Headrest replacement
The Silhouette seat I got to replace my broken driver's seat (as shown in this post) has a different style headrest that is smaller than the Trans Sport one. This normally wouldn't be that big of a deal, but I'm kind of a tall guy, so my head doesn't get any support or protection even when the rest is fully deployed.
I cut open the back of the broken seat, and couldn't really see any sort of release mechanism. How do you remove the headrest without ruining everything?
Daniel
Kaiser George IX: 1996 Buick Century Special wagon. 214-SFI. 214k miles. Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down. First documented LX9 swap in an A-body! Click here to read my build thread!
Goldilocks: 1992 Buick Century Special sedan. 204-MFI. 132k miles.
Susana: 1993 Buick Century Custom wagon. 204-MFI. 121k miles. Garage ornament. Waiting for an LR4.
Most of the cars I've owned had a button to release the headrests, my friends used to love to remove mine when I was driving and throw it around the car like idiots.Without a release button though I'm not sure how you would remove it. Maybe try tilting it to the front or back as you reach the top limit of travel? There's got to be some kind of catch you can pop loose if the headrest is adjustable.
Oldsmobile Quality. Feel It.
Oh boy Duke...
Is there anyway you can take a close-up picture looking down into the grommets that the headrest slides into?
I'm an upholstery and glass technician (although an amateur compared to most) and have removed headrests from many a vehicle, especially older GMs, and it usually goes one of two ways:
1.) There should be a small hole (or slot) inside of or very near the grommets that the headrest posts go into. If there is, awesome! All you have to do is straiten out an old wire coat-hanger (sometimes a large paper clip or even the right screwdriver works) and insert it into this slot or hole while giving the headrest a little upward pressure. With a bit of wiggling, your headrest should come out...
2.) If there isn't a hole or slot or any way to do the above, chances are your seat has internal retaining clips (usually circlips or some sort of spring clip) that hold the headrest in.This isn't likely, but if it does have these, the upper seat needs to be disassembled (IE cover removed) and it's a bit of a pain in the butt if you haven't done it before and to avoide hackage, it requires a few special tools. I hope you don't have to do this.
Let us know and I'll help in anyway I can, short of flying down to Las Vegas...
- Cory
I'll take some pictures tomorrow. Thanks for the suggestion.
Click for bigger.
Doesn't look like there's any release mechanism...
Huh... Thanks for posting a high-res photo, that definitely helps.
Is that dot on the white plastic piece in front of the headrest post a hole, nub of metal or just a spec of something? Also, on the very bottom of the headrest post, can the cone-shaped end be centered into the steel tube and pushed out?
You also might try applying some pressure (with a non-sharp flat blade screwdriver or something like that) to the center of the white plastic piece (about where the spec or hole is) and seeing if it will give any to release the headrest post.
This is really a filibuster! There's got to be some way to release it... If none of these methods work and we can't figure it out, I'll be at a Pick-N-Pull in the next few days and I'll see if I can't figure something out on one of the U-Vans there...
Success!
After some more exploratory surgery and inspection of the front of the seat... again, click for big:
I saw the metal clip dealy at the top of the plastic part had springs behind it. After trying to pry it off, my wife pressed it in, and bingo! It released. You have to basically blindly jam a flat screwdriver into the hole in the top of the seat and press that clip in on both sides.
Old headrest. Like I said, it's a bit undersized.
Off.
New hotness.
Much better. Thanks for brainstorming with me, Old Gold.
My pleasure, always happy to bounce ideas around.Originally Posted by Duke George V
It's great that you had the old seat to hack up in order to figure this out. I've never seen a headrest-retaining clip setup like that before, so thanks for explaining how it works (with photos no less)!
The end result looks great!
Very nice! Love those vans... I really want one!
Oldsmobile Quality. Feel It.
Duke George V - I cringed when I saw the torn upholstry. How did you get it back together again? Did you have it reupholstered? BTW, nice fix.
George
Torn upholstery? On the donor seat? That was the one that broke last year. See the link in the first post. Didn't really matter what happened to it. I did exploratory surgery on it to figure out the release mechanism. It served its purpose, and it went into the dumpster right after.
Oh, I thought the NEW seat got torn. Nice work!
George
Nothing here.
Last edited by Duke George V; 02-22-2012 at 02:18 AM. Reason: oops
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