- Joined
- May 31, 2020
- Messages
- 257
- Reaction score
- 126
- Location
- Alberta, Canada
- My Car
- 1972 Mach 1
351C 4V - C6
Blue with Blue interior
Well for a little bit I have been thinking about some new seats for the Mach. The originals are still in really good condition, but I found myself wanting a little more support. So I had began my hunt for a set of seats for it. I had looked at aftermarket and was thinking of some Corbeau's when I saw a thread on here mentioning that Fox Body Mustang seats are almost a direct swap. So while looking I kept my eyes open for used Mustang seats as well when I came across these. They definately dont look amazing right now as they are worn and need some love, but they are a set of the 79-82 factory Recaro seats. Not only that, they were the exact seats I had in my very first Mustang and I had loved those seats. So for now, my goal was to test fit and see how they would fit in the Mach.
Test 1: They really are as simple as removing the fox body tracks and bolting on the 71-73 tracks. A few minutes to get them out and swap tracks(I also spent some time fixing one of the original tracks since I noticed the roller came out) and the Recaros went into Big Blue. But this is where I hit a snag. I found that they sat too high in the car. The Recaros had a riser bracket that raised them up maybe 1.5" in the front and like 2" in the rear, and with these on my head was hitting the headliner unless I reclined the seat more. So out they came again.
So I pulled off the little risers and had to drill and tap some new holes so line up with the seat tracks. I still have to go in and clean things up a little bit and I want to add a spacer on the front since the track doesnt sit right down on the frame of the seat, but thats easy to do. At least now I was able to test fit the seats again and see if they sat lower and were better positioned.
Test Fit 2:
Success. They sit much lower in the car now and should work nicely. I may need to loosen and adjust the seat belt retractor a little but I may also get a friend to 3D print a slimmer adjustment knob. But now your thinking, those seats look hideous with cracks, worn out, etc. Well because of that I was able to get them for a good price, and have a friend who does upholstery. So I have already talked to them about reupholstering these seats and making them look more like the originals. So will probably do blue vinyl to replace the black, the kinda textured vinyl will hopefully replace the black fabric, and then Im hoping they can find something like the comfortweave that will replace the checker print. So hopefully by the end they will look like they belong in the car. And the nicest thing about all of it? All said and done even with reupholstering I will be much less than the cost of a the Corbeaus(which would be black and not really suit the look im going for). So just thought I would share. They are busy at the shop so I likely wont be taking them to get reupholstered till around January, but will post progress when they get done.
Test 1: They really are as simple as removing the fox body tracks and bolting on the 71-73 tracks. A few minutes to get them out and swap tracks(I also spent some time fixing one of the original tracks since I noticed the roller came out) and the Recaros went into Big Blue. But this is where I hit a snag. I found that they sat too high in the car. The Recaros had a riser bracket that raised them up maybe 1.5" in the front and like 2" in the rear, and with these on my head was hitting the headliner unless I reclined the seat more. So out they came again.
So I pulled off the little risers and had to drill and tap some new holes so line up with the seat tracks. I still have to go in and clean things up a little bit and I want to add a spacer on the front since the track doesnt sit right down on the frame of the seat, but thats easy to do. At least now I was able to test fit the seats again and see if they sat lower and were better positioned.
Test Fit 2:
Success. They sit much lower in the car now and should work nicely. I may need to loosen and adjust the seat belt retractor a little but I may also get a friend to 3D print a slimmer adjustment knob. But now your thinking, those seats look hideous with cracks, worn out, etc. Well because of that I was able to get them for a good price, and have a friend who does upholstery. So I have already talked to them about reupholstering these seats and making them look more like the originals. So will probably do blue vinyl to replace the black, the kinda textured vinyl will hopefully replace the black fabric, and then Im hoping they can find something like the comfortweave that will replace the checker print. So hopefully by the end they will look like they belong in the car. And the nicest thing about all of it? All said and done even with reupholstering I will be much less than the cost of a the Corbeaus(which would be black and not really suit the look im going for). So just thought I would share. They are busy at the shop so I likely wont be taking them to get reupholstered till around January, but will post progress when they get done.
