When it came to seats, I had a number of options. Many people use a later model so that there is a headrest. Some as close as a 69 mustang seat. Others a late 80’s or later. While it would be nice to have the leather seats I have in my 05, I wanted to stay with the original look. Even then, there were options. I went with an upgraded sport seat which has improved foam and support, but keeps the original frame and style.

With the final assembly of the seats, I should probably put the whole story in one place, even though I have posted previously about the tear down including the back seat.

So, the seats I started with were original. Looking at them though, they clearly had been out of the car before, with some poor repair work done on at least one of them. I am pretty sure they are the originals, or at least originals from a 67 with 2B interior, so odds are they are the originals.  They were in pretty rough shape for the covers, and the frames were pretty well pitted and surface rusted.

Removing everything was pretty simple, though time consuming to get all of the rings off.  From there, I took the frames to the local powder coating shop.  No point spending the time and money just to have them smelly and squeaky when I’m done.  And the powder coating should provide a good protection for the next 50 years.

With the seats, you can see the originals were basically flat bottom, and back. Modern seats have padding raised on the sides to grip you better. The Sport seat upholstery and padding I used added the modern feel with the original style.

I didn’t find anyone selling the back bench seat padding. Looking around, it seems any upholstery shop worth it’s name can do this with bulk foam pretty easy.  Since this is one area I prefer to have a professional work on, I let the guys at Trimcraft figure out the back seat foam when they did the assembly.

Had to share a shot of “the girlfriend’s room” with assorted seat parts. They have since been replaced with carpet and assembled seats. My girlfriend has no end of nice things to store in her room.

The guys at Trimcraft did an awesome job of putting things together. You can see the difference in the foam and covers with the raised side here as well. I did the final assembly in the living room. They would have done that too, but I didn’t have all of the little finish parts until later. I chose to replace all of the little parts, including springs and pins, along with the trim on the outsides, as my original trim was beat up pretty bad.

I am not a fan of the new trim. I would call it chrome, or stainless, but it’s neither. It looks like aluminum with a flat, semi gloss finish. Unfortunately, my originals were so beat up, even polishing them wouldn’t get them looking good again.  I don’t like the finish, or the thickness, but the clean look tops that.

Getting the backs on was a bit tricky. I used a flat pry bar I had from pulling nails in a previous life. I wrapped it in a new shop towel to avoid damaging the vinyl and pried against the seat frame until it made it over the knob.  I had some issues with one side getting it to set right. The powder coating must have added just enough to make the fit tight. I applied a bit of extra influence with my hand sledge and another shop towel. I also almost didn’t notice the spacer/protector fell of before I pried it back on, so pay attention to that.

The trim went on fine. I started a bit apprehensive putting holes in the new seats for the trim screws, but after reviewing my tear down pictures, and feeling for the right spots, it was clear I couldn’t really mess it up if I was careful and deliberate. You can also see here some slight creases in the vinyl. Evidently that’s from the box and a little heat and time should take care of it. The heat may have to come from a heat gun, but I will look into that later. Maybe not on that side since it probably wont be seen much.

The other side comes in black or something you can paint. I picked up a can of the paint, but the weather is bad, so I will have to wait until I have an empty garage or a sunny day. Comparing, I am also considering cleaning up the originals. They may not be so bad after all. Fit is nice though. I will follow up later with a small project post when I paint them to see how it turns out.

This is another point of making sure I knew what I was doing and had the right spot before cutting the holes. I am amazed that this is the level of technology for the angle of the back of the seats.

Finally, I added the rail hardware. I blasted and painted the original rails, but the springs are all new, along with the cross connector. After all the money spent on these seats, I figured I shouldn’t cut corners on the last $20. On another project, I would have re-used more. Though new springs do add new life after 50 years.

One thing I noticed with these new seats was the difference from the old in regards to my seat height. I put the driver seat in the car and had a seat. First, I can’t possibly get in with it all the way forward. I don’t see how anyone could. But once it was all the way back, sitting in it, I noticed I sit much higher than before. That’s a bit of an issue being 6’2″. Doing it again, I would cut down the seat riser. I may still go back and do that at some point. I will decide once everything is operational and the headliner is in.

Some comments on the parts. It’s hard to tell just what you need from the descriptions on the NPD site. I ended up with more little spare parts on this project than usual for that reason. When thinking about screws and such, just get the below seat mounting kit. It has all the trim screws, the protective washers for the seat hinge, and the pins for the seats. I ended up with numerous extra screws and washers since I couldn’t tell what was included with what, and if they were for one side or both (they are all for both). Also, I got the side trim spacers. I am not using them because they don’t look right with the repro trim. It sits too far away from the frame.

Parts

• Sport seat upholstery set
• Sport bucket seat foam x2
• Burlap x2
• Padding kit, front seat frame side
• Padding kit, front seat frame rear
• RH Seat Trim
• LH Seat Trim
• Seat mounting kit
• Seat back adjusting kit
• Inner seat hinge cover (pair), unpainted
• Seat frame bolt kit
• Seat mounting nuts (to floor) x2
• Seat tie rod x2
• Seat springs x2
• Interior paint (not sure if this is right yet)