Seat back adjuster disassembly

[Wightsparks]

No.1 thing on my hate list is anything spring loaded!

Shoehorning a MX5 seat into my kit car I need to remove the seat back adjuster mechanism as it is too bulky. I can either replace this with a hefty bit of steel cut to shape or (preferred) remove the Radial (coil) spring + mechanism and bolt/weld the existing bits together. However there is a lot of force still in that spring even with the unit off the seat. I cant see a way to let it unwind safely - anyone know ?

 

[CompoSimmonite]

I'd simply lever it off the pin with a long screwdriver. The end clip will stop it jumping up and attacking you. There again I set off airbags and seatbelt pretensioners just to see what happens

 

[Wightsparks]

In the unlikely event of anyone else wanting to do this... I turned it over and drilled out the head of the pressed in stud that holds the spring from the back. Smacked it with a punch and hammer and off flew the spring away from me on the other side of the plate. Even though it was on the other side of the plate going ion the opposite direction - I still used a lot of PPE. I hate springs...