The driver's seat on my kid's 86 244 has a bad adjusting knob for the seat tilt. How can I remove this so that I can replace it? I don't see anything real obvious. The worst case would be having to replace the entire seat. I'm sure there MUST be a way to get this knob off, even if I have to remove it as one piece with the shaft that goes across to the other side of the seat.
--
Blane Gardner Couple of Volvos, Couple of Toyota Vans, and an Old Chebby

I am not sure what is wrong with the knob, but if you want to remove the whole thing, cut the retainer clip which is right next to the point where the axle of the knob slides into the shaft which crosses to the other side. This is a tough little clip, but you should be able to pry it a little with a small screwdriver and cut it with a wire cutter. You will have to replace this clip once you install the new knob. I foung a retainer clip at Sears hardware shaped like the letter C for 13 cents. It is not as solid as the old one, so you may want to pop two or three of them on there.

This is easier to do with the seat out of the car, upside down on the workbench. But you may be able to do it without removing the seat.

First remove the center trim cap by pushing from the back side of the knob through a hole in the knob with a screwdriver. (access from back seat) Then you will see how it attaches. Either a rotating washer type retainer with 3 lugs, or a snap ring type washer. First type, rotate the 3 lug washer to free the knob. 2nd type, from the center of the retainer with a small sharp tool, bend the tabs outward to release from the shaft.

Are you trying to find what holds the plastic knob to the mechanism?

The center part of the plastic (the grainy part) is a separate piece. You can pry it up and pop it off.

Or maybe you've already done this, and you're talking about the metal connector down in the recess in the center of the knob, holding it onto the shaft end.

You can rotate the connector relative to the knob by driving it with some sort of tool or shaft and a small hammer. At some point the clip will line up with notches on the knob and the knob will come loose. I've seen an 80 and an 83 and the connectors weren't quite the same, so the 86 may be even a little more different--but there has to be a way to make it let go. If you have to bend it up to get it off, you may be able to straighten it out enough to reuse it. On my 80, I was able to drive the connector back on by using a big socket as a press.

Good luck.

Doug Harvey