1983 944 - Drivers Seat Question
Got myself a 944 project car. When I got the car, the seats wouldn't move. I managed to get the passenger seat moving. But drivers seat (LH Drive) won't budge. The rails and release handle are really rusted. Bunch of penitrating oil and I've got the lever moving and it's disengaging from the rail teeth. My big question is - is there a rod of sorts that attached to the other side that might be still holding me up? I have a Porsche document showing the seats and the rails, but it doesn't show any rod of any sort that connects to the other side and looking under the seat (as well as I can), I can't see anything. I obviously want to get the seat moving so I can get everything moving well, but of course the position of the seat is blocking all the bolts. I've tried a few tricks people have suggested on FB, but still won't budge, so I'm thinging the other side isn't disengaging (if there is a rod), or everything is just rusted to crap, and I just need to keep at it till it breaks free. If anyone happens to have a picture of the underside showing this potential rod, that would be a bonus. Seat isn't electric. Just all manual.
Just looked under my seat and no, there’s no connecting rod on the other side. I’ll be pulling my seats to reupholster them in a couple weeks, so I can get you a photo of the underside then. I would recommend removing the passenger seat and then familiarizing yourself with linkage to make sure you don’t break anything as you keep trying to free up the mechanism. Unless I’m mistaken, the passenger and driver seat mechanism should be exactly the same
‘83 Platinum N/A 944
Thanks for the reply. I was planning on removing the passenger seat as you suggested. Just haven’t got to that task yet. At least I’m not going crazy regarding a rod linking the other side. I guess I’ll just have to keep soaking it till it finally breaks loose.BennSport wrote: Mon Apr 13, 2026 6:01 pm Just looked under my seat and no, there’s no connecting rod on the other side. I’ll be pulling my seats to reupholster them in a couple weeks, so I can get you a photo of the underside then. I would recommend removing the passenger seat and then familiarizing yourself with linkage to make sure you don’t break anything as you keep trying to free up the mechanism. Unless I’m mistaken, the passenger and driver seat mechanism should be exactly the same
Here's a little seat trivia: the 83 through 85 seats only have one locking track and the seats are fastened to the floor with 4 m6 bolts. This is okay because the seat belt anchors directly to the chassis. From 85.2 onward, one end of the seat belt is anchored directly to the seat frame. This requires both slide rails to have locks, connected by a linkage rod and 6 m8 bolts are used for floor fastening.
I guess I'm not losing my mind regarding the track lock. Now I just have to break the damn thing loose.barnwerks wrote: Mon Apr 13, 2026 8:21 pm Here's a little seat trivia: the 83 through 85 seats only have one locking track and the seats are fastened to the floor with 4 m6 bolts. This is okay because the seat belt anchors directly to the chassis. From 85.2 onward, one end of the seat belt is anchored directly to the seat frame. This requires both slide rails to have locks, connected by a linkage rod and 6 m8 bolts are used for floor fastening.
