How to remove sliding headrest

[joes68340s]

1971-1972 sliding headrest how do you remove them. Can it be done without tearing the seat down.

 

[Treblig]

1971-1972 sliding headrest how do you remove them. Can it be done without tearing the seat down.

If they come out the same as the 69 head rests then it's just a matter of "how strong are you??" Mine were stuck so bad I had to put a heavy blanket on the rear seat then stack a bunch of large wooden blocks on the blanket. Then I stuck a 4 ft long 2 X 4 under the head rest and used the stack of wooden block as a fulcrum/lever to lift up on the head rest. You have to do it carefully and pull up close to the rod on each side so you don't damage anything. It was amazing how stuck they can get. Once I got them out I could see corrosion on the little notch that gets caught by a spring clip down inside the seat. Like I said, I don't know if your seats are designed like my 69 Barracuda seats but that's what worked for me.
It was worth it ....they came out beautiful after I put them back on!!!!!

PS - I guess you could also roll down the back windows and lay some blankets on the body and put a long 4 X 4 across the window openings and use that as fulcrum just be very careful you don't damage anything.
Treblig

 

[Daves69]

Careful on that headliner when pulling them out!

Maybe a tool such as this could help. Possibly make a pair of your own.
http://www.toolsource.com/hardest-removal-tool-p-112282.html

 

[joes68340s]

Ok thanks for replies.

 

[Treblig]

Yes, I agree but that's why I use such a long piece of 2 X 4. The longer the piece of wood the less force you have to use to push the head rest up and out. If you use a short piece of wood you'll have to exert a lot of force and possibly hit the head rest when it does come free. Also I forgot to mention that you should push on one side only until it moves up just a little then push on the other side then alternate as each side comes up. If you only push on one side it will get the whole thing cocked and it tends to jam. So the trick is to raise each metal rod a little at a time switching from side to side. What's really annoying is that there's a spring catch in a groove in the metal rod and if you get it to come up a bit it will tend to go back down into the seat when you let the pressure off. But that's OK because the more it moves up and down the looser it will become and eventually pop out. You can also wedge a short piece of 2 X 4 under the head rest (between the metal posts). This way you're pushing against the short piece of wood instead of the bottom of the head rest. The short piece of wood might help you keep from damaging the bottom of the head rest.

treblig