I am reupholstering the seats on my 1984 Firebird, and have finished the rear cushions and am now onto the back of the rear seats. It is a one piece that folds down. On the passenger side, there is a latch that hooks onto the post that stick out of the rear side panel. I need to remove this latch to get the old upholstery cover off and the new one on. The bolt holding it on looks like a REALLY large Philips head. Is there a special tool I should have to remove this bolt? My regular Philip's head screwdriver is way too small and will strip it. It's also in there really tight.
Thanks!
ChrisO

 

Double check it..It may be a TORX head..It also has loctite on the threads so the bolt didnt work itself loose

 

yea it should be a TORX so just figure out the size

 

It's not a Torx. I used the largest Phillips driver I could find and still rounded out the head of that thing. Fortunately, I have a spare seat back with the same hardware on it, I'll be using one of them to replace the rounded out one when I get a large enough driver.

 

weird, mine IS a TORX

 

The piece on the body panel is a Torx, the piece that secures the lever to the side of the seat is that oversize Philips looking thing.

 

Mine is definately a Phillips.
It needs a #4 Phillips head driver, but nobody and I mean no Hardware store, Automotive store, Home Depot or Lowes has one around here. I was able to loosen it just enough so I could get the seat cover off, but now I think Hawks sold me a faulty seat back because it's totally different than the original on the bottom where the velcro is, and it won't work. ARRRGGHHHH!!!!!

Chris

 

That's funny, I just re-covered mine with a kit from Hawk's and I don't recall any velcro at all on the back seats. There was a strip on the front seat backrest, but nothing in back. Maybe a difference between Firebird and Camaro? Split back or solid back?

 

Mine's a solid back. Here's a picture comparing the original with the Hawks:



Chris

 

There's the difference, mine is a split back and each has a zipper to close the cover, same as the original did.

 

Yep, that would be it. But you see how different the original is than the one Hawks sent me. I wrote to them and sent them the picture. Hopefully, they'll get back to me soon. Now, with New Years and all, who knows...

Chris