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Thanks JD in KC

I'm up and running over here in the UK - thanks too to jrbuzz,BigKev & HH56 for you inputs.

More questions today - but first a little info. The seat was removed by my restorer and brought to me here at home to clean ready to refit when the new carpets are in. So he removed the seat complete with all the underframe and runners etc.that explains to you why it is all in one piece on my garage floor.

I now have a much better understanding of how the whole thing works and it seems to me that the mechanism is correct but possibly jammed up because of long standing so the first thing is to get the frame off the seat and check it out.

I take it that the correct sequence of reinstalling is to fix the lower two pieces to the floor and then fit the seat to these tracks ?

One worry is that during my two years of ownership there does not seem to have ever been the BIG central foreward/backward assist spring. Nor is there anywhere on my photos anything that resembles a fixing for the same to the floor.

Is the BIG spring essential ?

A photo of that BIG spring in close up showing the fixing to the floor would be a great help.

Best regards to all who have helped Michael

Hi Michael

Good to hear that you are coping with the sliding mechanism!

To be truthfull I also dont remember a spring in my car? Possible broke off years ago and was discarded. I do belive a spring will be very beneficial. As long as you can get a similar spring it will be helpfull. I will check into this and let you know. Maybe the african Packards didn't get springs?!?!HAHA!

I checked the parts manual and it shows the spring as standard equipment for a 2282. Maybe they didn't put it on right-hand drive models? The attachment on the floor is impossible to miss if it's there. It consists of a fairly hefty metal tab sticking up from the floor with a hole through it. Unfortunately, I don't have any picture that shows it clearly.

I would disassemble the sliders from the seat frame for purposes of cleaning. Mine were completely immobile with dirt and crud. I had to soak them in solvent and then use a rubber mallet to get them moving. I didn't have any problem re-attaching the seat to the pre-installed sliders (having someone help maneuver the seat into position makes it a whole lot easier).

Edit: I added a higher resolution close-up of the spring still attached to the floor. The attachment tab sort of blends into the background.

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Thanks Dave

When told about the spring and that there was only one I imagined that it would be centrally mounted, now it's interesting to see that it is mounted to the right of where the driver of a LHD car would sit. I've checked with my restorer and he confirms what I said earlier that I have not ever seen one, or the lug to fix it, to on my car and neither has he!

You'll see that Barry (africa) says his has not had one either in his ownership, however as he also says maybe it just got 'lost' in my case probably during the first restoration back in 1980ish.

Anyway progress - had a beautiful day here from early morning right through to dusk so got along pretty well all the bits have come away pretty easily and I've taken loads of photos so I'll be able to re-assemble.There was considerable surface rust to the inner faces of the seat and back pans which has now gone and is replaced with nice black Hammerite. The runners freed up pretty easily, but what a slow process !! Anyways now both free and I'm looking forward to at last cleaning the upholstery putting it all back together in the next few days.

My next post is to Barrie (africa packard) asking how he gets on with a moveable but not BIG spring assisted seat.

Best wishes to you Dave and Thanks again

Hi Barrie and thanks for your info. - every little bit helps.

Yours is a RHD like mine and you say you get along fine without the BIG spring assistance shown in Dave's photos, is that correct ?

I guess that in fact once you have set the seat there's no real reason to alter it drastically, so as long as it DOES move that will be okay. I know on my everyday driver, and indeed on my other Classic (1983 Citroen CX) that hardly ever do the seats get moved.

Thanks again and Best Wishes Michael

Say, JD, I found that same spring in my car and totally forgot what it attatches to, or what it came from. So thanks, but I still am not completely sure what it attatches to. And should I, or should I not put carpet under all the seats when re-doing it? I didn't know if that affected the movement in any sort of way, or what? Thanks! Glad to hear your project is going well, Michael, did you say it was a right-hand drive model?

jrbuzz, next time I have the front cushion out I'll snap a picture for you. I can't remember exactly where it attaches to the seat but I do remember I marked the spot with a piece of masking tape before I disconnected it and removed the seat frame.

When I replaced that awful blue carpeting in my Custom, I had the original Mosstred sponge rubber backing pad to use as a general template (the original carpeting was long gone). Packard didn't carpet under the seats and neither did I.

The spring makes it easier to adjust the seat. With the spring, the seat practically moves itself forward when you release the catch and it is easy to push backwards.

Without the spring you have to somehow pull or hoick the seat forward which is rather awkward.

Hi All

Been away a little longer than I expected from pack.info - so here's an update.

There IS a floor fixed holed tab for the 'Forward/Backward assist spring' on my RHD car. Also there are approptiate holes for the other end in both the front to back of seat frame intermediate supports - so the seat frame can take the spring end whether it's a LHD or RHD car.

Dave's photo plus careful measuring of the distance between the floor mount and the holes in the seat frame lead me to believe that the spring is between 6 and 7 inches long.

Any correction on this estimation gratefully received.

Best regards to all Michael

Added : Photos of the cleaned up seat

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I am going to be removing the front seat in my latest acquisition this week so if nobody else chimes in with the actual measurements in the meantime, I'll get them for you.