Seat lock installation...trick?

[JoBu]

Hi Folks,

I'm trying to reassemble my seat lock on my 07 FJR and I'm having a devil of a time aligning all the necessary pieces/parts. Why is it apart?? Well, I was mounting the Powerlet dual outlet assembly and couldn't quite get it to work by doing one bolt at a time. So...I think to myself, "Yes, I see the warning not to remove both bolts as it takes awhile to realign them, but I've worked on cars since I was a teenager and have run across all kinds of difficult situations that I've been able to get out of, so this shouldn't be too difficult". Hah!! Several hours (and many tossed shop rags - I throw them in frustration rather than tools as they do less damage) later, my lock assembly is still not installed.

So, in my long-winded way, I'm asking if anyone knows of a "trick" that might make things a tad easier when aligning everything. Any help/assistance will be GREATLY appreciated.

Thank you...

Joe

 

[eworth]

I ended up nipping the pointy corners off of the powerlet cover plate first of all. Made it easier to put into place.

As for as alignment. I insersted a tiny screw driver into the hole and into one of the lock bolt holes. I coaxed it relatively close and was able to hold that in place while I got the threads on the other bolt to catch. Then I was able to draw it up close enough, remove the screw driver tip from the first hole and get the bolt started. Was a frustrating experience but the dual powerlet outlet was worth the hassle.

Eworth.

 

[JoBu]

Thanks, Eworth. I ended up using a punch and things lined up nicely. I think the trick was to walk away from the job and come back the next day. Oh, I also highly modified the bracket so that it would pivot right on.

Cheers,

Joe

 

[eworth]

Joe,

Glad it worked out for you. I had to give it a nights rest also.

What's nice about trimming the lock cover is that after you get one bolt started, you can just pivot the cover right over the second hole. I don't think you can do that with the stock powerlet cover w/o modification.

Glad you're up and running.

Mark aka eworth