opinion needed Find factory buckets or get procar seats?

[bigmanjbmopar]

Should I go find the factory buckets and try to either find the matching covers that match the rear bench(hard to find looks like 68 pattern) and spend god knows how much on restoring / recovering / maybe adding headrests if needed. I am emailing Legendary now to see if they have or make the same decor package covers that they sell as 68 front bench in front buckets, If they do then I would really like some factory seats.


Vs.


Just spending that money and probably a little less overall buying some scat procar seats with frames? I am looking at the scat procar rally 1000 series kit from summit $850.00


I like the scat seats, I have sat in them in another car and they look good but would not match the rear bench at all, how funny would that look just to have modern seats that are comfortable?

Or should I get a set of factory buckets and get a rear bench cover to match what ever I can find?

What to do????

my current rear bench

Legendary's front bench "decor package" buckets not shown in catalog

 

[benno440]

hard choice,

i like the factory seats, but the newer seats are more comfortable and at least you dont slide off the seat on every corner.
if it was me i would put the procar seats in and gradually over time repair your factory ones and you can put them back in one day if you wish

 

[shag766]

i feel for ya. i looked for quite a while for bucks for the coronet and it was fruitless. a couple of things srewed it up. if i did find something they where either junk or priceless. then the shipping up to here is nuts. i am guessing the norcal in your signiture is nor cali. you have lots of big swap meets out there and a better chance of finding them. i have been to the pomona swap a couple of times and it is huge compared to anything up here. hell, my car came from the pomona meet. good luck

 

[bigmanjbmopar]

hard choice,

i like the factory seats, but the newer seats are more comfortable and at least you dont slide off the seat on every corner.
if it was me i would put the procar seats in and gradually over time repair your factory ones and you can put them back in one day if you wish

I do not have any factory seats now that is part of the debate, Should I go find some and spend the $$ to restore them?

 

[trimmer]

I think unless your car is 100% original you should put seats that you like into it. If it is original all the way I might like to keep it for the purest next owner, but if it has ANY modifications of any kind already done to it then build what you want.
I am not really crazy about all those after market seats. There are millions of donor seats in wrecking yards that can be had for a lot less than you are currently looking at. There are even seat track kits available for the not so handy guys to install them.
When I look at pictures of seats that look like your rear seat, I know that 40+ year old vinyl is dry and will most probably bust out at the stitching with very little effort. Plus from the looks of the wrinkles in your rear back rest it appears the foundation (burlap & padding) need to be redone. The new Legendary front seat cover will surely make your rear seat look old and dated. A good trim shop can recover and repair your seats out of some non-original fabrics, or you can pay the very high price for reproduction vinyl and have that installed. I do believe today's fabrics are far superior to the vinyls from my youth. About any trim shop can duplicate the design and pattern sewn into your covers and put that on the buckets you choose. I like the buckets from the late '80;s Le Barron convertible. Just be sure the seats you get are from a 2 door car as the 4 door buckets don't allow access to the rear seat without major work. If you were closer I could help you out as I do have bucket or bench seats that are right for your b-body. Over the years I have received many awards for my upholstery work so I think I know my trade pretty well.
Sorry this is so long, but you asked for opinions, so here is mine and with this knowledge and ten dollars you can buy your lunch. lol Good Luck with your project.

 

[bigmanjbmopar]

I think unless your car is 100% original you should put seats that you like into it. If it is original all the way I might like to keep it for the purest next owner, but if it has ANY modifications of any kind already done to it then build what you want.
I am not really crazy about all those after market seats. There are millions of donor seats in wrecking yards that can be had for a lot less than you are currently looking at. There are even seat track kits available for the not so handy guys to install them.
When I look at pictures of seats that look like your rear seat, I know that 40+ year old vinyl is dry and will most probably bust out at the stitching with very little effort. Plus from the looks of the wrinkles in your rear back rest it appears the foundation (burlap & padding) need to be redone. The new Legendary front seat cover will surely make your rear seat look old and dated. A good trim shop can recover and repair your seats out of some non-original fabrics, or you can pay the very high price for reproduction vinyl and have that installed. I do believe today's fabrics are far superior to the vinyls from my youth. About any trim shop can duplicate the design and pattern sewn into your covers and put that on the buckets you choose. I like the buckets from the late '80;s Le Barron convertible. Just be sure the seats you get are from a 2 door car as the 4 door buckets don't allow access to the rear seat without major work. If you were closer I could help you out as I do have bucket or bench seats that are right for your b-body. Over the years I have received many awards for my upholstery work so I think I know my trade pretty well.
Sorry this is so long, but you asked for opinions, so here is mine and with this knowledge and ten dollars you can buy your lunch. lol Good Luck with your project.

So that is interesting, I could redo the scat seats to match the original pattern? Something to consider thanks

 

[moparstuart]

go factory

 

[Propwash]

go factory

I agree.....

I recently had my factory seats recovered in the RR. Bought legendary all the way around. It was around $600 bucks for the covers, $200 for the bucket seat foam and $400 to have them installed. I blasted the framework and painted myself. So, I would imagine $1000-$1500 ballpark for the materials and covering depending on the type of seats, cover design, color and how much work you do yourself.

Good luck which ever way you go.

 

[moparstuart]

I agree.....

I recently had my factory seats recovered in the RR. Bought legendary all the way around. It was around $600 bucks for the covers, $200 for the bucket seat foam and $400 to have them installed. I blasted the framework and painted myself. So, I would imagine $1000-$1500 ballpark for the materials and covering depending on the type of seats, cover design, color and how much work you do yourself.

Good luck which ever way you go.

wow i cant believe all the stuff you do and you didnt cover them your self
thats the one thing I can actually do my self they are easy set of hog ring cutters , hogs ring pliers , hogs rings , and a nice hot clothes dryer to ge tthem warmed up and your golden .

 

[Propwash]

wow i cant believe all the stuff you do and you didnt cover them your self
thats the one thing I can actually do my self they are easy set of hog ring cutters , hogs ring pliers , hogs rings , and a nice hot clothes dryer to ge tthem warmed up and your golden .

Thanks Stu...I've done seats in the past, just not my thing. To be completely honest, I really don't like doing them....not really any kind of drive or ambition to do so. I'd rather change out a trunk pan. Just one of those things where you say..."I'll pay you, you deal with it". There's a 70 year old grumpy old man in town that all the collector car, hot rod and custom guys take their threads to. I went with him because I've see his work over and over and it's always top notch. Not one to strike a conversation with, but you can bet any work he does for you will be perfect.

 

[RustyRatRod]

What are you gonna do with the CAR? That should answer your question fo you. If you're gonna put it in a situation where the factory seats will be stressed beyond their limit, then don't use factory stuff. If not and it's just gonna be a street car, use the factory stuff.

 

[Malicious]

Sorry don't have an answer, but i've been thinking about the same thing myself.

My bench seat is in near new nick, but the drivers track is either missing something or busted. So I've been thinking about going buckets earlier, but US mopar buckets are very hard to come by down here.

I've been looking at other period alternatives, (C*&^%, even F#*&). When it comes down to it, I want the proper buckets and covers (not looking for the pro comp look) but I'll have to bide my time until some become available.

My ideal would be sort out the bench seat track, and deal with that until I can get the proper stock seats, rather then drop cash into aftermarkets.

 

[snakeyes]

I like the factory look ,but this is your ride :headbang:

 

[BeastlyBirdie]

On a car that is orignal, has the Fender Tag/ Broadcast Sheet, and you have the original seats, I'd be inclined to go factory. Otherwise, it will cost 2-500 for a pair of buckets that will need a rebuild/re-covering, and they are uncomfortable. Scat/Procar are usually available un-covered, just foam, take them to the local upholstrey shop, put whatever to match whatever...Procar has a musclecar looking set as well- the Scat-90. Your car, do what you want, and remember, anyone can duplicate, (and some on this board are incredible at it, looking better than the factory), but only you can make this car exactly as you envision it....

 

[Budnicks]

Should I go find the factory buckets and try to either find the matching covers that match the rear bench(hard to find looks like 68 pattern) and spend god knows how much on restoring / recovering / maybe adding headrests if needed. I am emailing Legendary now to see if they have or make the same decor package covers that they sell as 68 front bench in front buckets, If they do then I would really like some factory seats.


Vs.


Just spending that money and probably a little less overall buying some scat procar seats with frames? I am looking at the scat procar rally 1000 series kit from summit $850.00


I like the scat seats, I have sat in them in another car and they look good but would not match the rear bench at all, how funny would that look just to have modern seats that are comfortable?

Or should I get a set of factory buckets and get a rear bench cover to match what ever I can find?

What to do????

my current rear bench

Legendary's front bench "decor package" buckets not shown in catalog

Bigman I went the ProCar/Scat route, I love them, I used the Elite 1100 instead of the Rally 1000, I liked the style better & adj. headrests & size to fit the car better IMHO in my 68 RR RM23, I don't care if someone else doesn't like it or not, they are far better seat than the stock seats, as you probably well know I'm not the purist type, "it has to be all original OEM stuff", to be nice or right for the car... I know you also have modified, other stuff on your car too, so it's not a 100pt restoration anyway, #'s matching car, in 1968 bench was the only thing available for the 68 RR anyway, you would have to go with Charger, RT, Satellite or GTX seats for the 68 bucket seats, so they wouldn't be correct factory parts anyway, they will bolt in, but aren't factory correct, for the 68 RR... Like you, I wanted buckets, and not some old wore out POS's, I had to spend $500 for crap, $150 on shipping or fuel to go get them, then have to find pieces to have them complete, then brackets etc. PITA, then spend a month of my time &/or another $750-$1000 mounts, little parts, reproduction covers, probably foam & labor, if you can't do the upholstery work yourself, to make them look decent, & still not have the bolstering, adjust-ability & comfort of the ProCars... I still have my perfect black decor package bench seat, if I ever sell the car, the the **** OEM guy {probably won't}, I just prefer the Buckets, It's my car & I do it how I like it... Personally I think, If your not going for a numbers matching OEM style restoration look, go the ProCar route you will love them.... my car is far from being done, I'm still experimenting, needs paint, among other things still...LOL...

 

[dave5237]

I say factory, but like it all. I re- covered mine like many others on this sight. If you go factory. Re- cover them yourself. You can save a lot of dollars and if you don't like the way they look you just clip the hog rings. I put mine in the sun on a hot day to soften and it was a nice job to do ( although my wife helped me stretch the rear bench. Good luck.

 

[sublimegtx]

Creeping in the background here, I have same dilema. Car's not original, front buckets need complete rebuild. Found some used procar seats, wrong color. Any comments on dyeing them. I have talked to a couple shops. They told me "not a good idea" might wear off, scratch off, etc. Would be going from light tan to black. Thanks

 

[Grabinov911]

Hey Budnicks that looks awesome. What did you do for seat tracks and seat belts? I have a 70RR and I like the idea of just pulling out and storing the (cracked and broken) stock seats to save for the purist and then putting in something more comfortable. I'd LOVE a fabric seat like that to avoid the sweaty-seat problem...

 

[bigmanjbmopar]

The first ones are the 1100's?

 

[Dennis H]

In 1989 I pulled a pair of bucket seats out of a rolled 89 fwd Daytona in a yard back east. They easily adapted to the factory tracks. They are stillin today, but are wearing out. They are black cloth with a pinstripe tha t compliments the rear factory vinyl. Best move. Comfortable. Modern factory technology can't be beat for comfort. The car is driven a lot, and used for road trips. I paid $100 for the pair back then.

Further, they do interfere slightly with the XV 3 point retractor and do not fold as flat as the factory buckets (which I threw away). Small price to pay for over 20 years of comfort.