Upgraded seats for a B Body that turns corners...

[Kern Dog]

I had a clear goal for my 1970 Charger long before I ever bought it. I wanted it to handle as good or better than my well prepped 76 Camaro. Mission accomplished there.

In all fairness, the car does handle nicely for a 46 year old car on a 54 year old platform. In 2003, I restored the interior to look factory stock including the original high back front bucket seats. While they are reasonably comfortable and okay in a straight line, they were terribly inadequate for the type of driving that I really like to do.
I love twisty roads. I love the rise and fall, the sweeping turns and the tight ones. These cars were built on the reputation of drag racing and NASCAR and I've always been drawn to the latter more than the former.

About 2 years ago, I started considering an improvement in the seating. A friend in the Sacramento Mopar club had put a pair of Neon SRT4 seats in a 2 door Neon R/T he was building. I was amazed at the comfort and support these seats had. Last year I checked around for a pair but every pair had at least one seat with wear & damage.
Last month I started looking again and found a pair at a wrecking yard in Rancho Cordova, CA. I had considered new seats from a few different manufacturers including Procar, Scat, Recaro and Corbeau but when these SRT seats popped up, I just had to jump on them.
For $400, plus $25 in metal supplies for brackets, they are in place and feel great.

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The SRT4 seats are fully manual but do recline. Since they came from a 4 door car, they do not fold forward as much as 2 door seats would. Not a problem though, since the seats do adjust/slide forward far enough for an average sized person to get in the back.

 

[kellycom]

Looks good.

For my wife's Coronet we used seats out of a 2004 Sebring Convertible. They'll get recovered along with the 2005 300 rear seat we had fitted. They allow entry into the back seat and have the seat belt integrated into the the seat.

 

[HYRDGOON]

Like I said in he other thread Kern Dog I really like your choice. Really similar to the Viper seats a few ppl are going with but most likely way better availability and I assume pricing

A few ppl really want me to keep my bench but I'm dying for buckets and a console especially after I drove 747Mopar's car this summer

 

[Kern Dog]

I saw a few sets of those Sebring seats. The seat belt makes a cleaner installation.

 

[CoronetDarter]

Those seats are very cool. My Coronet already has reupholstered seats but they would work great in the Dart. How much fabbing of the frame was required to bolt them in?

 

[mopar 3 B]

Are the SRT4 seats adiquite for wide loads? Have considered replacing the low back buckets in the 68 but need to keep it wife friendly.

 

[coloradodave]

Nice job. They look right at home in your car.

 

[Kern Dog]

Those seats are very cool. My Coronet already has reupholstered seats but they would work great in the Dart. How much fabbing of the frame was required to bolt them in?

The floor pans in my car are original and in great shape. I started by making templates out of 2x4 wood. I cut the left mount of the driver side seat at 17" long, 2 1/2" at the front, tapered to 1 1/4" at the rear. From there I just leveled the seat and made it square to the door and console. I made another wooden template for the right mount, shaving and shimming until the seat was positioned right. I then took the templates and transferred them to metal box tubing and cut them to match. What I found odd is that all 4 mounts came out different despite the clean, original floorpans and identical looking seat frames.
In truth, I simply used bonehead engineering to position the seats. They are even with each other in height and position. They are square to the doors and each other. I've found that when I need to make mounts or brackets for something, using wood or cardboard for templates is really helpful. They are cheap and easy to cut to size.

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Are the SRT4 seats adequate for wide loads? Have considered replacing the low back buckets in the 68 but need to keep it wife friendly.

I'll keep this question a secret from the wife if you will....:headbang:

I'll just say that my average sized *** fits with a bit of wiggle room. I'm 5'10 and 200 lbs. If you can fit in these, the comfort and support are amazing. They make you feel like the car handles better because YOU are secure and not sliding around.
Think of it this way: If you are slipping and sliding around, you are constantly fighting to stay in place. You might have your left foot pressed against the floor or your left knee against the door. If you steer with your right hand, your left might be death gripped on the vent frame. With better seats, you are free to concentrate on controlling the car instead of both the body and your own self.

 

[drobertson]

I like the summit racing sport bucket seats. Inexpensive at $150 per seat, and extremely comfortable and easy to install. They have plenty of side support and lumbar support. Took less than an hour to install the drivers seat.

 

[Kern Dog]

My BIL and I put those in his 72 Duster. They look similar anyways as far as shape. His are black nylon type material. They are supportive but I wonder how comfortable they will be for long trips. They do feel stiff but I hope they soften up a little bit. His car has been in limbo for 2+ years since he moved to Arizona.

 

[drobertson]

My BIL and I put those in his 72 Duster. They look similar anyways as far as shape. His are black nylon type material. They are supportive but I wonder how comfortable they will be for long trips. They do feel stiff but I hope they soften up a little bit. His car has been in limbo for 2+ years since he moved to Arizona.

I just installed them, and when I've driven it for a while with these seats I'll report back.

 

[Kern Dog]

The ones here have been in the car awhile but the car is only driven into and out of the garage!
dang young kids don't seem to have "The fever" like I do with these classic cars!

 

[drobertson]

The ones here have been in the car awhile but the car is only driven into and out of the garage!
dang young kids don't seem to have "The fever" like I do with these classic cars!

Well I'm 17. Is that young?

 

[Ghostrider 67]

seats

I thought about high back buckets for the Express but nixed the idea for good after setting a pair of 2002 Volvo buckets in there as a test. The seats are way comfortable and have good support with adjustable power lumbar but the tall headrests just look wrong in the '67 Coronet. So I pulled off the headrests and scrapped them. Looks right now. I plan to pick a set of 2001 Jeep headrests and see if the mounting bars are similar enough to fit in the Volvo sockets. They are much shorter and shaped better. We shall see today about it. The grey seats are the headrests I'm going to try today on the beige seats from the Volvo.

 

[tallhair]

What suspension mods did you do to make it handle well?

 

[the mississippi madman]

Rally seats from summit in my 69 satellite

 

[Kern Dog]

What suspension mods did you do to make it handle well?

It has been an ongoing development that MIGHT be as good as it can be without being too stiff for the street.

1.15 Torsion bars. Mid 70s Chevy truck 1 1/4" solid front sway bar modified to fit. Urethane strut rod bushings, rubber LCA bushings, Moog UCA offset bushings. Reinforced LCAs with steel plates. Fast Ratio idler and pitman arms. Firm Feel Stage 3 steering box. Welded and gussetted K member, additional plates welded to better support the steering box. Welded in 3x3 subframe connectors. Torque boxes, XHD leaf springs with HD shackles and urethane bushings. 3/4" Rear sway bar from 1983 Imperial, frame mounted with custom end links. Bilstein shocks, F/R.
Wheels and tires are Intro Twisted Vista, 18x9 front with 275-40-18, 18x10 rear with 295-45-18 Nitto 555s. I have a set of NT05s ready to go on, they are much stickier and carry a 200 treadwear rating.
I chased a persistent oversteer condition for years but was also dealing with other stuff. I had an axle mounted 7/8" rear bar and 1" torsion bars and KYB shocks for years but changed them out. I decided that I needed more roll stiffness up front and less at the rear. It feels neutral now.

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Weeee!

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The old 7/8" rear sway bar is still visible. I don't have any pictures of the new 3/4" setup yet.

 

[CoronetDarter]

BTW K-Dog, I saw your thread on Charger.com. Besides the obvious great info on the seats, one of the members posted about their XV Motorsports 3 pt retractable seat belts. I've been looking for an upgrade from the OEM's on my Coronet. I might never have looked at that thread if I hadn't subscribed to this one first.

 

[Kern Dog]

I think it was MYK that wrote about the XV belts. I checked them out and bought a set. They will be installed after I finish with the dash and guage work .

The XVs have a drop down segment that attaches to the roof, allowing the belt to sit lower across the body. As far as the sections normally attached to the drive line tunnel, I'm going to attach them to the seats. This will make them much easier to reach and clasp together.

 

[Homstead]

BTW K-Dog, I saw your thread on Charger.com. Besides the obvious great info on the seats, one of the members posted about their XV Motorsports 3 pt retractable seat belts. I've been looking for an upgrade from the OEM's on my Coronet. I might never have looked at that thread if I hadn't subscribed to this one first.

I installed a set of XV retractable seat belts on a 70 Cuda this summer. They are very comfortable and seem to work well on that car. Just my 2 cents.....