Reclining Seats 73 Mach1

[BeerDontCount]

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[tony-muscle]

I'm not sure what you're asking regarding the seat back latches.  With the seats in the normal position, the seat backs stay put - I have to use the latch releases to fold them forward, just like normal.

When I removed the pads in mine, all it did was allow the seat backs to recline back a little bit.

Here is the best I can offer for comparison.  The first pic is Day One of my restoration - the seats have all hardware in-place:

And here's the same seat frames with new Sport Seat upholstery installed without the seat pads.  Notice the difference in the angle of the seat back.

I do notice that when I put the seat back to the normal driving position, the latch sometimes doesn't 'click' into place (it just rests on top of the bracket), then when I hop in, it 'pops' into place latching itself.  First couple of times it was scary (thinking, "What did I just break?!)... now, it doesn't bother me.

I'm sure that over time, the seat cover fabric might wear against itself, but if that ever becomes a major problem, I'll address it then.  After everything I had to do to get this car where it is now, pretty much everything seems trivial to me.

I am so amazed on how you turned a dirty rust bucket into a beauty. Oh well, the seats... that's what the thread is about, oh well, the seats are definitely further back.

 

[Mister 4x4]

The extra legroom is nice (since I'm 6'5"), but I don't recommend moving the seat platforms back if the intent is to go with molded carpet.  The carpet eventually settled in, but it was a PITA to install since the platforms weren't where they're supposed to be.

If they would've had the extended sliders available when I welded in the platforms, I would've gone that route instead.  I'm not sure if they actually have any for our year models, but I think I could've figured something out using some from a '70 model or even the '79-'04 units offered, had I known about them at the time.

I'm not unhappy with what I did, though.

 

[73' mach 1]

The extra legroom is nice (since I'm 6'5"), but I don't recommend moving the seat platforms back if the intent is to go with molded carpet.  The carpet eventually settled in, but it was a PITA to install since the platforms weren't where they're supposed to be.

If they would've had the extended sliders available when I welded in the platforms, I would've gone that route instead.  I'm not sure if they actually have any for our year models, but I think I could've figured something out using some from a '70 model or even the '79-'04 units offered, had I known about them at the time.

I'm not unhappy with what I did, though.

I'm good with the leg room, just need to recline the back part a little.