Competed my Interior overhaul! New Seats, carpet and trim. Pictures inside.

[Mattchu60]

For years I have wanted to put bucket seats into my truck. A few weeks ago I started into my project and went all out - new ACC carpet, a couple door panels I got from a donor truck which I repainted black with Duplicolor Vinyl paint and added new trim and arm rests to. I also repainted the kick panels & headliner trim using the same paint.

The biggest change - the seats. I looked a many pictures of trucks (thanks to this site!) with aftermarket seats to get an idea of what I liked. I settled on a seat of lowback seats from Shop4Seats. After talking with the folks on the phone, i went with black vinyl material for the seats.

It took about 2 months for the seats to be built in CA. The seats appear to be very high quality built seats, with thick cushioning and heavy built as well.

After removing the old interior, I had to deal with some surface rust on the driver floor panel - I used POR15 to seal it. After a week of letting it dry I covered the enter floor and back wall behind the storage shelf with Dynamat Extreme.

I installed the ACC carpet, which i ordered with the mass loaded backing on it for helping quiet things down.



The middle seatback can be folded up to use for sitting on, or folded down where it has a small storage compartment and cupholders on it - the cupholder design is probably the worst part about these, they are not deep plus they are oversized and I can easily see a can of pop tipping over in them.

2nd picture of the seat folded up.


It took a good part of the day for the install, which was suprising as you would think it would just bolt into place - nope - while they supply brackets for the seats, there were "adjustments" needed, I drilled new holes for the main bracket so the whole assembly was shifted forward 2". If I hadn't done this, the middle seat would never fold up, and the two buckets would be maxed out to the front and hitting the back wall. With moving it forward it allows me to have a little fore/aft adjustment and tilt the buckets some more.



I have driving about 10 miles in them so far, I noticed the ride is much improved over the stock bouncy seat, its a firmer feeling which is also comfortable. Also I sit higher in the cab now - maybe 2-3" higher, but its not an issue. The biggest downside is like mentioned before - you do lose some legroom due to the think padding used in the seatbacks - probably 3-4" of legroom. Again its not an issue for me - I am 5'10" and still am comfortable - for a person over 6' I think it would be more of a problem.

Lastly, picture of my truck. Its been used for the last month on the farm pulling the seed wagon around for planting, so its dirty from running in fields.



My goals were to make the truck more modern, with a classic look. Also I continue to add things like sound deadening materials to the cab. It seems to have helped quite a bit - the few miles I drove I can hear the difference - also I don't have the radio as loud and hear it more clearly on the highway.

I have new black seatbelts coming in the mail - ordered from a place called Julianos Hot Rod Parts - they appear to be nice looking units, but I have not rec'd them yet - so for now I still have the old red belts.

In a month or so I tackle the big project - swapping the entire truck body and drivetrain onto the frame I blasted, painted and swapped 64" rear chevy springs onto, along with things like new gas tanks and body mounts. I feel like that is going to be a month long project as I'll be painting things as I swap them over. Excited for it - but also sad I'll loose a month of driving this around.

[TKCR]

That looks awesome!! I was about to say, "you need some new belts after everything you did to the interior". But you are already on it!! Are these the ones you got on order? I got these seatbelts too, charcoal. Easy to install, you'll like em".
http://www.julianos.com/1973-87-Chev...p/ju7387ct.htm

I'm not a fan of bucket seats, but those are sweet. I think I've seen some red ones like that too.

[Mattchu60]

Yes! Those are the belts I ordered - I liked the look of them much better than the ones LMC sells. Hoping they work great.

[NJRC10]

How is your passenger side belt/boot?? I need a good red passenger side?? Is it for sale?? Thanks. Nick.

[87max]

Looks great

[Mattchu60]

Originally Posted by NJRC10

How is your passenger side belt/boot?? I need a good red passenger side?? Is it for sale?? Thanks. Nick.

They may be for sale at some point in the future - once the new ones are installed. I can let you know when I get to that point.

[Jrgunn5150]

Those seats look pretty cool, I like them.

[Mattchu60]

Been driving the truck more the last 2 days. One thing I regret so far is not opting to get the adjustable lumbar support built in. There is sort of a dead space in my lower back which causes some discomfort over time. Otherwise I like them just fine.

[NJRC10]

Please let me know. Thank you!!!

[gmachinz]

Originally Posted by Mattchu60

Been driving the truck more the last 2 days. One thing I regret so far is not opting to get the adjustable lumbar support built in. There is sort of a dead space in my lower back which causes some discomfort over time. Otherwise I like them just fine.

That was the reason I opted for a more highback style bucket seat-the lowback seats arent as comfy on long drives and when I put my head back to relax, I like having a cushy headrest instead of the rear slider glass lol. Just a preference tho. Looks good!

[BigTruckDriver]

[Nuckingfuts]

Turned out great! I dig the low back seats, very nice. My son and I are in the middle of our own interior battle but almost done. I'll be sure to share our experience when done.

[rich weyand]

We use the rear cupholders on that center console for 12 oz cans. They won't tip in those. A little difficult to grab a can out of the rear one right next to you, so I put my can on her side, and she puts her can on mine. Works great. The front cupholders are more for larger cups, like a large milkshake or a sippy cup of coffee with a handle.

[Danmcg]

Nice work on the interior!