headrest tubes: Honolulu

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bill

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This is for Honolulu (didn't want to hi-jack Coomaraswamy's donation post): to get to the headrest tubes requires disassembling the entire seat back. The seat back has the decorative panel that you pull off by separating it from the trim piece (the trim piece is screwed or riveted in place to the sub-panel you will be exposing.) The sub-panel, now exposed, is riveted to the seat frame with about 20 rivets per side. Fun. Once you get the sub-panel off you get access to the frame tubes and everything else (horsehair, binding strings, etc.)
If you are just trying to free up your headrest, it is easier to take apart the headrest down to its frame and cut the headrest frame in two parts. Then twist each part in its tube and you will be surprised how easily they free up. Weld the headrest back together, reassemble the upholstery and and Voila! You will also be amazed at how little corrosion it takes to freeze up the tubes....
Good luck.
 
Took about a week to free mine up...

I used Liquid Wrench spray in the yellow top can, some WD40, and TriFlow which is a Teflon spray lube. A ****tail of lubes.
What worked for me was this,,, using the little straw, I sprayed a good amount down each shaft and would tap the shaft with a hammer and block of wood to protect the chrome. Also whacked the top horizontal part top and bottom using a big soft rubber mallet and a block of wood wrapped in a towel.
I repeated this, alternating the lubes, a couple times a day for about a week and then they just broke loose and started to move. A few more cycles of the process and they're moving nicely now.
On my seats, driver's headrest was stuck up a few inches, the passenger was all the way down. I had to use a big pry bar, actually used a ball joint separator, to get get it up a bit. Careful with this maneuver, I protected seat material and headrest with some towels and a couple layers of soda bottle plastic pieces, (that is some tough plastic), that I cut to fit for my purpose.
 
3nsahalee: you were one of the lucky ones. I let my tubes soak in PB Blaster for weeks and no amount of whacking with a 5 lb sledge would budge them. Cutting the headrests in half was my last Hail Mary.Turns out It wasn't rust that froze up the tubes: it was just some white, powdery substance I guess that developed over 40 years that froze them up. And very little of it.
 
Willing to share my experiences with the stuck headrests :-)
After trying the pulling method given in several threads I got really mad and place my selves in the rear seat. Placed a short piece of wood underneath the headrest and tilted the front seat backwards. Then gave the headrest a double underarm massive punch together with some "piiiip" words :)
The piece of wood in between made it possible to exchange it to a longer one and then pull the headrest all way upwards afterwards.

Cheers!
 
Thank you gents, for the things I've tried already and level of force used, I think it's time to threaten to completely dismantle the seat back. According to my wife, on several occasions the threat of dismemberment alone (of the misbehaving device du jour) has been enough to convince the little bugger to straighten up.

Watch it coupe, here I come. If the Koa trim I just made weren't enough, it's the seat next.
 
For reference - attached an image of the internal structure of the front seat

 
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