Back of seats in a GT Hawk

[kmul221]

Is there a adjustment on seat backs so it will sit up straighter.I put 2" bieces of wood under rear of seat were bolts into floor but wouuld still like to get more upright.The car has reclining seat option.I feel almost like I'm laying down when I drive

[41 Frank]

First you may want to check that the seat frame is not broken. They have a habit of doing that, my GT did. Is the reclining seat function working properly?

[rkapteyn]

The teeth in the shuttle (correct name?) on reclining seats sometimes break off and do not allow the seat back to go to the straight up position.there are two teeth in that shuttle.
The shuttles are hard to find and have been reproduced in brass.
The brass reproductions are dangerous because if you put some pressure on the back of the seat , the teeth can break and the back goes all the way back and you can loose control of your car.
This happened to a customer of mine and he luckily survived.
As a precaution , apply more pressure to the back of the front drivers seat than would normally be applied if you have recliners and you are parked.
The teeth may break while you are parked and not in heavy traffic.

http://www.1956goldenhawk.com/servicebulletins/sb-349.pdf

Robert Kapteyn

[JoeHall]

Is there a adjustment on seat backs so it will sit up straighter.I put 2" bieces of wood under rear of seat were bolts into floor but wouuld still like to get more upright.The car has reclining seat option.I feel almost like I'm laying down when I drive

Its been a long time, but if memory serves, yes there is an adjustment provision for GT's seat backs (not talking about the factory recliners, with ratchet on the outboard side). The inboard side of each seat has a location for spacers, adjacent to the pivot point, where the seat back frame makes contact with the bottom seat frame. Many cars come with a spacer already in place, about 1/16" thick; it is contoured to mate with the bottom seat frame, and held in place by a metal screw. You could probably use two or three spacers there, for a total of 1/8" to maybe 3/16", and probably get the seat back up, to where you want it. As you have probable noticed, the seat back is only held upright by that one point, on the inboard side. Again, its been a long time, but pretty sure I am right.

As others have mentioned though, first be sure the frame is not bent or broken anywhere.

[Jeffry Cassel]

Yrs ago on the way to South Bend for the meet my seat went in to "autorecline" in Chicago no less. Those brass ones are dangerous; the teeth were gone. SI has good stong replacement parts that actually work. There have been a number of people with broken and bent seat frames lately.

[rkapteyn]

The shuttles in the online catalog rom SI still offer the brass shuttles.
If you installed these make sure to test your seats by putting more than usual pressure on the back of the seat before you start out.