Seat with headrests

[Wgesnerjr]

So our build is coming along and we have the stock 85 seat mounted and covered with the cheap burlap cover for now. Then my wife starts looking at how close our heads will be to the back window. She is now worried about head contact with the window in the event we are rear ended. (high probability in Atlanta) She is insisting on some kind of headrests.

So, has anyone adapted headrests onto the original seat frame? I'm a tall guy, so I don't want to get an aftermarket seat that pushes me towards the steering wheel. Are there any seat in a salvage yard that can be adapted and keep the seating position in the same area as the stock seat?

Thanks,
Jay

[Gdub310]

One way to do it is to use a kit as pictured below. They are sold through a lot of vendors that cater to classic cars that came with low-back bucket seats. You weld or otherwise attach the bracket to your seat frame, and the headrest "legs" just slide into it. You can do something similar and much cheaper with junkyard or eBay parts.

[cadillac_al]

Your wife is pretty smart. A lot of people have been killed by that back window which is why all vehicles have head restraint nowadays. I have done a lot of research on seats because I worry about this too. It seems the 90's GM seats are the best fit. They have a slim design so you don't lose leg room or head room and are pretty comfy. Most other seats sacrifice leg room and head room but may be more comfortable for shorter people.

[Wgesnerjr]

Thanks GDub,
After reading your post, I found these on a Mustang web site. Boy, are they pricey! $300+! Safety sure does cost a lot!

Thanks Cadillac,
Yeah, the wife is pretty smart but I can't say it too much or there is no living with her!
Good info on the 90's seat. My brother-in-law has a 98 and I was looking at his seats this weekend but they are leather and too overstuffed for our trucks. However, there is a neighbor that has a base model 94 that I may have to check out.

Also, planning a junk yard trip this weekend. It looks like some of the second row seats may be a retro fit option. Just not sure if they will go high enough to be effective.

Luckily, I have not recovered my seat yet so welding in a support bracket will be no big deal. However, this mod will put me in the "custom" seat cover range which will hurt my budget.

[Palf70Step]

Since it sounds like your reupholstering them, maybe find yourself a 92-94 GM truck bench. Adapt it to your seat rails and you will have headrests and a way more comfortable seat when you are done. You can also use the 95-98 GM trucks also, although their seat back is a bit thicker than the 92-94 ones.

[3drburb]

That newer seat you looked at will do with some work, if you are ok with that style.
I did mines a little while back using a middle seat and it feels great with the headrest, cup holders and you can also make it tilt forward.
I gained a lot of the needed leg and head room.
Btw it's on some of the stock frame using the stock tracks but the newer seat bottom and backrest.

[3drburb]

Here is the seat.
Btw I did not cut up my good seat to try this, I had a stock 78 frame overhead and this seat sitting in the shop.
Building this was a good way to get what I needed and have my girls learn to weld at the same time.

[Rich84]

Originally Posted by Wgesnerjr

So our build is coming along and we have the stock 85 seat mounted and covered with the cheap burlap cover for now. Then my wife starts looking at how close our heads will be to the back window. She is now worried about head contact with the window in the event we are rear ended. (high probability in Atlanta) She is insisting on some kind of headrests.

This is one of the reasons that I went with a pair of Suburban buckets. They provide the protection for your head and are very comfortable. They also look like they belong in the truck. I realize buckets are not for everyone though.

[Gdub310]

Originally Posted by Rich84

This is one of the reasons that I went with a pair of Suburban buckets.

Same here. Putting the 81 - 91 Suburban buckets into a bench seat pickup requires some extra work - ideally the floor pan supports from the donor 'burban are welded to the floor of the pickup, although some people get by screwing/bolting them in place. And the seat tracks also have to be dealt with - either adapting pickup tracks to the seats, grafting the top half of the Suburban seat tracks to the bottom half of the pickup tracks, or modifying the Suburban tracks to fit the floor of the pickup. But for me, the results were well worth the effort and got me an additional 3 - 4" inches of room in the cab.

[Jeepwm69]

I put a 60/40 from a 95 in my 83 GMC

[Wgesnerjr]

ok, went to pull a part today. hit all 3 in Atlanta in 4 hours. (what a great fathers day) only one good seat candidate but the seat foam is destroyed on drivers side. LMC lists a 95 foam set for $400+ !

So, new plan. does anyone have a good pic of the seatback frame without the cover and foam? looking to see how I can attach just a headrest from a middle row seat a buddy has from a Chevy venture van.

again, why is safety so expensive?

[Wgesnerjr]

just for reference, the one I saw looks like this.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?m...2F112995469920

[95 S_Trucker]

Originally Posted by Wgesnerjr

ok, went to pull a part today. hit all 3 in Atlanta in 4 hours. (what a great fathers day) only one good seat candidate but the seat foam is destroyed on drivers side. LMC lists a 95 foam set for $400+ !

Here is cheap foam for the base model 95+ seats.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=757015

[Wgesnerjr]

Thanks for the link on the foam. I will need it.

So I went back to the yard and pulled the trigger and bought the seat. I dub thee:
"seat of a 1000 farts" !

[Wgesnerjr]

Good thing is, that the bottom is built just like our seats. Should be no big deal to swap the foam over.

[Gdub310]

Originally Posted by Wgesnerjr

Thanks for the link on the foam. I will need it.

So I went back to the yard and pulled the trigger and bought the seat. I dub thee:
"seat of a 1000 farts" !

Those are nice seats. You get some of the benefits of buckets, thanks to the head rests and small bolsters, but it still has the character of a classic bench seat. Nice find.

[flashed]

Shame I didnt see this earlier , I just bought an 03 Avalanch for an LS Swap and it has nice cloth seats . The back ones look similar to yours .

[Palf70Step]

I used this method on 2 installs in a square. I didn't need the inside mounts since I used a regular bench from a 92. It utilizes the nice bench with factory C10 mounts. I have also done it using the 95-98 buckets instead of the split bench or regular bench.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6HsY41BiZI

[lbrowne]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

I used this method on 2 installs in a square. I didn't need the inside mounts since I used a regular bench from a 92. It utilizes the nice bench with factory C10 mounts. I have also done it using the 95-98 buckets instead of the split bench or regular bench.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6HsY41BiZI

Are you saying that if you grab the early 90s bench it'll bolt right on? But you used the method in the youtube clip of the split seat?

[Palf70Step]

You just have to reposition the factory 73-87 seat rails on the 88-98 style seat. Then it bolts to the factory locations on the C10 floor

[lbrowne]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

You just have to reposition the factory 73-87 seat rails on the 88-98 style seat. Then it bolts to the factory locations on the C10 floor

Thanks, I really appreciate that info. So it sounds like there's enough of a flange or strong material to properly bolt the newer seat to the frame.

I apologize for hijacking this thread!

[Wgesnerjr]

No Worries about the hijack. It would have been my next question.

Progress so far. Got the back part unbolted and the cover off. Then washed in my 36 gallon utility sink.

First Wash: Used all hot water and dawn dish soap for the first wash. Agitated with a piece of PVC as I was scared to touch the water. Water turned from Gray to Dark Gray to Hudson River Brown!!! Gross!!!

Second wash: Same as first, hot water, Dawn, Agitate....Gray, Dark Gray, Brown.

Third wash: Hot water, Clorox 2 and Tide, Agitate....Gray only.

It was 11:00 pm so I gave up for the night. Draped it over a sawhorse in the driveway and left it to drip dry and Georgia Sunlight the next day.

Results, looks 75% better smell is down to just nicotine. The part under the headrests is a darker gray so there is considerable fading.

The Foam has been sprayed with copius amounts of Lysol. Next is Frebreeze.

This will good enough to put back on and cover with the cheap burlap horse blanket cover.

Next will be the seat cushion. I refuse to use either the bottom foam piece or the bottom cover for fear of Hepatitis B. So I have ordered a New Foam piece off of eBay as listed above. (since it's payday and all)

Once that is installed, I will just put the burlap over the new foam and let it ride until I can afford a real custom cover from an upholstery shop. Until then, I will save the bottom cover for a template but will hermitically seal it in plastic, never to be opened in my presence ever again.

Will take pics of the washed cover this weekend and post.

Also, When I took the back seat off the bottom, I did not take pictures of the all the hardware. Once loosened, it all hit the floor and bounced it all directions. DOH!!! So no I am trying to figure out how it goes back together. I have a message on the 88 and up section so hopefully I can get some pics of it assembled over there.

[Wgesnerjr]

Apart. Then my best guess on putting back together again.

[Wgesnerjr]

Washed back cover

[HunterRotten]

I have a 60/40 bench seat in mine out of a 90 model or so truck. While mine in particular does not have headrests, some of them do. It sits very comfortable, it actually might even be the most comfy seat I've sat in but I have not driven it very much.

There's a few different ways to mount them. We chopped the sliders OE to the 90 model truck down, as they dont have a hump in the cab floor and this makes the sliders super tall. Then we made a bracket that bolted to the original seat mounting points and mounted the 90 model sliders to that. I hope that helps but it seems you've made quite a lot of progress already!