hey all, i decided to swap the seats out from my 76 regency that i retired from service and i have to say it was pretty challenging. i measured all the seat dimensions and they were within about an inch or two all around so i figured it was feasible.. that's where feasible ended but i learned about the differences in the process! first off i had to separate the uphoulstery from the delta and regency rear upper and lower seat frames as the rear upper was too wide by about an inch and a half to fit into the space allowed. zip tied it to the delta frames for test fit before final hog ringing to secure it. had to splice the rear arm rest portion of the 76 rear frame into the 78 frame to maintain proper armrest function, then it worked out well.lower frame had to be swapped as the depressions for the seat belt retractors were a few inches off too . rear seat problem solved.. for the front the delta had a full bench so no pedestals for the inner seat tracks to bolt to. and the floor pan on the 76 was pretty flat but the 78 has a brace running across the floor so i fabricated pedestals from parts of the 76 floor and some sheet metal to finish it off. took me damn near two days on a weekend, but i would rather take the punishment of mis matching parts over paying an uphoulstery guy to redo the 78 seats in the regency pattern and probably not be happy with the result as i have never seen anyone get the loose cushion style seats as right as the fatory did. and the 76 seats truly are immaculate with absolutely no wear which i still do not understand as the car had 128,000 miles on her and the bottom of the car looked like the titanic! i will be changing everything else over to match when i do the body and paint. hope this provides some entertainment, enjoy! ps i listed the old seats in the parts section if anyone could use them as they are really nice

 

here's the donor car and getting started

 

rear seat test fit after switching seat frames

 

rear seat frame mods from 76 frame to 78 for the armrest

 

rear seat finally fits nice, front tast fit and floorpan mods

 

when it's all done it will definitely taken up a notch or two interiorwise

 

Hey Dave!

Wow, looks like somebody really stripped that '76 98 of yours

Wow, the seats look great in the 88! You did a great job and you will be so happy driving that car with those seats as they are just unbelievably comfortable! The car will probably even be quieter just because of the material and how dense they are.

Good job!

John

PS...your vice grips were mailed yesterday so you should have them early this week.

 

ohh, almost forgot. It looks like you were able to fit the carpets in as well...what a score!

 

yeah john, a true professional chop shopper came by and had it stripped by the time i came back from a dunkin donuts run! yes the seats are so right in that car, it's a shame i had to retire the other one but it had to be. btw, i just installed a tilt column this weekend from an 83 98 and it was a similar story as far as looking like it would drop right in.... bottom of the column where it meets the steering shaft was different and lower ignition switch too as it did not come with one and i found out the hard way all the differences between years and tilt/non tilt columns!

 

oh yeah, and the carpet was really close, but the b pillar setup left a small gap right around the delta's. almost can't see it so good for now.

 

So is this the poor car that im getting the parts from?