How to remove and replace spring and retaining pin in seat frame rail?, Seeking advice... Found a Safe, Quick solution! Options

[seanpaulmc]

My seat rails are pretty fugly. They are solid and operate flawlessly. Bushings in good shape with no cracking observable. The paint, however, is the opposite of good. I'd like to get these cleaned up repainted or powder coated.

My concern and caution is that if I take the spring's retaining pin out then I won't be able to get it reassembled.

Can anyone share a method to R&R that retaining pin and spring, hopefully not needed a shop press?





Thank you,
Sean

[seanpaulmc]

Love the turnbuckle idea so I bought this today and wanted to share the outcome...




So there I was trying to work out how to get a wire around the end of the spring to pull it clear of the roll pin. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) It is in rather tight quarters.




Then I had this idea.
Now keep in mind these seat frames have been sitting on my table (purposefully in my way) since January of this year without inspiration.








...and voila!



I am rather shocked at how well this worked with very, very little effort other than finding a suitable item to make a pin out of.

As you can see, I took a nail of a larger diameter than the diameter of the wire in the spring, cut it down to ~20 mm (second try on length), and cut a small groove in the end of the nail so it wasn't a flat face. This way the end of the spring would catch in the notch I made in the pin.

Once the spring was released the remaining disassembly was simple. I used a long thin screwdriver to fit between the spring hook and the roll pin and levered the end of the spring off of the roll pin. Here again I had to make a suitable size punch to fit the roll pin. In this case I just used a broken drill bit from the scrap pile. The roll pin drove out with little effort. Nothing like the difficulty I had with the pedal assembly. And you can see from the picture it is raining again.





Here's everything disassembled. It was rather easy, simple, and safe. Most of my time was spent looking for and making tools.

CAUTION: Always wear your eye protection and gloves are not a bad idea when handling springs or items that can go flying.



I have one more side to do but that will wait until I get the seat hinges fitted and welded to the new floor panel. Hopefully it will be easier and quicker to do this the second time since I don't have to make the tools again.

And, I'm certain I'll use the turnbuckle to put it back together again. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

Thanks to everyone that's been responding and providing the inspiration. Hopefully this addition helps someone else down the road.

Cheers,
Sean