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floor difference from bench to buckets??

Jaysam

Jaysam

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Can anyone please tell me if there is a difference in floor pan brackets for mounting buckets in a '74 satellite if i wanted to switch from a bench to bucket seats. Or is it as simple as drilling holes in the floor and installing a new seat track? Forgive me for saying this but my buddy has a '70 nova and he wanted to switch and he found out that he would have to weld in new mounting brackets to mount the tracks on to. If i put in buckets i'd like to do it the way the factory did it. I just dont want to have anything welded in to mount the seat tracks on to. If anyone has any pics that would be great. Also, does anyone sell kits for buckets? All i can find from places is to buy this piece or that piece, nothing as a hole or everything for a seat a person would need to assemble. Thanks for any help.
Jason
 
If they are the same as earlier B bodies you will need reinforcing plates for underneath the floor pan (inner/near tunnel) to keep from pulling or bending the floor or the nuts from pulling through. They weld in to the under side of the floor pan. I think the outers are the same for Bench / bucket.

You may be able to get away with large heavy washers and some pieces of heavy sheet metal and not weld them. Once everything is bolted they won't move.

Here's something on ebay. Looks like it's something the guy is is cutting out of sheet metal. http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/230986704923?lpid=82.

I don't know about seat belt mounting hole differences.
 
thanks, i thought of that after i posted, i startsd wondering about the seat belt situation, if they used the same mounting holes
 
I would imagine they are the same but cannot verify. I can't imagine why Ma would make them different.
 
Floorboards are all the same from buckets to bench. Bucket seats had plates welded in on the interior for reinforcement, and the plates are available through AMD if you want an original look. As Tallhair says, you can make your own, but I would recommend welding them in so it distributes the load across a wider area. If you look at the inboard area of the floorpan, you will see dimples where the holes are drilled through.
 
As stated the pans are the same. Unlike the earlier B's and E-body, the 71-4B's have the plates inside on top of the pan instead of on the bottom side.
 
Moparmarks....aren't the 66-70 plates also on the inside on the top of the pan also, or are you refering to earlier than 66 B's. Attached is a photo of a floor pan section I have from a 69 car, and I have a 68 sport satellite with the same plates. Sorry for the poor cell phone photo...but it gets the point across.

photo1.jpg
 
I changed from bench to buckets in my '70 and drilled a hole and used a large washer, and don't see any issues so far.
 
You likely won't see any issues until you get in an accident and that washer pulls right through the floor pan. I used two 1/4" steel bars that run across the underside of the floor pan so the weight is better distributed in a collision.
 
I also used a reinforcing unit. 1" square aluminium bar drilled through for the mounting bolts as I felt the factory floor is too flimsy without some support.
 
M bodies used a washer that is nearly three times as big around as typical 66-74 part.

I use those....and they're still relatively easy to find.
 
dsd1967 said:
Moparmarks....aren't the 66-70 plates also on the inside on the top of the pan also, or are you refering to earlier than 66 B's. Attached is a photo of a floor pan section I have from a 69 car, and I have a 68 sport satellite with the same plates. Sorry for the poor cell phone photo...but it gets the point across.

View attachment 149840
Click to expand...


Ya you are right and I'm getting old. The O' brain cell can only hold so much data.

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moparmarks said:
Ya you are right and I'm getting old. The O' brain cell can only hold so much data.
Click to expand...
LOL
 

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Moparmarks....is that a 4 door in your second picture with the buddy seat? Didn't know that ma mopar did that in 4 door cars. AC too....looks to be a well optioned car.
 
dsd1967 said:
Moparmarks....is that a 4 door in your second picture with the buddy seat? Didn't know that ma mopar did that in 4 door cars. AC too....looks to be a well optioned car.
Click to expand...

Ya that was a 68 Coronet 500 4-dr. 383, buckets w/ buddy seat.
 
moparmarks said:
Ya you are right and I'm getting old. The O' brain cell can only hold so much data LOL
Click to expand...

Shiznit. Me too! Thanks for squaring that away dsd1967!

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moparmarks said:
Ya that was a 68 Coronet 500 4-dr. 383, buckets w/ buddy seat.
Click to expand...

That's cool man. I've never seen an original 68-70 4 door anything with buckets that I can remember. Seen a few Station Dragons turned super bee or RR clones which I love btw tough so it definitely works as in look great. What are you doing this this one and if fixing what are the other details?
 
Guess this is the only shot of the buckets that I have. They are the same as 2-dr buckets and can be converted to flip forward. The tracks are about an 1" taller than 2-dr tracks.
 

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Its already gone to 27 good homes.
 

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