The Dodge Challenger Message Board

Is there any particular trick to re-fitting the rear seatback? I took it out to clean, and to replace the parcel shelf / package tray, but when I try to put it back, it seems to stop an inch or two too high up. Tried hitting it, bending it, coaxing it, talking nicely to it, but it doesn't seem to want to go any further down!

It's a bit hit and miss, when I put mine back in the first time it was that way too.
After a few removals I thought I ought to make it look neater so I investigated it and couldn't quite see what to do, think I bent the thick metal wire that the bolt goes thru in the end

Could someone please post a photo of their rear seats?! I've had another go at trying to get mine to fit right, and I'm still getting huge gaps either side of the transmission tunnel

If you have a good look Andy you'll see that the rear seat squab has sunk a bit and the brackets at the floorpan hold it quite loosely.
If you get a big pair of grips and bend the spring steel loops, attached to the seat, out toward the back of the caryou can fairly easily move the seat around in its fixed position
Don't be afraid to lean on it good, its very strong

.................oh, and the fit is rubbish anyway so don't waste your life over it

The problem seems to be that the seat back sits a good inch too high and can't be persuaded to go any lower... it's not supposed to stick up an inch above the parcel shelf is it?!

No the seat back sits nearly flush with the parcel shelf.

Mine fits pretty much flush but I still had to bend the mountings like on the seat squab. There's plenty of scope for massaging it to fit nice

One question... does the transmission hump section of the seat base fit under or in front of the seat back?

If you mean where the seat squab meets the seat back then yes it should just butt against each other.
If you sit on the base then you'll get a big gap but that's unavoidable I'm afraid. Make sure the lap part of the seatbelt s are in place and use the belt as a guide to how tight the gap is....... if its too slack the belt buckle will fall thru.
This is where careful bending the floor pan brackets and the spring steel hooks on the seats themselves helps to achieve a nice look

Yep. This is why the seat back goes in first. Then the seat base pushes up to it and the hooks at the front have to lift over the brakets on the floor. Usually this takes a fair bit of effort to push the seat base hard enough back to get the hooks over and locked in.

But the seat base has to be a firm fit against the seat back to stop the problems Ade describes.

With my seat back sitting so high, the base slides underneath it, causing much slippy-slidy movelode, deep folly, oh yes.

Aye you will have to figure out why the seat back is so high. I think mine was like a quarter inch above the parcel shelf at the most. Really just enough to cover the edge of the hardboard shelf.

OK just back from t'garage, and after a bit of head-scratching I figured it out. I was trying to fit the bottom two loops of the seat back inside the rectangular brackets at the bottom, whereas it seems they are supposed to sit in front. I didn't remove any bolts when I took the seats out, but I'm guessing those are supposed to be bolted to the brackets? I was sliding them inside assuming that's what held them in place and because they do actually fit inside, apart from, er, the last inch or so! So, I still have the gaps Ade describes when the seat base is pushed into place, but not the great yawning chasms I had before, and the seat back is now flush with the parcel shelf, so I'm happy! Thanks for the advice chaps

Yes the back has two bolts to hold the bottom of the back pad!

These seats were a lot more "plump" when new.