Bench seatback latch

[Bludacious]

So ever since I bought my 85 Monte, the seat backs on the bench seat were able to move freely. I thought this had to do with the small lever / latch mechanism on the back of the seat being damaged / misadjusted but apparently these latches were only used in the event of an accident ?

So what I'm wondering is A) is this information correct (what purpose would they even serve in a wreck??)
and B) is there any way to modify the seat mechanism to make the latch actually do something? I absolutely hate turning my head around to back up and not being able to support myself with my arm around the back of the passenger seat, among other things. I'm just confused why they made the seats this way when most 2 doors had the backs fixed by default.

 

[Olds G's]

Seems that the inertia set up was in case of impact, the seats would lock. Otherwise, the seats can fold without the use of the lever. See attached Fisher service manual reference.

 

[Bludacious]

Seems that the inertia set up was in case of impact, the seats would lock. Otherwise, the seats can fold without the use of the lever. See attached Fisher service manual reference.

Alright, this is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for! I have the seats out of the car right now and they do indeed lock if I tilt them forward far enough. Eventually I'll take a look at the mechanism and see what's required to lock this inertia trigger in its 'active' state to keep the back fixed. Once I do I'll post my findings, along with how to permanently engage it if I manage to. I refuse to believe I'm the only one who wants the seats to stay put!