Seat removal

[B_land]

Hi all,
Newbie question.
Just bought my elan and have had to get the heater matrix fixed however there is now water in foot wells and I need to get carpets and whole area dried out. Do I need to remove the seats to remove the carpets, if so, I've looked underneath and on each side I can only see 2 nuts (near corners) front and back which align with the seat position, I'm sure there should be 4? I cannot see the other 2. Where are these located or hidden?
I've read many posts on here where seats are constantly removed and fitted but I'm struggling to locate the fixings.

Thanks for your help

B_land

[Brit-Car-Nut]

You need to slide the seats all the way forward to get to the rear bolts and all the way backward to get to the front bolts.

[dapinky]

Yep, as per Johns' pictures - the inboard ones are into captive nuts, so just need a socket on a ratchet, the outboard ones will need you to lean under the car with a suitable spanner to hold the nut whilst you use the ratchet from the top (better if you have an assistant, but managable on your own).

[Peter_W]

...better if you have an assistant...

[rip]

...better if you have an assistant...

An assistant like that is welcome at mine any time.

[epipete]

I'm a bit confused here, how did you have the matrix repaired? The matrix is obviously in the heater box and this is positioned behind the facia, two pipes extend from the box into the engine bay through the bulkhead where they are connected to rubber tubes a,s part of the coolant system. To repair the matrix you must have had to remove the facia.

You are right that water loss from the matrix will flood the footwells as I know from experience! The carpets are individual for each of driver and passenger, ie they don't lie over the transmission tunnel and therefore you don't need to remove the centre console (though it may be worth slackening off the screws on the console to allow easier prising of the carpets out. You will need to remove the cill panels (carefully) they are attached to the car via fir tree connectors and just pull out. Similiarly on the nr side you will need to remove the fuse box cover and maybe slackent the box itself. The carpets will just lift out now.

Now do a good clean, sweep, wash of the footwells, here is the potential for project creep, as you have the outriggers exposed take the opportunity to inspect for rust and treat as necessary (there is an excellent thread, search 'what to do about rust on the outriggers'').

It's all a part of the joys of motoring (particularly Elan ownership), good luck

[B_land]

Thank you for the helpful replies,
The nut and exposed thread are slightly corroded and should undo without a problem, wd40 already applied.
Yes I'm a bit nervous with trim removal (first job) and what I'll find on the outriggers but i'll have to tackle the corrosion as required.

I've not had the car long (a few days), after picking the car up the following day I was out for a 10 minute run I noticed that the temperature was higher than normal and managed to get home. Thankfully, I took out a warranty which covered me for the work to repair but didn't stretch to drying out carpets etc.
The garage has made a pretty good job with returning the facia back, in fact it fits better than it did, the heater matrix has been fully re-cord and seems to work okay. Not sure how much this would have cost but i'd expect the labour costs to be quite high.
The heater matrix is an obsolete part apparently and it had to be repaired using some of the existing parts.

Thanks

Bruce

[Peter_W]

...I noticed that the temperature was higher than normal...

The temperature range between the 1/4 mark and the 3/4 mark on the temperature gauge is a narrower range of actual temperature than what one would be accustomed to on other cars, so it's normal for the indicated temperature to run up to the 3/4 mark rather quickly when sitting in traffic, at which point, if all is working correctly, the fans kick in and the indicted temperature drops. You'll come across prior discussions on the topic on LEC which include the actual temperature for each mark.

[epipete]

Umm, Iike you I had a recore of my matrix last year only to have an entire heater box and matrix provided to me by a prominent member of this forum shortly afterward at about a 5th the cost of the recore

The lesson I think is to always ask on here for advice as first base, there is lots of know how and advice on spare parts availabiliy & compatibility!

Good luck and enjoy

[Rambo]

I have an assistant that's even better than that Rip. And she's very much into captive nuts

[Rambo]

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