How to remove lazy boy recliner seat

EXTENSIVELY UPDATED COMMENT

My La-Z-Boy needed more work than new seat springs. The mechanism for locking the footrest was working erratically and the chair was rubbing against the base when rocking.

The base had separated at the joints and was no longer square with the frame. This moved the ratchet paddle off the serrated teeth. Some of the screws holding the rocker springs to the base had worked loose and fallen off.

The base needed to be removed to re-glue it. (Gorilla glue overnight works well). The stripped screw holes needed toothpicks glued into them to provide enough wood for the replaced screws to hold.

With the back and cushion off as well I could see that the back mechanism had much more freedom of movement than I had realized previously.

I found replacement 18" springs on Walmart's website for ~$6 USD @ delivered, including screws, clips (and front brackets that I did not need). Delivery time was a week. My local hardware store carries Torx T15 screws, $0.40USD @ and drivers.

Notes:

This is the easiest way I found to remove and replace the cushions and the base.

1. If you don't have a T15, don't start this project. Mst of the chair is connected with that type and size fastener. Torx T15 fasteners that have star-shaped recesses. WHile you can possibly remove them using a straight blade driver, it will be an effort, and you will have a very difficult time reinstalling them. Many multi-bit screwdriver sets have Torx T15 bits included.
2. Remove the back cushion. The chairback locking levers levers are hard to see without a flashlight and hard to reach without a screwdriver. An unprepared assembler or delivery person may not have locked the levers. If you can pull one side of the back up more than 1/4 inch, that lever is unlocked. With the levers moved upward until they are NEARLY all the way up and into the groove, pull the back upward, rocking it from side to side.
3. Turn the chair upside down to access the front cushion retention screws. Those screws pass through brackets slightly wider than their heads. Those brackets are pivots. The other end of the pivot is a straight rod that slides into the side of the chair. To gain better access to the screws, use the reclining lever to extend the footrest. Remove the screws with a Torx T15 driver. Use a pliers to remove the pivots by pulling each toward the opposite side of the chair.
4. Turn the chair right side up. Lift the front edge of the seat cushion and keep lifting it up and OVER the back until the cushion is upside down. You can now remove the rear 4 TorX T15 screws without straining.
5. If the only parts that need replacing are the flat seat cushion springs, the upholstery doesn't need to be removed. Each spring is retained by a front bracket, a clip holding the spring to a cross wire and a rear bracket that has a coil spring.
6. Unscrew the rear bracket and remove it from the flat spring.
7. With a flat blade screwdriver, pry open the clip holding the broken spring to the to the cross-wire. Replacement springs come with clips.
8. Observe the open end of the spring where it passes through the from bracket. Move the flat spring toward the side opposite the open end to free it from the bracket.
9. If the rocker base needs to be removed, you will need to invert the chair.
10. Remove the thin wire release linkage to the footrest by detaching it from the handle's control shaft.
11. Remove the six Torx T15 screws holding the rocker springs to the sides of the base. Remove the center screw first, the the rear and last the front screw.
12. To reinstall the base, you need a pry bar or wedge to spread the spring. Install the front screw first. Press the rear of the base down while wedging the rear of the rocker spring apart until you can insert the middle screw loosely. Continue to wedge the rocker spring apart until the rear screw can be inserted.