I think all bench seats from this era wore the same way. I remember the seat being so bad on my parents Strato Chief after about 6 years of daily use. The seat back had pretty much collapsed. Dad had a piece of wood under it to suppor it. The seat bench was shot-it had the same fuzzy seat covers my Laurentian had when I bought it. When the car was new, it had those clear seat covers. Man, did they burn your legs in the summer! Todd
Thanks Carl. Let me know before you go and I'll tell you if I still need them. A guy on Yenko.net answered my plea there. I'm waiting to hear back from him on a price. Todd
All finished. I'm pretty happy with the results considering it's our first time taking on such a project. Perhaps not concourse quality, but cruise night ready! A few hours in the hot sun should remove the small wrinkles.
I also found my build sheet as well as a date tag:
I also found another surprise. I'll post the details in the lounge.. Todd
I spent all day today working on the car. I suspected a rad leak so I pulled it out and sent it out for testing. In the meantime I pulled the old carpet and installed my new one. The floors were even painted black back in '78:
The old carpet was pretty much shot: New carpet in and seats installed:
I'm pretty happy with the results for our first attempt. If the car was a 427 car or a big block Beaumont, I would have hired someone to do it. It may not win trophys but it should pass "cruise night inspection"
I still have the headrests and sill plates to install. I think I'll do the cluster swap after I get it on the road. I'm getting anxious to drive the darn thing! Todd
All in all the interior wasn't too bad to do. If you do it yourself, take LOTS of pictures. If you are like me, I tend to forget the details. The pictures saved my skin many times. I printed them all out into a small booklet for reference. I even took photo's with the tape measure showing screw hole locations etc. Yesterday I found out I was a bit over zealous with the hog rings. I completely hog ringed the area where the seatbelt passes through the front bench! I had to cut two of them to allow the belt to feed through (a tense moment!) Now that the headrests are in and the sill plates are back on I am very happy with the results. The covers weren't EXACTLY the same as the originals so you have to use your noodle (ok, your wife's noodle) to determine how to best attach the covers. Geez, it's been a busy 6 months with this car- complete brakes, tires, wheels, dual exhaust, cam, intake, carb, upholstery, carpet...... Todd
it does look good todd! i'm looking at possibly buying a '69 impala with an interior pictured below... what's the name of that seat shop in your backyard..?
The seats look really good Todd. After seeing the list of things you have done to the car over the past six months you know it will never end. Having an old car to drive around is the ultimate guy toy. There is always something to tinker with and ask your car buddies there thoughts. Keep up the good work.
Great job Todd. We all need these lowbuck ideas and clinics too. That's why I like this site , lots of down to earth guys doin their cars the way they like em..... and theres so many Carls...
Great job!! you gave me some Idea's i can work with, i was not sure with my budget what i was going to do. but if anybody knows where i can get a split bench with the arm rest for my 68 Grand Parisian, i would be thankfull.
I agree, welcome Rocketman, it was great to see your car driving down the road, but you must post pictures....I forgot to tell you that...LOL, Its the "Canadianponcho Law"
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1960 Pontiac Strato Chief Safari 1960 Laurentian Safari 1960 Laurentian 4door(scrapped) 2001 Grand Am Traded on a '96 Suburban 2WD 2002 Hyundai Accent(SOLD) 1968 Grand Parisienne Scrapped and SOLD
Thanks guys!! i will post some pics when i get my camera phone back(kids) or when my daughter will lend me my camera back..lend?..and lord knows i dont want to break any laws..lol..i will post soon