seat difference between 71-72 and 73 Mustang

[ramair]

This is what I found out this fall why you can't use 71-72 rear seats in a 73 Mustangs. This applies to coupes, but I imagine the convertibles and fastbacks have the same issues.

The reason being that there is a difference is Ford changed the seatbelts in 73. I don't know if this was a government mandated thing but 71-72 seat belts are different than 73's. So how do the seat belts effect the rear seats? The seat belts on the rear of a 71-72 are a non retractable type of set up and the 73's have a retractable type. To put a retractable seat belt in the rear seat platform Ford had to modify the seat platform in 73. On top of this they had to modify the lower seat frame for the seat platform. To get the side panels to work they had to be modified too.

The 71-72 seat belts bolt to the back of the seat platform on the hump while 73's bolt to a raised portion on the flat of the seat platform. 71-72 seat platform and 73 seat platform pictures below, the first one is a 71-72 and the second is a 73 seat platform.


If you notice the 73 has a raised part on the rear floor board for where the seat belt attaches and the 71-72's don't.

The bottom of the seat had to be modified on the 73 seats to fit over this hump in the floor and the 71-72's don't. Since the lower seat platform is different between the years the side panel is also different. On the 71-72's there is no hole in the lower half for the seat belt to run through. On the 73's it is raised up on the bottom to clear the raised seat platform spot and for the retractable seat belt to fit under it. The brown seat is a 73 seat and the black seat is a 72 seat. The black plastic panel is from a 72 and the green one is a 73 panel.


This is the whole reason why the seats are different, the seat belts. The 73's have a retractable type and the 71-72's are not.

 

[adm22]

My 72 convertible had retracable rear seat belts when I bought it. a 1971 convertible I saw in a junk yard did not have retracable ones. I was looking for black ones at the time and they were different.

 

[Flatback72]

My April '72 fastback had factory retractable rears...before I pitched them in favour of a three-point retractable set-up.

 

[imusa76]

my rear belts are also retractable and its a early 72 build.

 

[ramair]

Then this most likley only applies to Coupes if your 72's vert and fastback have the retactable rear seat belts.

I put a red circle around the raised area on my 73 Coupe. My 72 Coupe does not have this raised spot, it is flat.

 

[0321Bubba]

My 72 Coupe has factory retractable seat belts that came with it when my dad puchased it in 72.

 

[sm3570]

Yep, my '72 has the retractable rear belts as well.

 

[ramair]

To the guys who say they have retractable seat belts in there 72's could you post a picture of your rear seat platform. I am curious as why my 72 has a flat seat pan for non retractable belts.

 

[luxstang]

For what it's worth: my very early 72 vert (December 7th,1971) doesn't have retractable seat belts.

 

[OMS]

To the guys who say they have retractable seat belts in there 72's could you post a picture of your rear seat platform. I am curious as why my 72 has a flat seat pan for non retractable belts.

All 3 body styles did the same thing

Your non retractable belt 72 car, was probably built in 71

Easiest way to tell on most of them - is they also have no " fasten seat belt "

light on the dash

 

[sm3570]

I DO have the fasten seat belt indicator light on my dash. And the 09M build date (from BT) would, if it was built in 71, make it a mid 1972 fastback.

EDITED!

 

[OMS]

I DO have the fasten seat belt indicator light on my dash. And the 09M build date (from BT) would, if it was built in 71, make it an early 1972 fastback.

I have a 72 Q code 4 speed Mach 1

12 / 71 door tag no light non retracting belts

No buck tag for that date though.

I think [ my opinion ] early 71's would be the Aug, Sept, Oct cars

Dec cars were 5 months into the build year.

I'm sure Ford used up the 71 stuff till it was gone or government mandated a change.

Since yours is a Dec 9th car

Mine is a Dec ?? I think we have it down to a 9 day window for the change.

Where is Ray - we have some date info

 

[sm3570]

I DO have the fasten seat belt indicator light on my dash. And the 09M build date (from BT) would, if it was built in 71, make it an early 1972 fastback.

build date is on the door tag, marti report or emminger invoice

It would be a XX / 71 month / year

What has 09M on it ?

Buck tag. I don't have the original door tag anymore, and I haven't sprung for the Marti or Emminger. If the 1972 model year manufacturing began in 8/71, then it would be an early model year build I guess.

 

[marks73]

I had 2 73 Q codes. 1 had the shoulder belts and 1 didn't bucked in the same week 11/17 and 11/22 wierd was that the 11/22 was the non shoulder belted car.

 

[OMS]

I had 2 73 Q codes. 1 had the shoulder belts and 1 didn't bucked in the same week 11/17 and 11/22 wierd was that the 11/22 was the non shoulder belted car.

Mark both cars had shoulder belts when they were made.

Someone probably took them out and replaced the headliner.

All 71 -3's [ except convertibles ] had shoulder belts.

Don

 

[72HCODE]

+1 difference on early 72 verse late 72 cars as well. early 72s went through 2 transitions apparently.

for 72:

you had 71 style belts, platforms and seats that came without the seat belt warning lights. these had the round belt buttons. early 72

then there was a transition, some cars got the seat belt warning light and square belt buttons like the 73. but the buckles were different and still worked with non-retractable rear belts. these are the rarest and must of happened as an overlap between early and late 72, as they scrambled to fill orders. now on these most people switch to 71 parts because they assume somebody had swapped out the correct belts at one time, then wonder why they got 71 belt buckles that do not fit correctly in the male receiver part, so they just totally replace the belts and assume they were aftermarket.

then you had late 72s that switched over to the seat belt warning light and retractable belts different seat frames, seat covers, and platforms.

Its a real pain, i had to find this out on my own, as i wasted money on 73 parts only to find out i needed 71 parts for my 72 car.

I have an Early 72 so i didn't have the seat belt warning light and i did find a set of broken Square button belts in the trunk of the car but i didn't have the correct male receiver parts, i got rid of the broken belts i found in the trunk, now inside the car attached to the car but lost under the rear seats i found the round 71 belts with all the hardware still attached. I think somebody pulled the rear seat and when they put it back the belts got lost behind the seats so somebody pulled the square belts from another car, but the square belts did not match the 73 versions so who knows,,, later on at a car show i saw a 72 with the square belts and asked about it the owner said it was weird since he agreed they didn't look like the 73 versions. we concluded there was some kind of transition version belt but have no evidence to back it up. I just know at this point i have seen 72s with 3 versions of rear belt that seemed to start with the 71 version of the belt then there was a go between version maybe from another ford car used while the new belts were made for late 72 into 73, then the 73 version of the belts that retracted.

for early 72 it makes more sense since this would of still been a bolt in replacement that didn't require the seat pan and frames and interior panels to be redesigned.

So it made hunting for 72 parts confusing for a while but i went to 71 parts which seems correct for my car.

 

[OMS]

I was just wondering the difference in a 1971 mustang hick back bucket seats and the 72-73 mustang high back bucket seats. I was getting ready to recover a set to put in the 1972 grabber, I am building and was looking for parts and noticed that some of the parts will cover 71-73 and soon will only go on a 71 and other parts on a 72-73.

Main difference is

71 center release button

72-3 button was moved to the outside corners

 

[Boss1Ray]

Bump

This is some great 71-3 seat and seat belt info!!!!!!!!!!

There are differences and mid-year changes!

Add to this discussion if you'd like. THANKS!

Ray

 

[c9zx]

Just more data. My 03/16/72 Mach has retractable rear belts with round center button. The belts were in the car when I got it and I have no reason to believe they were ever changed. Perhaps it was a supply issue and they used whatever they could get at the time. Another mystery to be solved Ray. Chuck