Ok, I'm sure it's been done before- just not by me. What's realistically involved in putting a pair of these in a 57-60 pickup? I'm driving a couple of hours today to pick a pair of '65-'66 Thunderbird front buckets ( they have the "Landau" pattern). They are complete as far as trim parts, but they don't have the pedestals or tracks. I already have a garage full of parts on ebay, so I don't want to add these to my collection because of some niggling detail that I'm not curently aware of.... (I am 6'2" and 275 lbs)
Very bad idea if you are any taller than a fireplug. I'm about your size and used to own a 1960 Ford pickup. It came with a similar set of buckets, they were extremely awkward and uncomfortable. I took them out and found a stock seat out of an old dump truck which I reupholstered for $20. With the stock seat the truck had just enough room and a reasonable seating comfort with the seat all the way back. The buckets were impossible. If you look closely the stock seat is contoured to fit around the gas tank and the back of the cab for maximum room and comfort. If you are smart you will keep the stock seat. If the upholstery is shot and you are short of $$$$ bucks I can tell you how to get new upholstery cheap.
everyone's short on cash. tell us more about that cheap upholstery. and if you're gonna say "free burlap sacks at the feed mill" I already know about that.
I would like to hear about the low $$ upholstery. ....if the stock seat wasn't gone already, and I wasn't relocating the fuel tank I'd be nervous about those seats from a comfort/room standpoint. From looking at them, you don't have to mount them with the pedestals. I'm going to give them a try- they are in great shape and I got them for a price that's really right.
I had the same problem of the original seat being missing. The only stock seat I could find was in a dump truck that had been sitting with the windows open for 20 years. The seat was rotted down to the bones. So I cleaned the frame and painted it, and went junk yard shopping for new upholstery. Measured the width of the seat knowing I could adjust everything else. Looked at back seats in all kinds of sedans because they usually have little or no wear compared to front seats. Found a good match in a 1977 Ford LTD II with red cloth upholstery. The exact car doesn't matter, but you want a seat the right width that is similar to the one you are redoing. For $20 it was mine. Back home I took out the hog rings and removed the upholstery from the seat. Then put the foam padding on the truck frame, stretched the cover on and hog ringed it down. I may have covered the springs with a couple of layers of burlap from the garden center. It took a little extra padding in the corners because the seats were not exactly the same shape. But, in the end it fitted surprisingly well with no wrinkles. The seat went in and looked great, the red seat looked well with the black primer paint job. Drove the truck every day for a couple of years and sold it, the seat still looking like new. Don't be afraid to try your hand at upholstery especially with cloth which is more forgiving than vinyl or leather.
Good thinking...will keep this idea in mind for when i need to be more thrifty / resourceful ( which is probably always) - but I couldn't pass these guys up.
Man!...no complaints- I think they will need about a 4" pedestal but will tuck in under the brace that runs under the rear glass nicely
Buckets in a standard cap pickup are usually pretty difficult to fit up. Best is to try a mock up and see. Generally the seat bottom needs to be at an awkward forward slope angle, or your head bounces off the glass.
Ain't skeered. I would agree though. The truck has "high-back" buckets currently and they just don't work. These T-bird seats are pretty versatile- they are really compact ( vertically), and they effectively have "striker" pads/pins where the back rests on the bottom, so the seating angle can be adjusted.
If you are not dead set on using those seat I suggest late 80s early 90s standard GM truck bench seat. the mount works too. 4 holes to drill and that is it! They have high density foam so no bouncy. Had one in my 59 F100. I am over 6' feet tall. Very comfortable. by Hotrod1959 posted Mar 24, 2011 at 5:32 PM
I think the issue is going to be getting the angles right. Passenger car seats probably sit flatter on the bottom and the back leans back more than what will work in the truck cab. With the seat back being adjustable, hopefully you can dial it in. Ford offered Mustang buckets in the pickups in late 60s. Seat bracket leaned back quite a bit. Check out the link, should give you ideas on concept even if components are a decade newer than what your working with. http://www.fordification.com/tech/bucketseats.htm
hey you wouldn't happen to have any photos that show the mounting in your truck, would you? Just curious about how far off the floor you are....the top of that seat reclines right into that concave part of the cab beneath the rear window, right?
I put a pair of leather buckets out of a Mazda MPV van that we were hauling for junk in my 57 and they fit perfect.
With the slew of Chevy C10 to C30 trucks I had, the hot ticket was Pontiac GTO buckets. We mounted them on 4" x 4" fence post stock, lag bolted the seats to the wood, countersunk hardware to hold the post to the floor. Not exactly what I would call safe today.
Speedway sells "universal" seat mounting brackets. I have set so I can mount Tbird seats in my shoebox but haven't done it yet. They are pretty rudimentary, but they're adjustable. Might have to do some mods to make em work but could be a good starting point instead of starting from scratch or hoping for the right junk yard find.
We had a pair of those "in stock" and the back seat to match. They were power buckets and the heaviest fuckin bucket seat ever conceived. I went to pick it up and thought it was wired down or had parts wedged under em. Glad we sold em.
What Hotrod said. Put a new takeout seat from 1995 standard cab chevy in my 1953 F100 back in 1995. Four bolts and done. Always meant to remove head rests and recover for a less modern look. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
This is the only picture I have. 4 bolts and your done..... The seat is back! by Hotrod1959 posted Mar 24, 2011 at 5:32 PM
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