FYI it is indeed possible to break down the seat tracks to almost their most basic components and reassemble them using simple tools.
I had my old (flooded) seat track over at Trixe's and Beerdog's this afternoon and decided to take a few pieces off in order to have it soda blasted to get rid of the rust. One thing led to another and before we knew it, it was completely broken down to where it couldn't be taken apart without a blow torch and grinder.
It's kind of a giant puzzle. Nuts and bolts have to be removed in a certain order, then one part slides down and releases another part and so on. Every time I thought I had it as far apart as it would get, I'd see a slot or something and next thing you know, Eureka!, another part was off. The only tricky part was separating the gear box. Drilling out the rivets didn't go so well, and there's more to it than the rivets. I ended up cracking the case. Oh well, I consider this one to be a sacrificial track. The next one will go much smoother now that everything is clear.
With that said, I WILL be taking step by step notes and pics of the process on the next one for posterity's sake, for whoever wants to tackle this for whatever reason. Stay tuned. I may have a job interview this week so I'm not yet sure when I'll be able to work on the other one.
I had my old (flooded) seat track over at Trixe's and Beerdog's this afternoon and decided to take a few pieces off in order to have it soda blasted to get rid of the rust. One thing led to another and before we knew it, it was completely broken down to where it couldn't be taken apart without a blow torch and grinder.
It's kind of a giant puzzle. Nuts and bolts have to be removed in a certain order, then one part slides down and releases another part and so on. Every time I thought I had it as far apart as it would get, I'd see a slot or something and next thing you know, Eureka!, another part was off. The only tricky part was separating the gear box. Drilling out the rivets didn't go so well, and there's more to it than the rivets. I ended up cracking the case. Oh well, I consider this one to be a sacrificial track. The next one will go much smoother now that everything is clear.
With that said, I WILL be taking step by step notes and pics of the process on the next one for posterity's sake, for whoever wants to tackle this for whatever reason. Stay tuned. I may have a job interview this week so I'm not yet sure when I'll be able to work on the other one.