65 Coronet 440 Bucket Seat Conversion.

[Pizmo]

I've got a 65 coronet with a bench seat and the shifter on the steering column. I found a guy near me that is selling bucket seats and a center console out of a 65 coronet 500. The seats and console are in pretty rough shape. There is also no hardware. The seats do not have the rails, and the console does not have any of the brackets or cables. Before I bother to go look at what this guy has I have a few questions.

1. Would it even be worth my time and money to buy this without the hardware? Are the seat rails, and console brackets impossible to find?

2. If I can find a set of seat rails how much will I have to modify my floor pans to make the bucket seats fit?

3. Would the console shifter be cable operated like the column shifter, or do the console shifters use an actual linkage?

4. If the console shifter is cable operated would I be able to convert it to a linkage?

5. What would be a fair price to pay for the seats and console?

 

[Riverdawg]

Hi Pizmo. I can help a little. You may be able to find aftermarket seat rails and then make some bracket to fit. I found a couple pics of the seat brackets to give you a little idea of what they look like.

You can buy a new cable for the floor shifter as long as you have the 1965 cable shifted trans still in. I ended up switching my transmission out for a 1970 727. I had to buy a new shift cable and adapter bracket to use the original console and shifter with the newer trans. I won't think the cable for the column shift will be the same. I have no idea if you can switch to linkage, but I'd be surprised if you could. Good luck with it.

 

[Part Stalker]

Depends on how bad you need them. There is plenty of stuff floating around so don't be fooled by someone telling you they are hard to find. There are some questionable locals who have crazy prices so hopefully you aren't dealing with one of them.

1. Seats probably not unless they are super cheap as it would be easier to pay a little more for a complete set with tracks and trim. Recovering cost will be the same. Console may be worth picking up depending on the condition of the frame and plates.
2. If you get the correct tracks you won't need to modify the floors except to drill the extra holes and maybe add the reinforcement brackets.
3. They are cable shifted also.
4. Good question.
5. I wouldn't pay more than $50 for the seats based on your description. I left a set last week that sounded similar as I didn't want to deal with them and they were almost free. Console maybe $100 depending on what was useable and the condition.

I admire your ambition with that project but in my opinion you picked a tough one as a bunch of that stuff if one or two year only. Hopefully most of it is there. I also probably have most of this stuff but would need to take a look.