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My '66 Starfire has factory buckets, like a lot of them. 1966 was the 1st year for this bucket seat design which carried on into the early 70's across many GM A, B, & some C bodies.
During that first year, the seat backs had no locks. Later designs did.
My wife recently mentioned she'd feel a bit safer if these seats had locks to prevent them folding up on the driver and/or passenger in case of an accident. It's been in the back of my mind for years. I am not sure if I need to buy new seat frames, or if I can add locks to the '66 frame without welding. I've got no welding experience or equipment. Also on this point I'm not a real stickler for true-to-66 seat authenticity since it's a safety item.
This is a shot of my driver's seat: 1966 Starfire Bucket Seat - no seat back locks. How hard are they to add?
I like my seats, they're in good shape, but as noted, if I hit something head on, they'll fold right up on whomever is sitting in them.
GM's solution in 1967 was to add the seat locks activated by a side button allowing the backs to fold forward for rear passengers and be safely locked upright when underway. As safety regulations began to tighten up, 67 was a big year for safety-related changes.
So, can I add those '67 seat locks to my '66 seats, or am I better off grafting my seat covers, foam, burlap and so forth onto '67 or later frames to get this safety feature? I'm also open to 69 and up. In those seats GM moved the release button to the middle of the seat back which sounds like a harder thing to install than adding the '67 side buttons. Opinions? Views? Experiences?
While I'm at it, it'd be fun to add the optional headrests. OPGI has them, I think, but I might have to get a custom cover to match my interior vinyl. Are these easy to add onto my '66 seats? I've never really looked inside the buckets, but if there are provisions in the seatback design for the headrests, it would seem to be just a matter of buying the parts, getting a matching Ivory cover and I'm good to go. Can it be that simple?
So, has anyone tried to update/modify '66 seats to add seat locks and headrests? What am I in for?
What's funny is my 98 with it's thick seat backs never gave anything like this kind of concern, but it doesn't have locks either.
Thanks in advance for any guidance you all can offer.
Chris
Chris, I've never made the change that your thinking of. But I do have some 1967 seatbacks from the strato-bench. The seat backs look just like the bucket seat backs, so it may be possible to swap the hardware needed for the seat back locks. I think you'd need to take your seats apart, at least partially to do this. I don't remember if these have the provisions for headrests, but believe they were an option in both 1966 and 67. I've also got some 1968 seatbacks that I'm pretty sure do have the headrest provisions. I'll have to dig them out and share some photos with you. If he doesn't reply to your thread, you might get in touch with Ben who goes by Rambow as he does interior work. Here's a link to one of his posts: https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...l-kits-121848/
The frames and springs are the same. The problem will be getting the latch hardware from a 67-up seat to install in your 66 seats. I've not seen the latch assemblies alone in the wild.
You could put 67/68 upper cushions on the 66 lower frames w/o problem. the latch mechanism is built into the outboard upper cushion hinge for those years.... but at that point you now have 2 sets of buckets that are mismatched. Better to just recover a set of 67/68 or 69-72s to match your original interior and resell them.
The Strato bench upper cushions are the same as buckets EXCEPT for the inboard hinge which is replaced by a pin. They could be used, but it would require drilling out the spot welds for the pin "arm" and welding in the hinge arm from a regular set of seats. Again, thats a lot of work to just destroy a good set of 66 seats.
The 66 seats are fairly desirable if the metal panels are in good shape since they are 1 year only- you should have no issues reselling them.
But to answer your basic question, yes you can swap covers from any 66-72 GM Strato bucket seat with another. The buns may be different model to model (listing channel positions were the difference).
Since you are not a stickler for originality- I would recommend trying to locate a set of 69-72 buckets with the center back button, these will be the most common and easiest to find- then restore those for your car and resell the ones you have.
Just be aware when buying used seat cores... its the guts that matter not the covers. Have the seller open up the upper rear panel and pay attention to the spring condition underneath. There are lots of great seat cores out there, and lots of rusty crap- its hard to tell what you have just looking at the top.
Rambow,
Many thanks for your guidance. I had a suspicion that using my good covers & foam on later frames might be the way to go. I'm not too interested in building something custom. I've been down that road & back, concluding that sticking with what the factory intended is frequently the best path.
It's funny you mention the metal backs. Mine are in great shape. I've always liked them having seen that in later years GM went to plastic. The metal ones dent, yeah, but they feel solid. I'm keeping them if I can. No knock on later cars at all, but I prefer metal to plastic. The plastic ones I remember are probably from boneyards, but I remember them dusting, scratching, and flaking easily. On the other hand, they're available!
From what I can see, there are reproductions of the '67 seats from vendors that supply Cutlass/A body parts. Another option is Osborn Interiors in the midwest that specializes in stocking and selling these seats. With all the offshore manufacturing, I'm leery of reproductions which might not work out as I hope. Our car-guy hopes/memories and their production quality don't always match. I know a local guy with a pair of '67 seats for sale who's an upholsterer. He's kind of my leading candidate since I can see the seats before committing, unless you have a better option. Plus he can do the swapping work, which is art to me, at least at the seat cover level.
I don't mind the later center-button release, but I prefer the idea of the side release buttons since they're closer to my year. The earlier ones would look just a bit more factory in my '66 without getting too picky. Do you have a view on the best option to find the early side-button seat frames and hardware?
Finally, I was reviewing some factory literature today and it seems that they built the all the seats from 66 & up with provisions for headrest posts. Are my drawings accurate? Or optimistic?
I bought that same set to convert the buckets I'm putting in my 67 Delta. Quality isn't bad. They aren't as well made as the OEM ones from my 66 442, but about on par with most repro stuff. Only available in black. I'm going to have my upholstery shop make covers using the Turquoise vinyl from SMS to match my interior.
I know a local guy with a pair of '67 seats for sale who's an upholsterer. He's kind of my leading candidate since I can see the seats before committing, unless you have a better option. Plus he can do the swapping work, which is art to me, at least at the seat cover level.
Chris, I think if you have a guy that already has real 67 seats AND he's someone you trust to swap the covers, you just answered your questions, assuming hes willing to sell. Any money you might save on a different cheaper set from somewhere else would go down the drain in shipping.
I too really like the 66/67 metal sides and backs. original 66 seat tracks also have an extra 1/2"-3/4" or so of slide range, so be sure to keep your tracks with the new seats. Real 66 seat tracks can be ID'd by the slotted front foot instead of a single hole that was used from 67-72.
RE: Headrests, all 66/67 seats did have the provisions (cutouts in the frame) for headrests.
There are decent aftermarket headrest "hw kits" that give you the brackets and bezels that the headrests slides into the seatback through. I have some pics saved showing how they are installed, I can upload if you need.
Unlike the 68-72, the 66/67 headrest hw gets installed after the seat covers are installed. almost like a retrofit option.
Hello Chris: Maybe you can mention to your local upholsterer that your 66 seats are more rare than the 67 set he has and likely more valuable, then make a deal to swap the covers and use the best guts of your seats. He is in the business and will likely do better than you to find a home for the 66 seats and make money on that upholstery work as well. You could also offer to post the 66 seats here on Classic Olds to find a buyer. There can be lots of detail work to do the seat cover swap. I am in the middle of doing the same type thing on my 95 Cutlass buckets. Hope it works out. Regards, Trent in Los Angeles
