Write-Up: Repairing broken seat back on a 95-99 Riviera

After several unsuccessful attempts to repair the seat back on our 99 Riviera using Gorilla Glue and J.B. Weld failed, I devised a very simple method to attach the seat back that only takes a few minutes and cost very little.
Here is a picture of the final result of several trips to the Local Home Improvement store and the Hobby Lobby:

Because of the way the " attachment hook" is molded and the type of plastic used I was unable to get the J.B Weld or the Gorilla Glue to repair the damaged seat back. Although it held initially it eventually popped loose and fell off.

Shown in the next pic is the attempt at repairing the "attachment hook".

Also shown in the pic is one of the lower retaining pins. These retaining pins can be found at any body shop or parts store that supplies auto body repair shops. I dont think you will find them at Advance or Auto Zone but NAPA may sell them.
I found two at a local body shop and the owner did not even charge me for them...

In the next pic you will see the metal bar inside the upper part of the seat. The "attachment hook " is supposed to slide over this metal bar and hold the seat back in place:

In the next pic you will see the two lower retaining pins that hold the lower portion of the seat back in place:

In the next pic you will see the components used to repair the broken seat back.
A 6" tie wrap, blind nut(for reinforcement), finish washer, button cover and a piece of "Handi Tack"

Just drill a 1/4 hole through the center of the plastic where the "attachment hook " should be located. Be careful, you dont want to let the drill bit touch the leather.
After you drill the hole use a knife tip to cut a very small slit in the leather where the hole in the plastic was drilled. Insert the blind nut, place the trim washer over the top of the blind nut. Feed the tie wrap through both of these pieces and around the metal rod inside the upper portion of the seat. Then feed the tie wrap back through and secure it tightly. Place the button cover over the repair and you are done.

The next two pics hopefully will illustrate how the components will be assembled:



To attach the button cover I used a small piece of "Handi Tack", this stuff is made by the same company that makes Super Glue, this stuff is handy as heck. I use it all the time around the home and shop. It can be found at Dollar General in the same aisle where all the glue products are located.




Bert

Clever, Very clever and an excellent repair.
That will outlast the car and looks good too.
Thanks for sharing that Bert.

My intentions are not to hijack this write up only to just give another option in the same thread and keep similar issues in one thread.

I had used for a while a small brass cup hook screwed into the plastic of the seat back. It held for about a month until the threads of the cup hook pulled back through the plastic of the seat back. Now I'm trying my cup hook approach again, but with three this time and have epoxyed the hooks to the plastic and then layered more epoxy over the base of the hook to help hold better to the seat back. Hopefully this will be a much stronger bond than just the threads of the hook holding to the seat back.

Great suggestions! Funny this came up because ther person who screwed up tinting my back window also managed to knock that seat back off as well. Luckily it looks like it will go back on ok but I'll file these ideas away FFR.

DEMonte1997 wrote:

Great suggestions! Funny this came up because ther person who screwed up tinting my back window also managed to know that seat back off as well. Luckily it looks like it will go back on ok but I'll file these ideas away FFR.

How did your seatback cover fall off.?
Was it the tinter, I couldn't quite tell from the above paragraph.
Maybe just me, IDK.!!!

54_nailhead wrote:

My intentions are not to hijack this write up only to just give another option in the same thread and keep similar issues in one thread.

I had used for a while a small brass cup hook screwed into the plastic of the seat back. It held for about a month until the threads of the cup hook pulled back through the plastic of the seat back. Now I'm trying my cup hook approach again, but with three this time and have epoxyed the hooks to the plastic and then layered more epoxy over the base of the hook to help hold better to the seat back. Hopefully this will be a much stronger bond than just the threads of the hook holding to the seat back.

You could also slip some flat washers over those hooks and epoxy them to the seat back for some more reinforcement. The epoxy might just do the trick., good idea.

Bert

Rickw wrote:

DEMonte1997 wrote:

Great suggestions! Funny this came up because ther person who screwed up tinting my back window also managed to know that seat back off as well. Luckily it looks like it will go back on ok but I'll file these ideas away FFR.

How did your seatback cover fall off.?
Was it the tinter, I couldn't quite tell from the above paragraph.
Maybe just me, IDK.!!!

The tinter was in the back seat doing the bay windows and back windshield. When she was done, I climbed in the car and the seat back was on the floor. I looked and thought "WTF?". Realized the 5 screws that hold that hanger in the top part had been stripped out of the plastic piece on the seat back. The xmas trees on the bottom had been pulled out of the seat back too. I don't even know how someone does that but it happened.

Oh, I'll see you Saturday it sounds. Hear you might be coming down this way with Derek. Would be cool to meet some other Riv guys.

edit: Just noticed my awful typo above. That's probably why it made no sense to you Rick. lol

This just happened to my driver side seat back. It was fine at noon, then when I got in the car after work it was hanging loose.

Will have to weigh these repair options for a bit. I was also considering adhesive backed velcro strips along the 2 sides, should be pretty invisible.

I can't keep the bottom edges of my seat back covers to stay - bought new plastic pins and the plastic receptacles OEM, but they last all of .. twenty seconds.

Anyone have a great and invisible way to affix these darned things to the bottom of the seat back structure?

...how do you keep the other side (the sharp screwy side) of the cup hools from poking thru the vinyl on the seat back?

Thank you so much for this! I have been at war with my drivers side seatback for a year now and this just solved one of my biggest pet peaves!

I had my seat back panel off a few months ago and managed to rip out the staples that hold the big black clip on.  I tried roughing up both surfaces with sand paper and thoroughly JB Welding it but as soon as I tried to hook the bar in the seat it ripped off again.

Anyone else fix theirs before?

.

You might have to try a stronger adhesive and reinforce the joint with metal and/or fiberglass tape. Something like this might work with proper prep and added reinforcement.

https://www.amazon.com/J-B-Weld-50133-Structural-Adhesive/dp/B009EU5ZNO/

Is this the back rest of the rear seat?