I'm looking to put power front seats in and tho only cars I can come up with, so far, that I like the designs are C5/C6 Corvettes and Cadillac CTS seats. The Vette seats are way too expensive at junk yards and I haven't had much luck finding CTS seats yet. Most junk yards don't have a matching set. I don't want to re-upholster them and I really would like Gray leather but I'll go with black if I have to. Any ideas or suggestions for other cars to look at? The Caddy seats seem to be going for about $150 each and I know they will be comfortable. I'm just not sure what other cars would have quality, comfortable power seats. Any experience?
Yup, Crystler Concord also.... my 83... Problem is IMO a colour match, and if you go for older style seats the choices are getting fewer and farther between. Even with ne/newer seats it's very hard if not impossible to find seats that just "work'. Colour match is going to be hard, if your not going to make the interiour match with the same colours it may just allways look wrong.
I would try to focus on GM cars from the 80's - perhaps Grand Prix's, Rivieras, Eldorados, etc. Grab the center console, too. Practice up on your upholstery cleaning skills.......
Hey burners, you're in Texas, but where? If there is a Pick-N-Pull nearby, you can get great deals on seats. They tend to have standard pricing instead of going by what kind of car things come out of. http://www.picknpull.com/part_prici...nglish&NavItem=0&SearchCriteria=&#partpricing I would measure how much room you have in your Chevelle wagon, and see if you can go with some Cadillac DeVille seats from, say, 1994 until present. These are big, broad comfortable seats, and not as small and with as short a seat bottom as the ones you showed from the CTS. A big car like yours should have big square seats IMO. Another make to try, and they are usually plentiful at the P-N-P's I go to, are the mid eighties Mercedes SEL's. These are also big, supremely comfortable seats, and grey leather is quite common. I have seen so many in great shape go to the crusher! I regret not buying some myself. I bought a full interior out of a '90 VandenPlas Jag for under a hundred bucks, to use in my Mark II, at the FT. Worth P-N-P. What ever kind of seats you choose, make sure you get the back seats, especially if they are from some of the big sedans I suggested, because the covers can sometimes be adapted to fit your wagon back seat, and that way, you won't have such a mismatch. David
Good suggestions, guys, thank you. I'll look around. David, I'm out near Mineral Wells so the Ft. Worth junk yards are the closest. I've been mostly disappointed with the pick-n-pulls but maybe I'll have another go at them. The car currently has the factory swivel buckets in it and it had a factory center console so the smaller seats are going to fit well. I may have to take a trip to the junk yards next week.
I'll just throw this out there and go away. Please be careful when retrofitting newer seats into an older car. On your '75 Chevelle the seat belts are anchored to the floor and the B-Pillar. All new seats these days at the very least anchor the female portion of the seat belt to the seat track (called Lap Belts To Seat - LBTS). Those seats in the picture shown are called All Belts To Seat (ABTS). Notice the shoulder belts are part of the seat. In either instance that means in a crash a TON of load is going through the seat track and then through your attachments to the floor. I have no doubt the seat track will handle the load, but if your attachments to the floor are not up to the task you will find yourself flying through the windshield with a big seat strapped to your butt. That said I agree with KK on some 80's GM seats. They would probably look the closest to what you have.
Buick Regal seats (especially the GS) are very nice, but the mounting system is completely different from your Chevelle's. I also like the 95 and newer Eldorado seats...same issue with mounting and Kevin's input regarding ABTS concerns is on target. You might also like Bonneville buckets from about 92 up. I've got a set in my 83 Bonneville wagon.
Very good point, Kevin. The floor will probably need to be reinforced in order for it to handle those loads. Teej, I really like the GTO seats. I have an 04 GTO and they are very comfortable on long trips but they only come in black. I would really like gray but as I said I would settle for black if need be. I can handle fabricating mounts so I'm not worried about how the original seats were attached. Even more good suggestions. Thanks, guys.
Kevin had a dam good point! When I first mounted my seats as you can see they have the seat belt female attached to the seat. I traced the male end on a piece of paper and found that with a bit of modification I could make my cars origonal male end work but changed my mind for the reasons mentioned....I still use the male female factory seat belts for the reason the are mounted seperate from the seat. ...just something to think about
