Could someone direct me on how to install newer seats (74 or later w/ headrest) in my 73.5??
Is it a direct bolt in ?? difficult?? Any kits available?? Although the seats are nice w/ no tears, they have lost their their "spring" and remind me of a 40 year old couch we have up north.
(Sink to the floor) <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

 

I am not clear what seats you are considering but the sports seats you get from Tweeks, and others, require that you also buy a mounting rail.

 

I had the same problem with the seats in my '73.5T. It felt like I was driving sitting on a floormat. I had my seats restuffed at about $70 per seat at an auto upholstery shop. They put in new stuffing between the coils of the existing springs. I can now see out the side windows! I actually like the restuffed seats better than the non-restuffed seats I have in my '83.

 

Hi Todd,

I recently upgraded my seats to ones from a '77. To do so, I needed to install 1/4" thick adapter plates since the original seats are on 18" centers and the newer ones are on 16" centers. After considering doing my own metal work, I opted to buy a set of adapters from PEProducts that included mounting points for the lap portion of the seat belts. As an added bonus, I had room to install a small fire extinguisher under the drivers seat by merely using a piece of Aluminum angle between the two bolts holding the front of the slider rail.

You can see a picture here:

<a href="http://members.aol.com/hdanberg/harrytarga.htm" target="_blank">Harry's Targa</a>

Installation took me only a few hours with most of them going to a bending the seat belt brackets to avoid rubbing the sides of seats.

 

One thing to think about is the seat belt mounts. In your '73, the seat belts are attached to the seat, between the seat frame and the seat rails. This way, the seat belt mounts travel back and forth with the seat, keeping the seat belt in proper relation to the passenger I suppose. (Other manufacturers have taken this approach, too) However, when you go to a later seat, you will not have a place to mount the belts or you will have to cobble up something that is, shall we say, a guess as to whether it's strong enough. Even with the full Recaro adapter, there is no provision for mounting the belts, except to wedge the mounting brackets between the seat bracket and the floor. This may, or may not, work. Do you want to experiment?

The only approach that made me comfortable (I have owned a '66, a '72 and a '73) was to rebuild the original seats (they can be made to work). If I had the cars again, I would buy a pair of used factory sport seats (big bucks, but definitely the best solution). The other possibility is to weld in proper seat belt mounts in the floor as in '74 and later cars. This is probably the best solution, but you'll have to decide for yourself whether you've really "engineered" a seat belt mount, or if you just have some threaded holes to mount stuff to.

 

Thanks for the help. I am really considering any seat w/ an integrated headrest. '74 and later I believe. Maybe the upolstry shop idea will work. I'm tired of sitting on the floorboard, but fabricating seatbelt hookups does not sound fun to me. Is PE performance products?? Is that where I could get the adapter set??

 

Hi Todd,

If you are going to later seats, several folks told me to look into 85 or newer as there was an improvement at that time.

For the brackets, I got mine from Professionally Engineered Products <a href="http://www.peparts.com/" target="_blank">PEParts.com</a>

They we extremely helpful in getting me what I needed. I saw the plates in the performance products catalog but they do not have the seat belt anchors.

Good luck.