Murphy

Good info Daryl, thanks and good luck!

Thanks Dennis! My goal was to insure the seat looked OEM for the Monte Carlo and I've achieved that. As far as a project journal, there's not much to say that was stated in my original post. The magic was at the hands of a skilled upholsterer. Since all the foam was replaced, he needed to narrow the foam on the seat backs just enough to allow for the armrest and disassembling the PUI covers (removing the endpiece where the seatbacks meet) and then narrowing the cover to fit the narrowed foam. Of course, I stripped the old covers off the frames and painted them several times as they are bare metal with lots of jagged edges. Several of the springs had popped out of their respective clamps so I tightened every clamping position. One modification that was done over a year ago to the original benchseat was that I moved the mounting feet so I could get the seat to slide back further. I simply swapped out the seat slider assembly off the old modified bench and installed on the new bench. I'm almost 6' 3" and need the leg room, I added a 1.5" section to the front mounting foot, cut off the rear mounting foot and rewelded the foot in the proper position. The picture shows the front foot modification. The fold-down armrest was a simple disassembly process and painting everything black, the plastic parts received the SEM vinyl paint and the metal parts I used the SEM trim paint. Everything matches perfectly...............

Thanks for all the kind words! Now that the interior is done I'm entered in my 1st real car show tomorrow. It's at Falcon Field which is home to many of the Confederate air force planes (B17, B24 & corsairs) Hope to get some good photos!!

Arm rest bench seat was only available for the Cutlass S model for the A-body cars, as far as I can determine...............

Hey Vince, That's a Yukon posi unit, yes it will work. I'm talking with a guy here who rebuilds differentials for a living and he really likes them! I'm going with the same unit and probably a 3.42 gear if I can't find the 3.31 at a reasonable price..........

That's a GREAT deal you got Daryl. I'm looking for something similar as I have the idiot lights & wanting to upgrade to gauges.

Thanks guys..........I also like the chrome trim piece along the outside edge. It's stainless which I had to remove a few dents and scratches then buffed!

Well, I finally finished my bench seat. Notice anything different? It's actually a seat from a 72 Cutlass S, hence the fold down armrest. I bought new foam and the 71/72 PUI covers, then took it to an upoholstry guy I know, he cut down the seat back foam to fit, disassembled the PUI seatback covers to make them smaller and then put it all together, I removed the buttons from my old benchseat. Then I disassembled the fold down armrest as it was brown and I painted the plastic covers and hinge assembly black. I had already recovered the back seats myself. It's been a lot of work but I sure like it, now my butt isn't bouncing off the floor!!!!!!! You can see what I started with in the one photo.

I believe the plastic washer goes against the crank and then the spring. That way when you need to remove, you can insert the tool between the crank and the washer, pushing the spring back...........

Nice results Sam! Is the front & rear window trim stainless on our cars? Feels too heavy for aluminum............

In your statement Sam about the iron heads, is that because they retain more heat than aluminum heads? If using aluminum heads, can compression be increased and still use pump gas?? Thanks.............

Just looked at mine & it appears that the open side is towards the back. I've never replaced them before but the your 3rd picture looks like the correct method.

Tony is correct! White reflects the best.........Here's a photo of the tail light as an example, their really bright using the stock bulbs. I used an enamel Rust-Olem product after a thorough cleaning & light sanding of course........

Thanks Bob, guess it just needed a nudge!!!!!!!

I've almost emptied my mailbox but am told it still states full? What do I do to correct this?

So the splayed caps won't weaked an already thin web area?

Well currently it's still the stock 2.73 non-posi, which is OK but I'll be converting 3.42 gears w/Yukon posi in the next few months. 1st gear of the muncie is the same as the TH350 if I recall. It's no tire burner yet but the 4 speed is a blast! I've installed new carpet since this photo............

All very accurate advice from Sam, if you must have a 6-speed. Like your car, TH350 w/bench seat, I had the same and converted to a Muncie M20 4-speed and kept the benchseat (for now). A rebuilt M20, Lakewood bellhousing, new RAM clutch and Hurst shifter, rebalanced driveshaft w/new U-joints, I spent almost $2K.

Most definately Sam, but I'm not ready to pull the trigger yet on any motor changes, just looking & educating myself. Thanks again!

That particular photo stated .030 over bore in the ad.........so apparently splayed center caps/bolts have been added as it was originally a 2-bolt? Just needed to verify that I'm not misunderstanding what I'm looking at, for future reference.................THX.

I have an interest to eventually got with a bigger motor and have been occasionally searching for 400 sbc's. What I don't understand is why several CL listing that I've found, state a 509 block with 2 bolt mains and then they show this picture. Sure looks like 4 bolts to me???

You don't have to upgrade the rear-end but you'll want to eventually. I swapped out the TH350 for a Muncie M20 and love it! The rear gear upgrade is in my near future, I have a 12-bolt w/2.73 gear currently.

Hey Kris, I'm using a 1" aluminum spacer under the 20 yr old cargo springs, I then installed air shocks with about 20 lbs in them. Rides pretty good, not too stiff but have the adjustability. I also cut one ring off the original front coils to drop an inch also........

Glad they arrived safely! Not having vinyl trim for positioning means eyeballing. Are you after the factory location? I just measured mine and they are 3.25" from the chrome drip rail edge, vertically is just a guess................

It's more of a satin finish. The SEM trim paint is the same sheen used on the lower trim parts also. I've found it at a auto paint supply store.