it's the last couple that don't want to go). There will be space between that spring and the grid. Take a piece of thin rope or cable (if you have an old extension cord that you can throw away after, it will work pretty well). Loop the cable through the end of the spring and then through the arm of the grid where the spring attaches so that when you pull the free ends of the cable, the spring and the grid will come together (it's actually far less complicated than it sounds). Because it takes a good amount of leverage to do this, the trick is to get a good pair of thick gloves (I used ski gloves), and wrap the cord around the gloves securesly. When you pull your arms apart, the spring will pull towards the grid and eventually hook onto the grid. Although I know it sounds comical, the really funny part was my figuring out this process. Once I got the hang of it, it's pretty easy. email me if you have any questions.

Mark

Russell-

I bought the seat grid as well, and when I pulled the seat out and turned it over, turned out that one spring was actually broken and the grid was fine. Incredible what the difference of replacing one spring made!! But anyway......

Having a helper would make the job much easier. You need to have a lot of leverage. Find the biggest pair of pliers you can muster. Get someone to hold the seat against a wall (on the floor or on a table) or something that's not going to give when you pull with all your might using the big honkin' pliers. Make sure you have a REALLY good hold on the hook of that spring or that little sucker will fly so far you'll never find it, and of course make sure that you and your helper take precautions in case one flies away. Hope this helps!