Misaligned Rear Backrest?

[squarehat]

On my 96 ES, the rear backrest seems misaligned when looking in the back window. On the driver's side, there is no gap between the backrest and the parcel shelf. From just to the left of the high mount stop lamp all the way across the passenger side of the car, there is about a 1/2" gap between the seat and the shelf, exposing the ugly yellow foam beneath the seat.

I tried adjusting the bolts (the 12 mm bolt on each side that fits into the "U" shaped anchor at the bottom of the backrest) but this didn't help. Do I need to adjust the 3 hooks at the top that hold the backrest in place? Or do I need to hit the seat with a mallet or other blunt object to force it into place? Any other 92-96 owners with the same issue?

Thanks :)

[amf1932]

Are you sure the backrest hook is engaging the seat properly on both sides? If they are, you sometimes have to push the rear backrest down with considerable force. Then once it's down the bottom bolts should line up properly with the brackets. I haven't done this in quite awhile, so I don't know whether there was any adjustments for the top hooks.

[SKperformance]

yup

you need to undo the bolts

and lift the backrest up and push back and down together on each side to get the hooks to seat in the holders otherwise tehy sit in front of it and push the seat forward.

[squarehat]

Thanks, guys :) I'll try and pull the bench tomorrow and re-align the 3 hooks at the top. I'll keep the tilting forward trick in mind.