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Seat upgrades


Jason72

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Looking for some ideas. My 72 currently has a bench seat. I am wanting to run the car at some track events and looking for a seat (aftermarket or late model) that looks good in the car, comfortable for a road trip and keeps you in place around a corner. Any pics or year make model seat ideas would be great.  Thanks. Jason 

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I kind of like the standard buckets with the Legendary rally seat conversion. Not as wrap around as true track ready seats but look somewhat stock and no mods needed except in your case need to add the bucket seat mounts.

 

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Don't buy this color.

 

rotin

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2 hours ago, rotinrob said:

I kind of like the standard buckets with the Legendary rally seat conversion. Not as wrap around as true track ready seats but look somewhat stock and no mods needed except in your case need to add the bucket seat mounts.

Don't buy this color.

 

What are you trying to say, my Legendary Rally seats are ugly?

 

Truth be told, not my favorite color either, but black on black wasn't an option this time around, lol. Way more comfortable than the stock ones and like you basically said, unless you're looking for it, barely noticeable to most people.

 

20200914_183031.jpg

IMG_0338.JPG

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I like the look of the side bolsters/padding? on the bottom seat pad of yours Joe. Much more defined than on mine. 

I can't answer Jasons original question, Ive seen a few aftermarket seats in cars that are not original looking but sure look comfortable 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I know it's an old thread but I've been inactive for a long time. 

I put 5th Gen Camaro buckets in mine. I had a 2014 Camaro and the seats were great side support, comfortable long distances (road tripped to South Carolina from FL), they have a flip-forward release latch in the top middle (like the '69 Camaros did), and they look factory-ish in the Monte. Taller than factory buckets, considerably, so it might not be the aesthetic you're looking for.

Big drawback is it required welding mounting points because nobody makes a bracket to adapt (or they didn't in 2018), and I haven't done a write-up yet on how I did it and what measurements (but I will, eventually lol).

I can post pics later if anyone wants to see, but the interior isn't even remotely finished - just have the sound deadener installed.

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Here we go!

Mounting them required cutting off the front hooks of the seat tracks - in the Camaro the fronts of the seat rails hook into the floorboard and the back bolts down. Where the tracks landed on the Monte's floorboard made that impossible. I started with centering the steering wheel on the center of the driver's seat back, then went from there. When I eventually do a write-up I'll go into more detail, but let it suffice to say it was a LOT of measuring and squaring, because every single mounting point needed to be fabricated and spot-on perfect to work. In case you want to gander at the work: https://imgur.com/a/maOjbkz


Ok, so they don’t really look factory at all haha - but they look more factory than a Corbeau or Recaro, and have actual side support unlike the original buckets. 

On with the pics. The console (no lid) is just sitting there where it should, but not screwed down, although it's bracket is welded in place and the shifter is bolted down. The dash is half-bolted in place. Hopefully this gives an idea of how the seats fit in the space. Floorboard is covered with sound deadener from Sky High Car Audio - recommended to me from a mechanical engineer friend who used to build boxes for bass competitions. It's like half the price of Dynamat and intended for cars (so no toxic off-gassing in heat).

 

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And some with measurements, which may help

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Here you can see the factory seat belt bolt and the distance to the door metal

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Console spacing

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Finally, the height to the headliner. This is to the headliner rod, trying to eyeball the top of the headrest.

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This is more reliable, ruler against the headrest, but it's going to the roof itself instead of the headliner rod.

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More detail on the fabric. These seats were from a 2012 V6 (the SS has the 'SS' embroidered in the headrest).

ecqfaYS.jpg

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That looks like the way I may go. I was looking at Camaro seats after you posted. I found a few at a fair price in good condition. 
 

I really appreciate you taking the time for the response. Thank you. 

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Yeah, I ended up getting mine off eBay from LKQ. I was looking at Corbeau or something but I wasn’t in love with the racer look, and I didn’t know how they felt sitting in them. My wife actually suggested the Camaro seats bc I had talked about how much I liked them in the Camaro I had at the time. 
 

It was a lot of fab work but I’m super happy with the result. And they’re power adjustable (yay!) while keeping the ‘flip forward’ aspect needed for our back seats. 
 

I’ll try to put together a write up soon-ish with the measurements I ended up with, it may save some time. 

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  • 1 month later...
On 1/8/2022 at 11:22 AM, Clever Idiot said:

Yeah, I ended up getting mine off eBay from LKQ. I was looking at Corbeau or something but I wasn’t in love with the racer look, and I didn’t know how they felt sitting in them. My wife actually suggested the Camaro seats bc I had talked about how much I liked them in the Camaro I had at the time. 
 

It was a lot of fab work but I’m super happy with the result. And they’re power adjustable (yay!) while keeping the ‘flip forward’ aspect needed for our back seats. 
 

I’ll try to put together a write up soon-ish with the measurements I ended up with, it may save some time. 

I was just about to start a new thread for aftermarket seats and I stumble upon this thread! I was looking at doing exactly this, taking seats from a newer vehicle like a Camaro or Corvette, but I have a couple things I'm curious about.

First, how much do these seats weigh, roughly? My car is a drag set-up and weight is a big concern. I was going to do Kirkey's because they are super light, but not bum/back friendly at all. Very uncomfortable If you're in the car longer than 5 minutes.

My other concern is more safety related. Most new cars have airbags installed in the seats and I would not feel safe having my seat packed full of airbags in a car that's not designed for it. If there's a way to remove the explosive modules from the seat, I would definitely consider this route. 

At the moment, I'm considering a set of Recaro seats that I had reserved for another build. Anyone tried something like these Recaro's or similar? Opinions? I'm not sure I care to put these in the Monte. They're more for a tuner car, but they're very comfortable and functional with adjustable back and high bolsters.

IMG_5585.thumb.jpeg.399a726ea8ff9b93629cd133461a1314.jpeg

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10 hours ago, GatorDog72 said:

I was just about to start a new thread for aftermarket seats and I stumble upon this thread! I was looking at doing exactly this, taking seats from a newer vehicle like a Camaro or Corvette, but I have a couple things I'm curious about.

First, how much do these seats weigh, roughly? My car is a drag set-up and weight is a big concern. I was going to do Kirkey's because they are super light, but not bum/back friendly at all. Very uncomfortable If you're in the car longer than 5 minutes.

My other concern is more safety related. Most new cars have airbags installed in the seats and I would not feel safe having my seat packed full of airbags in a car that's not designed for it. If there's a way to remove the explosive modules from the seat, I would definitely consider this route. 

At the moment, I'm considering a set of Recaro seats that I had reserved for another build. Anyone tried something like these Recaro's or similar? Opinions? I'm not sure I care to put these in the Monte. They're more for a tuner car, but they're very comfortable and functional with adjustable back and high bolsters.

Awesome, I love when I can contribute! I'll answer what I can.

How much do they weigh?
I haven't weighed them at all, my setup is going more cruiser/pro-touring. So the best I have is an estimate based off lifting them in and out of the car multiple times 😆  - I'd guess they're in the neighborhood of 40lbs? According to this link, they're 55lbs each, which I could believe. They're awkward AF to lift in and out of the car without scratching something, that's for sure.

Airbags
Yep, they have bolster airbags. However, my understanding is that they are only armed if the airbag itself is powered up and connected to a shock sensor. At one point I had the pinout for the power connector because they're power adjustable, and I recall the airbags were a separate connection to just straight power. I haven't verified that by tracing the wires out, however. I'm not sure how one would go about removing them, other than tearing the seat down completely.

Recaros/similar
Yeah, the tuner look is one reason I leaned away from them, but that's 100% personal preference. Plus I wanted something that easily folded forward to get in the back seat so I could maintain daily driver functionality. For the aesthetic I'm going for they just stuck out too much. My aim is to have the Monte look factory-ish, with subtle differences that aren't noticed without knowing the car, or at least not glaring. Like my steering wheel is obviously not stock and even a glance at the gauges would tell someone they're not stock, but other stuff I'm hoping to have blend as much as possible. Like shaving the lower rocker chrome, or the sail panel name badge, or the rearview mirror upgrade, or giant brakes - things not noticed right away.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
On 12/9/2021 at 1:19 PM, jft69z said:

What are you trying to say, my Legendary Rally seats are ugly?

 

Truth be told, not my favorite color either, but black on black wasn't an option this time around, lol. Way more comfortable than the stock ones and like you basically said, unless you're looking for it, barely noticeable to most people.

 

20200914_183031.jpg

IMG_0338.JPG

Thanks for posting pics of actual seats in car. Unfortunately my seats are going to need re-skins. I am considering updating to these Ralley seats for my SS.

I am usually more of a purest, but having seen the seats in your car I can agree they go pretty much un noticed! I know they must be more comfortable than the stock buckets. I drove my SS from Southern US to Manitoba (Central Canada) and my back was screaming after just 2 hours, lol! 

One question...do they make you sit higher in the car? If so, by how much?

Thanks, Jeff 

1970 SS Black w Power Bucket Seat

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40 minutes ago, Rare SS said:

One question...do they make you sit higher in the car? If so, by how much?

Jeff, I don't think they sit any higher than stock. I do have the 4-way power seat though, but from all appearances it seems to be the same height as stock. The main differences I could see are the side bolsters on the bottom and back.

Everything was replaced as far as foam, seat covers, etc. but the existing frame, springs and hard parts were re-used.

They are pretty comfortable, but I haven't taken any long trips with the car. 

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I bought the bolster set up from Legendary Interiors for my stock 72 buckets and I really like them, They do set a little higher but having the side suppoe=rts is a big plus. The extra $500 I spent for them was well worth it.

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