Removing Seats/Seat Belts

[96RedSE5Sp]

I want to switch my '96 SE seats for my '98 seats, but I can't get the seat belts out because they are attached to the seatbelts.

Does anyone know how to remove the seatbelts from the seats?

 

[Ray]

lift the lower (seat) portion of the rear seat out by pulling up from the front edge (where your knees rest) and "popping" the tabs out of their slot.. then lift out (slide forward then up).

remove the bolted in seat belt in the middle (T55 bit??) and then you should be able to remove the back portion of the seats. Leave the upper portion of the seatbelts attached to the rear dash, as they shouldn't pose any kind of trouble in removing the rear portion.

 

[ChattavegasSE]

Do either set of seats have folding backs? If so, you'll need another Torx bit to remove those brackets; they're a different size than the ones that hold the seat belts in place. IIRC, they're T45's or T50's and the seat belts are T55's. Just buy a set of T40, T45, T50, and T55 bits and you'll be set.

 

[Ray]

YAY! I was right.. I just guessed, I've never actually seen the bolt at all.

 

[96RedSE5Sp]

Right now I'm working on removing the front seats. I didn't think it woudl be that difficult, but I am stuck without having the right bits.

What exactly are folding seat backs? Are you referring to the rear bench seat or the front buckets?.

 

[Ray]

He is referring to rear seats with a 60/40 split option (leans forward away from the trunk, and exposes the trunk from within the interior of the car)

 

[Aussie Ford]

You need the #50 torx bit. The bolt that retains the seat belt is on the underside of the seat near the rear. You get at it from behind and underneath the seat, so if you have power seats then you should raise them up all the way. After removing the bolt you can work end of the belt out. installation is the reverse. To get the seats out there are four bolts the two rear ones are under the plastic covers held in place by a #2 phillips screw. The bolts are 10 mm.

Fairly simple to do. I had to actually remove one of the seatbelt bolts with a pair of channel lock pliers when I was removing them in a junk yard, if you don't have the torx bit they will work, but not for installation. You will want to properly tighten them and for that you need the bit.
My 2 cents