Seat Bottom Bolt and Climate Control Face Plate Questions

Okay, pulled the seats out. No big deal. Plan on getting the seats, carpet and door panels redone this winter for my '78.
First Question- one of the very bottom square bolts for threading and adjusting the bottom seat bolts is broken. Metal is kind of fractured around it but was wondering if it is repairable?
Second question- I pulled apart the console to replace the climate control face plate. What a PITA. Trying to twist it with all the cables has to be a technique for this. I added the clear lens, which previously wasn't there. Now the screws to mount the climate control assy to the console are too short. But is there a technique for this? I spent all day and this isn't done.
For these reasons, I think I may be best to pay someone to do my interior restore.
Thanks for any help..

You can get a seat bottom repair plate from Ecklers, page 69 part # 39161. Others have them too.
 
Someone else will have to help you with the other question. PG.

It sounds like someone substituted short screws when they left the clear lens out. Go to any hardware store and get some slightly longer screws. Once they are installed only you will know that they are from the hardware store and not original equipment.
 

 
 
 
 

okay, new day and problem solved. longer screws did the job and i got it back together.
But now I'm only getting air out the floor ducts, no air from the vents or defroster.  any ideas on what that could be? i checked the connections, everything seems okay. could it be the controls?
thx again.

Could be a vacuum line that got pulled loose during rework.  The default position (no vacuum) is defrost/heat vents.

are there vaccuum lines in the console? is this a job for the vette shop?

Not sure on the '78s but mine has several vacuum lines that are controlled by the mode selector.  If you had the console apart, then you can check the lines.  I'm assuming everything worked OK before you started. 

73shark- someone here at work mentioned it could be the cable needs adjustment.  There is a cable with some kind of spring load. he thought its no big deal. I'm still recovering.  probably a 2 hr job that took me 8 hrs. 

The only cable on mine is the one that controls the temperature mixing door.  Not sure how that could cause your problem but anything is possible.

The cable is attached to the lever then its mounted to the control assembly. .

yeah i don't know about this one. maybe its one of those lines that 73shark suggested. i can look but i don't know how to test.
anyways, the seats. a guy at work can fix and weld the nut. probably beef up all of them.
my plans are new interior from willcox before the end of the year. probably do the seats first.  and then got some motor issues. carb rebuild and engine pressure test will determine if it needs a valve job or rings. the dude is thinking its valves.  what else?  if i recover from this past weekend, maybe a quartz clock and new radio and new antenna.
never ends.

quote:

ORIGINAL: dar322

yeah i don't know about this one. maybe its one of those lines that 73shark suggested. i can look but i don't know how to test.

 
Determine which hose is the vacuum supply and pull a vacuum on it with a Mityvac or similar vacuum pump and run the selector thru its settings and see if your air flow changes.  Or you can check with a vacuum gauge to see if you have vacuum at the supply line with the engine running.  First I'd just make sure none of the lines are loose.