Seat Track Pawls

[amphiguru]

Hi Amphi Owners!

We just received the unassembled parts for the right and left seat
track pawls, the base brackets, adjusting arms, pivot bolts, springs,
etc., and would like your input regarding paint vs. powder coating.

Does anyone have any first hand experience with two powder coated
surfaces rubbing against each other? For example, will the left seat
arm eventually remove the coating? Will it possibly jam the mechanism?
Whether painting or coating, we must do it prior to assembly; since
assembly is time consuming.

Two last things to consider is cost. At the moment, we believe
painted is as follows:
12-47-14 Left pawl with adjusting arm $34.39
12-47-15 Right pawl with small arm $24.50

We will have about 500 total right and left pawls, so a production run
coating should only add a dollar or two to the cost. The other is
changing dimensioins due to the thickness of the coating.

By the way, here's a tip: If your seat is difficult to slide back and
forth, loosen the four seat track screws until they are just finger
tight. If your seat now slides easily, your sliding seat track rails
are "bowing up" in the middle. Fully tightening the track screws to
the body compresses the floor mat at the screws only. The cure is to
put a shim under each screw, so when tightening the track, the rails
are absolutely straight.

 

[David Chapman]

<table bgColor="#ffffff">
<tt>> Does anyone have any first hand experience with two powder coated
> surfaces rubbing against each other? For example, will the left seat

</tt><tt></tt>
<tt><font face="Arial" size="2">Powder coating is quite thick and does come off - think of the seat area below the nuts on powder coated wheels. I would saypaint is better. Of course the design is such the weight should be taken by the ball bearings but that never seems to happen. An alternative would be to coat them in something like Nickel or Cadnium - even chrome, that would protect and as the coating is smooth and hardtheywould slide without problem.</font></tt>
<tt><font face="Arial" size="2"></font></tt>
<tt><font face="Arial" size="2">David Chapman in the UK</font></tt>

 

[Daniel & Kathy Gibson]

Since Kathy is afraid of driving Das Boot, the seat does not get moved
to often. But the spacer fix sounds like a good idea, as mine does move
hard due to the bowing in the middle.

Dan



Daniel and Kathy Gibson
http://www.katestrackshack.com
"Kate's Track Shack -Your Internet Home For Inexpensive 8-tracks!!"
AND...
http://drnooseandjambone.com
"DrNoose And Jambone - Do It To The Optigan!"

 

[Mark Richardson]

--- In amphicar-lovers@yahoogroups.com, "David Chapman" <david@m...>
wrote:
> > Does anyone have any first hand experience with two powder
coated
> > surfaces rubbing against each other? For example, will the left
seat
>
>
> Powder coating is quite thick and does come off - think of the
seat area below the nuts on powder coated wheels. I would say paint
is better. Of course the design is such the weight should be taken
by the ball bearings but that never seems to happen. An alternative
would be to coat them in something like Nickel or Cadnium - even
chrome, that would protect and as the coating is smooth and hard
they would slide without problem.
>
> David Chapman in the UK

My Seat tracks were really rusty and frozen. I had to pound them
back and forth many times to get them to the point where they were
usable again. This is a rust prone area, BUT - are these cars
sitting in a field with the top down for 12 years anymore? I know
mine was, but today they are taken care of better. I painted all my
seat tracks and pawls black and have not seen them since. A bit of
adjustment and a tightening is all I ever have had to do and they
work fine. I am all for leaving any reproduction parts the same
dimensions as original if possible. I think paint is fine & also
think Hugh is doing the right thing to ask users for opinions on
these parts.
Drove Amphi to work on Friday and had to drive through the park and
around downtown. All the kids with the plastic hondas had no idea
what they were seeing. Got my temp historical plate and ready to go.
Talked to Steve Behnke the other night and he is doing OK, but not
quite ready for an Amphi ride. I live 30 mins from him, so will keep
yous posted and we shall see if he wants to have a swim in the river
this spring.
Mark