1990 IrocZ. I have removed the spare, jack, and hatch curtain device. I would like to now remove the rear seat back supports - i figure all of that stuff together gets close to shedding 100lbs.

Anyway, these seats swivel forward for more room when you need an extended hatch so to speak. I want to remove them the best way - how should I go about it?

 

well, the rear seats are pretty easy to take out.....
start off with the bottom cushions..... there's only 1 bolt holding each down directly in the middle between the bottom of the seat and the carpet... if you run your hand under there you can feel it. once you get those suckers out, fold down your seat back, and i believe there was one bolt on each side. you've gotta take the seat belt guides off, though, so its probably better to remove those before you unbolt the seat back...... well... now that you've got all that off, you have no more back seats! you didnt really save too much weight, but every bit counts! it probably saves all of 7 lbs....

oh, and before you take it to the track, take a crap! another little weight savings tip!

 

Only 7lbs huh? Well... wow I thought it was at least 10lbs worth of weight. Anyway the hatch curtain is supposedly 10lbs, spare and jack 50lbs, so might as well take out the back seat. A cage will be going in there in the future anyhow.

I know its petty savings, but it all comes together when the hood and t-tops get replaced with plastic & fiberglass. So this is just a start, really.

 

Remove the shoulder belt retractors back there too. They should be worth about 5 lbs each.

 

Thanks for the tip! Every little bit helps!

Anything I should know about removing the retractors?

 

if you remove the shoulder belts you can use earlier style thirdgens that only had lapbelts for interior plastic as donor cars. this way the gap is no longer there and you have a smooth apperance.

 

Ok... 90% done. The driver side rear seat belt retractor is really in a difficult spot. It looks to me (and I did look really hard for a long time) like in order to get at it with a regular open ended wrench one would have to pull the plastic paneling. Ok easy enough... except that the driver side plastic paneling is almost ONE HUGE ENTIRE PIECE.

Is there any other way to get at that damn bolt? Or should I not bother with it and just get my hands on an extended socket?

For those of you who care to know: I will find the means to weigh the stuff that has been removed. Just for everyones info the items are:

Hatch curtain, rear seat cushion (2), rear seat back (2), rear seat belt retractor (2), misc hardware (brackets bolts etc). I am thinking it should all come to about 25 - 30 lbs of schtuff. I'll let you know.