Barn Doors To Clamshell - Folding Bench Seats - Grill
 

HI All,

First thank you for being an invaluable resource when I was in search of a 3 door. As I wait for the 71 to arrive I had a few questions for the group...

- I will be looking to swap the barn doors to the hatch / clamshell in the near future. From what I can read many are going the opposite route. I don't expect there are many in my area who would be willing to swap doors and have ones in good condition. Is it worth it to ship / drive for original doors or are there quality reproduction ones to save time and hassle?

- The 71 I purchased has had a seat swap and doesn't have a third row. I could not find reproduction stock seats so I looked into TMI seats to maintain something close to a stock appearance. While they would work for the front, the second two rows would suffer as they do not fold. I've seen the seat swap threads and aside from a newer Tahoe set of seats any recommendations here?

- Can grills be swapped easily between years?

That's a decent start, thank you for the info! Looking forward to being a member here and sharing a little about this burb.

Best,

Re: Barn Doors To Clamshell - Folding Bench Seats - Grill
 

Finding a hatch that isn't rotted completely out is near impossible. I haven't seen one for sale in years. No reproduction pieces either.

When I purchased my Suburban (from California) the hatch didn't have any external rust. I thought I had dodged a bullet. Within a couple years it was a mess. The metal is unfinished on the inside. Water gets by the hinge grommets. Disassembly of the hatch halves is not easy. There are hundreds of spot welds in the seams. This is where the metal will be very thin due to the rust.

If you search I think you might find some differences in the sill between barn doors and tail gate.

Mine wasn't a 3 seat truck but I added one. I purchased the proper frame mount from a member on the board. I took a folding third seat from a mid 70's Blazer and modified the upper corners of the seat frame to give the rounded look of 67-72. The foam and seat cover for a '72 completed the look.

I can't answer about the grill. I would assume the grill and inserts are unique to each other and 67-68 sloped nose are completely different and don't interchange without matching fenders, core support and hood.

Re: Barn Doors To Clamshell - Folding Bench Seats - Grill
 

I didn't catch if your 71 is a 4x4. If a 4x4 it is lifted much the hatch gets to be pretty high unless your 6'2' plus. You may want to live with the barn doors a while. Both styles have their pluses and minuses. For instance I've never split my head open on a barn door. :lol:

The stock seats did not fold. GM made them somewhat simple to unbolt and remove. If you're looking to carry 4x8 sheets the most common second row swap is a 2nd row seat from a square body Burban. If you think that is the direction you want to go then I recommend doing that first before doing a front seat swap or you could end up like me with a front seat that won't fit when the 2nd row is folded flat. Dhooo!

All most every conceivable grille swap has been done here so do a search in the box (try Grille swap) above and click the 67-72 button to search the forum only.
Good luck.

Great info, thanks!

I’ll be living with the barn doors for a little while at least as I handle some small tasks with the burb.

Thank for both for info on the seats and grill.
- as far as seats go the square body seats do seem to keep a stock ish look and if they fold even better. I assume the mounting holes are different? Refurbed ones here would be sweet, are there specific years that are “best”?

- as far as grills go I’ll be looking for a 70 style and probably replace the front bumper or as discreetly as possible add fog lights in the turn signal holes.

Thanks!
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Re: Barn Doors To Clamshell - Folding Bench Seats - Grill
 

A three seat truck would have had a narrow second seat to allow access to the rear. Two seat trucks had full width middle seat. IIRC, the holes are there and possibly plugged.

Only three seat trucks would have the frame crossmember and holes in the floor to accept the third seat.

Square body seats are similar but have squared corners on the top instead of rounded corners. I never tried to install a folding middle seat into 67-72. A search might provide some pictures.

Re: Barn Doors To Clamshell - Folding Bench Seats - Grill
 

First photo is of a stock long 2nd row seat. This is in a Burban that didn't come with the 3rd row seat.
The next photos are of the square body seats i installed. Compare the 1st & 2nd photos to get an idea of the shape differences.
The last one isn't very good but it seems to be the only picture I have of the original seat 2nd row seat.

Here is a link to my 2nd row seat swap. Starting at post 546 and scattered over the next 4 or 5 pages.

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...698377&page=22

Re: Barn Doors To Clamshell - Folding Bench Seats - Grill
 

Wow that looks awesome, great work lining everything up! You certainly have patience!

Going to have to plan this out a bit before tackling it.

Re: Barn Doors To Clamshell - Folding Bench Seats - Grill
 

I thought I might have finished pics but I am terrible with a camera so it really doesn't surprise me.

I installed OE buckets and console. I took two bench seats and cut them down to make 'captain chairs'.

You can see the unmodified folding seat in the rear. I actually cut the handle off an old Harbor Freight two wheel dolly and used them as the round corners for the seat frame.

Re: Barn Doors To Clamshell - Folding Bench Seats - Grill
 

Bigdav160 those seats look nice! Looking forward to some more pictures.