Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on July 21, 2016, 08:44:00 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on July 21, 2016, 08:44:00 AM
Hey all ... not necessarily new to this forum, but it has been a long long time. It's been a solid 10+ years since I've really done much (if anything) to the car and I just decided it was finally time to get around to some of the things that have been bothering me over the years. Back in the late 90's I added a center console (the floor shifter would come later). This of course caused me to make the decision to pull my factory consolette front seats and I installed a set of 87-93 Mustang GT seats. The Mustang seats are great, but they have never matched to my liking (factory charcoal interior versus a little lighter gray and plaid Mustang seats). I've always wanted to get a little sportier aftermarket set of seats for the car and I recently purchased a set of Corbeau GTS II's.
I'll try to post some pics and updates as I go, but just bear with me as it will be a bit of a slow process as far as installing seats go. I don't have a ton of free time, so it will be baby steps over the next few days. Many thanks to AeroCoupe ... I happened to find his thread on a similar Corbeau seat install and will be looking to utilize his seat bracket adapters on my install.
Shot from passenger side before seat removal, poor photos make the seats look like they match a lot better than they do.
I'll try to post some pics and updates as I go, but just bear with me as it will be a bit of a slow process as far as installing seats go. I don't have a ton of free time, so it will be baby steps over the next few days. Many thanks to AeroCoupe ... I happened to find his thread on a similar Corbeau seat install and will be looking to utilize his seat bracket adapters on my install.
Shot from passenger side before seat removal, poor photos make the seats look like they match a lot better than they do.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on July 21, 2016, 08:47:28 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on July 21, 2016, 08:47:28 AM
Passenger side seat removal and removal of seat brackets:
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on July 21, 2016, 05:02:24 PM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on July 21, 2016, 05:02:24 PM
GTS II seat and mounting locations on the bottom side. Stock seats have about a 14"(+/-) left to right distance between the mounting holes (center to center) and the Corbeau's are at 11-3/8".
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: Vintage on July 21, 2016, 07:12:40 PM
Post by: Vintage on July 21, 2016, 07:12:40 PM
Looks good. Also looking forward to your opinions on the fit and feel of the Corbeau seats once they're installed and you've had a chance to get some seat time in them. Thanks for the post and the pics.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 83TB on July 21, 2016, 09:06:36 PM
Post by: 83TB on July 21, 2016, 09:06:36 PM
I think you will like those seats
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on July 21, 2016, 09:42:53 PM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on July 21, 2016, 09:42:53 PM
Thanks guys. Hoping to have my bracket adapters done sometime next week. Not sure how much seat time I'll really get over the next few months ... planning to move into a long overdue front suspension refresh and 11" brake upgrade in the fall. Seats seem really nice and comfortable out of the box. The thigh bolsters are pretty firm/snug and I think I would be worried about how they fit folks with a wider body frame.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 50RACER on July 22, 2016, 08:30:08 AM
Post by: 50RACER on July 22, 2016, 08:30:08 AM
My Corbeau seat is mounted by taking a 1/4 inch aluminum plate, attaching that to the existing mounts and then mounting the seat to the aluminum plate.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: Aerocoupe on July 25, 2016, 05:05:12 PM
Post by: Aerocoupe on July 25, 2016, 05:05:12 PM
And that is pretty much how I did it as well. 85CougarCobra read my thread on it but could not read the measurements on the drawing that was in there. If anyone is interested PM me and I can send you the details.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on August 01, 2016, 10:49:46 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on August 01, 2016, 10:49:46 AM
Yeah, Aerocoupe's post was a big help and the measurements were spot on considering manufacturing differences. Should have my brackets finished up this week, but will probably take them to get powder coated in black just to keep the potential shine of the aluminum flat bar hidden. Have the driver's side out as well now.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on August 31, 2016, 10:14:25 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on August 31, 2016, 10:14:25 AM
It's taken me awhile ... but made some progress over the past week. Pulled most of the interior out of an '88 Turbo Coupe that a guy was parting out locally ... I really just wanted the front power seat tracks and the wiring harness, but he did not want to separate things that way. Ended up with both complete front seats, the rear seat, wiring warness, center console, and some other odds and ends. I decided I would keep my original driver's side power seat track as a spare since it is in pretty good shape cosmetically. I then went about refurb'ing the power seat tracks from the Turbo Coupe. The tracks were generally in pretty good shape, but they had the usual light corrosion on them and I didn't feel like putting them in my car that way. The mounting points and the track beds always end up staining the carpet with a "nice" rust color if left alone. I tore the tracks down, wire wheeled and wire brushed them, treated them with POR-15 degreaser and metal prep, and then coated them with gloss black POR-15 base coat. I'm in the process of spraying them with the POR-15 top coat which has a little more of a satin finish to it. Next steps are to let them dry for a few days and then reassemble them, relubricate the tracks, test them for proper operation, and then hopefully get them reinstalled. More to come ...
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on August 31, 2016, 10:16:31 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on August 31, 2016, 10:16:31 AM
Base coat and partial top coat to main track assembly.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: Aerocoupe on August 31, 2016, 03:52:13 PM
Post by: Aerocoupe on August 31, 2016, 03:52:13 PM
Looking waaaaay better than mine so now I am gonna have to pull them out and to this... you man!!
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on August 31, 2016, 05:00:35 PM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on August 31, 2016, 05:00:35 PM
Ha! Yeah, it was a bit of a c getting them cleaned up, but I'm glad I did it in the end. They cleaned up nicely. I pulled a passenger side track out of a salvage yard car locally a few weeks ago, but the thing was pretty beat up. The mounting feet were really bad and I'm actually surprised the seat even moved when power was applied to it in order to be able to remove it from the car. I ended up keeping the motor and gearbox assembly off of it and and pretty much junking the rest. Found the guy parting out the Turbo Coupe and those tracks were a much better starting point. My factory driver's side track was in way better shape than any of them, but the 87-88 tracks have a slightly different seat belt attachment bracket and I didn't feel like putting in mis-matched brackets (even though nobody would probably ever notice) so I just decided to use both and clean them up.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: jpc647 on September 08, 2016, 10:49:50 AM
Post by: jpc647 on September 08, 2016, 10:49:50 AM
Any chance you're getting rid of the OEM seats?
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on September 08, 2016, 03:01:17 PM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on September 08, 2016, 03:01:17 PM
I don't have the original OEM seats (w/ console) that were in the car. I'm actually trying to sell the Mustang seats that you see in the earlier pictures as well as a set of blue Turbo Coupe seats that are the same basic seats ... just blue.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on October 03, 2016, 10:42:24 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on October 03, 2016, 10:42:24 AM
Finally ... some more small progress. The past month has been a little rough as far as "spare" time goes, but I was able to get both seat tracks reassembled and tested this weekend. Both successfully moved and operated correctly in all directions, so I was happy about that. I also got the driver's side one mounted to the seat, but I have some additional interior stuff that I want to address in terms of stereo wiring, so it will still be a little while before I probably have them installed.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: Aerocoupe on October 04, 2016, 08:51:19 AM
Post by: Aerocoupe on October 04, 2016, 08:51:19 AM
Wow! Night and day difference. After taking them apart, cleaning, paint, and reassembly do you think they work better than before? Did not know if there was an added bonus to the great look.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on October 05, 2016, 08:29:22 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on October 05, 2016, 08:29:22 AM
Well ... during reassembly, I made sure to work all of the rotating parts and hinges pretty good. Some of those areas are pretty tight and there's no real good way to keep paint out of them when you are spray painting the top coat. I added some oil and just worked the parts back and forth by hand until I was happy with how freely everything moved. I then added some lithium grease to the the actual track beds and gears that control the different motions. They run nice and smooth, no issues. They definitely didn't get worse, but I'm not sure I can say that they run any better ... I think so much of that is a function of the actual electric motor. The other "issue" I encountered (and could kick myself over now) is that I really don't have any use for the adapter brackets that are needed on the manual tracks. The power tracks have more surface area to the inside of the stock mounting locations where they come into contact with the bottom of the seats, so I just needed to drill new holes directly in them to mount the seats.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on October 19, 2016, 02:58:46 PM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on October 19, 2016, 02:58:46 PM
This is what happens when you decide to just keep going instead of simply installing your seats ... ha! I've had a few "nagging" things that I have wanted to address since getting the car put back together over 10 years ago. I've taken a little bit of the "while I'm at it" approach here ... so ... more stuff keeps coming off of the car instead of going on. I think I'm turning a corner though ...
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on October 20, 2016, 09:55:49 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on October 20, 2016, 09:55:49 AM
One of my "while I'm at it" items is replacing my door locks and ignition switch in the car. The car was broken into a long time ago and the person/people who broke into it punched out my passenger side lock to gain access to the car. I replaced the lock cylinder with one out of a salvage yard, but they left me with one key for the driver's door and ignition, a different key for the passenger's door, and yet a different key for the trunk. Just a little bit of an annoyance, but since I have the door panels off, I figured it was time to try to rectify the problem. Did some research and found the OEM Ford kit (complete with keys) to replace these and get back to the way things used to be. The pictures are not great, but the kit includes both door cylinders, the cylinder retainers (spring clips), ignition switch, two keys, and an ID tag for the keys.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: jpc647 on October 20, 2016, 02:38:53 PM
Post by: jpc647 on October 20, 2016, 02:38:53 PM
Quote from: 85CougarCobra;457097
I don't have the original OEM seats (w/ console) that were in the car. I'm actually trying to sell the Mustang seats that you see in the earlier pictures as well as a set of blue Turbo Coupe seats that are the same basic seats ... just blue.
I'm looking for a single seat, driver or passenger, doesn't matter. You're kind of far, and shipping would probably be a lot though.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on October 27, 2016, 12:18:14 PM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on October 27, 2016, 12:18:14 PM
Well, I have the seats ... but as you said, shipping is probably prohibitive.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on October 27, 2016, 12:23:39 PM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on October 27, 2016, 12:23:39 PM
Door lock set now installed along with matching ignition switch.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on October 27, 2016, 12:24:39 PM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on October 27, 2016, 12:24:39 PM
Old ignition pulled from the steering column ...
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on October 27, 2016, 12:31:30 PM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on October 27, 2016, 12:31:30 PM
Getting the door interior back together after adding wiring for the courtesy lights (upgraded the door panels years ago but never had the actual lights), re-did my door speaker Dynamat, and ran new wiring for the speakers as well. Pulled the stock leather wrapped (worn out) steering wheel ... to be replaced with an XR7 style one.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on November 01, 2016, 07:16:49 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on November 01, 2016, 07:16:49 AM
Got the passenger side panel back on as well and hooked up my "new" LED courtesy lights.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 83TB on November 04, 2016, 11:28:43 PM
Post by: 83TB on November 04, 2016, 11:28:43 PM
nice work
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: jcassity on November 16, 2016, 09:40:07 PM
Post by: jcassity on November 16, 2016, 09:40:07 PM
nice work,,
great pictures and progress.
I love the work / detail into the seat tracks,, it may not make them work better but they do look much nicer.
one thing about doing what seems to be pointless tasks,, you end up going through all the pieces parts and along the way making improvements or get the opportunity to notice something small that you can fix so its not a problem later.
nice work!
great pictures and progress.
I love the work / detail into the seat tracks,, it may not make them work better but they do look much nicer.
one thing about doing what seems to be pointless tasks,, you end up going through all the pieces parts and along the way making improvements or get the opportunity to notice something small that you can fix so its not a problem later.
nice work!
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: jcassity on November 16, 2016, 09:41:45 PM
Post by: jcassity on November 16, 2016, 09:41:45 PM
my son did LED strip lighting along the bottom edge of the doors.
being the logical one he is, he explains why.
when you park your car at night, your door now lights up the ground,, that way you can see what your about to step into... like water, ice or even dog shiznit!
didnt mean to give you any ideas ,, but you seem like someone who would want to do something like that based on your attention to detail is see
being the logical one he is, he explains why.
when you park your car at night, your door now lights up the ground,, that way you can see what your about to step into... like water, ice or even dog shiznit!
didnt mean to give you any ideas ,, but you seem like someone who would want to do something like that based on your attention to detail is see
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on November 21, 2016, 09:19:06 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on November 21, 2016, 09:19:06 AM
Quote
I love the work / detail into the seat tracks,, it may not make them work better but they do look much nicer.
one thing about doing what seems to be pointless tasks,, you end up going through all the pieces parts and along the way making improvements or get the opportunity to notice something small that you can fix so its not a problem later.
Thanks. A lot of this stuff has been a long time coming. Again, probably stuff that no one would ever notice or care much about, but it has built up over the years and has been nagging me. Having a touch of OCD doesn't help ... lol ... but the car is by no means perfect. I enjoy modifying ... but I like to try to keep it as clean as possible or try my best to have it look like a factory job. I try to avoid hacking into wiring and stuff of that nature. Doing the 5.0 swap was a bit of a challenge as I had to go out in search of an '86 Tbird/Cougar EFI 5.0 engine harness. Frankly, even though I love the car, it was never anything special in terms of rarity or how it was optioned out ... after all these years have passed though, "special" starts to take on a little different meaning when these cars aren't exactly a dime a dozen in the salvage yards. When I started this thread, I was "simply" swapping in new seats, but that has turned into a little more since many of these things are easier to address while the interior is mostly gutted.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on November 21, 2016, 09:47:32 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on November 21, 2016, 09:47:32 AM
Picked up some rear coach lamps and the associated wiring the other day (thanks again Dan), so I'll be adding these in during the interior rework. I've had the "Lights" button since adding/converting to the center console, but it was never functional. Plan to throw some LED's in here as well.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on November 21, 2016, 10:00:35 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on November 21, 2016, 10:00:35 AM
Trunk going back together ... pulled everything apart to redo the way I had my speakers and amp wired in. Moved the rear deck speakers back to the factory wiring and then ran the door of off the amp (car never had door speakers stock). I had some custom panels made years ago to help clean up the look of the trunk. They take away from some of the functional storage area, but I don't really use this space the way I once did. The spare tire actually slots in under bottom panel now.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: BCA on November 23, 2016, 12:07:26 PM
Post by: BCA on November 23, 2016, 12:07:26 PM
Quote from: 85CougarCobra;458149
Trunk going back together ... pulled everything apart to redo the way I had my speakers and amp wired in. Moved the rear deck speakers back to the factory wiring and then ran the door of off the amp (car never had door speakers stock). I had some custom panels made years ago to help clean up the look of the trunk. They take away from some of the functional storage area, but I don't really use this space the way I once did. The spare tire actually slots in under bottom panel now.
Interesting. The condition of my trunk liner has been a disappointment for a long time and I have been on the lookout for a "like new" replacement. As much as I would like to keep it stock looking, I too would never use the storage cubbies so this might be something I could do instead. From the pic, that material looks pretty close to the factory stuff too. Nice job!
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on November 23, 2016, 09:10:18 PM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on November 23, 2016, 09:10:18 PM
Quote
Interesting. The condition of my trunk liner has been a disappointment for a long time and I have been on the lookout for a "like new" replacement. As much as I would like to keep it stock looking, I too would never use the storage cubbies so this might be something I could do instead. From the pic, that material looks pretty close to the factory stuff too. Nice job!
Thanks. Yeah, my left and right side pieces are not in that great of shape. The backing gets all cracked up whenever you have to remove them or work around them. I'd like to find some better pieces in a salvage yard, but everything I ever find is beat up worse than what I have ... or they are sitting in water with all sorts of fun stuff growing on them. I have it apart right now ... again ... so I'll try to snap a few pictures of the different pieces. They match much better than the picture looks ... flash and a drop light don't necessarily help.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on November 24, 2016, 01:33:48 PM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on November 24, 2016, 01:33:48 PM
Ok, so here's the basic set up on the trunk. The paneling required putting two mounting screws into the frame of the car, one on either side of the trunk. I put arrows on the photos to show where they are basically located. I also had the left side interior trim out, so I snapped a shot of that hole so you can see the piece that the screw goes into. For someone with a pretty modified car, I'm fairly averse to putting holes in the car if I can absolutely avoid it. I was a little younger and dumber when this was done (probably 20 years ago) ... otherwise I would have found a better way and used the existing holes that are right around them.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on November 24, 2016, 01:55:38 PM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on November 24, 2016, 01:55:38 PM
Basic stock trunk set up ... I pulled the spare tire out and then bent the sheet metal down that the hook goes through to hold the spare in place. I bought a Turbo Coupe 16" spare to accommodate upgrading the front brakes over the winter. The spare tire basically just slots down into the well and then has the jack and tire iron inside of it. The wheel cover fits pretty snug as it went to the stock 14" spare. My stereo wiring as all set up to be sort of plug and play with quick disconnect wiring clips. I have the door speakers hard wired all the way back to the amp.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on November 24, 2016, 02:10:34 PM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on November 24, 2016, 02:10:34 PM
I had the base (new trunk interior "floor") and side pieces made at a car audio place. They have a lot of experience with this stuff and did a good job of tracing out a pattern that both fit well and was easily removable which was a requirement of mine for if/when I ever need to get to the spare tire. Here are shots of the top and bottom sides of the main piece. It's made out of some style of 1/2" thick particle board and is scored on the right side with a reinforced duct tape "hinge" to allow for install/removal. The stereo shop also covered these pieces and the material matches the stock trunk material very well ... not 100% identical, but very close.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on November 24, 2016, 02:50:38 PM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on November 24, 2016, 02:50:38 PM
The base has a couple of particle board blocks mounted to it to help secure the side pieces. These are just screwed directly into the base. Here is another shot of the "hinge" as well.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on November 24, 2016, 02:51:54 PM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on November 24, 2016, 02:51:54 PM
During install, I have to finagle the base in a little, nothing major, and it kind of goes in from right to left with the hinged piece pointed up. Once in place, it covers the entire trunk well and is supported from sagging by the spare tire below it. The hinged piece can then be laid flat. One small gripe is that it doesn't extend the entire way back ... this would probably require another hinged piece in order to be able to install and remove it.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on November 24, 2016, 09:30:59 PM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on November 24, 2016, 09:30:59 PM
The left and right side pieces are made of the same materials as the base and each piece attaches with three screws - one into the frame and two into the particle board blocks ... these six screws are really the only time consuming part of installing or removing the whole set up from the car.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: ISTLCRUZ on November 25, 2016, 06:39:11 AM
Post by: ISTLCRUZ on November 25, 2016, 06:39:11 AM
I like how that looks. Gives it a real clean "finished" appearance. I would like to find the cover for the under side of my trunk lid like you have. My bird was missing it when I got it.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on December 01, 2016, 12:14:04 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on December 01, 2016, 12:14:04 AM
Quote
I like how that looks. Gives it a real clean "finished" appearance. I would like to find the cover for the under side of my trunk lid like you have. My bird was missing it when I got it.
Thanks. I never had the cover for the underside of my trunk either ... pulled it off of an LS that had one. Just installs with the plastic push in retainers.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on December 01, 2016, 12:17:55 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on December 01, 2016, 12:17:55 AM
Got everything routed the way I wanted, reinstalled the insulation and carpet and also replaced the door to body weather stripping with new pieces from Steele Rubber. My driver's side one was torn in a spot or two, but all good now. Should be getting close to the actual seat install ... I hope ...
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: TheCowboyKiller on December 01, 2016, 05:30:20 PM
Post by: TheCowboyKiller on December 01, 2016, 05:30:20 PM
Looking good man! I like what you did to that trunk...super clean look.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: CougarGal on December 02, 2016, 02:40:31 PM
Post by: CougarGal on December 02, 2016, 02:40:31 PM
LOVE What you've done with the trunk and I'm jealous of your floor mats (which is probably a 'girl' thing :) Gorgeous car!!
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on January 04, 2017, 11:27:25 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on January 04, 2017, 11:27:25 AM
Progress has been slow, but things are coming along. I've been updating and adding some stuff as I go along. Recently bought some 3M vinyl overlay in a faux carbon pattern to spice up the ol' wood grain. Kept my original pieces as spares and picked up a set of the brushed aluminum pieces to cover. They actually work well because if you somehow mess up and cut too close, the aluminum pattern kind of blends beneath the vinyl versus the wood grain. The stuff is actually pretty easy to work with ... the pain in the ass is cutting it all just right. All in all, came out really nice.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: Aerocoupe on January 04, 2017, 11:35:14 AM
Post by: Aerocoupe on January 04, 2017, 11:35:14 AM
I like the look for sure! Where did you find the 3M faux carbon fiber at?
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on January 04, 2017, 11:40:20 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on January 04, 2017, 11:40:20 AM
Center console going back in place finally. Removed the stock single power seat harness and ran the dual one in its place. Cleaned up all the console mounting brackets and painted them black ... just about ready for the new seats to go in.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: BCA on January 04, 2017, 11:51:50 AM
Post by: BCA on January 04, 2017, 11:51:50 AM
Looking very nice. Was never a fan of the wood grain look.
I'm quite envious of the condition of your carpet. :cool:
I'm quite envious of the condition of your carpet. :cool:
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on January 04, 2017, 11:51:58 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on January 04, 2017, 11:51:58 AM
Quote
I like the look for sure! Where did you find the 3M faux carbon fiber at?
It is 3M 1080 Wrap ... it comes in several colors/patterns. Here is a link:
http://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/~/All-3M-Products/Commercial-Solutions/Graphics-Signage/Signs-Displays/Films-and-Substrates/Colored-Films/Colored-Wrap-Films/?N=5002385+8709314+8709363+8710674+8711017+8718947+8719039+8729400+3294857497&rt=r3
Colors:
https://www.google.com/search?q=3m+1080+vinyl+colors&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS591US591&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=958&tbm=isch&imgil=BdaQMOgpKpxWUM%253A%253BFfuY9eKwan4EwM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Frmwraps.com%25252Fsolid-color-vinyl-wrap%25252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=BdaQMOgpKpxWUM%253A%252CFfuY9eKwan4EwM%252C_&usg=__9ZHM90qtwt19uo-GqomVqt1Ds38%3D&ved=0ahUKEwjTvp-W-KjRAhWHZCYKHfP8AS0QyjcITw&ei=oiZtWNPlKYfJmQHz-YfoAg#imgrc=BdaQMOgpKpxWUM%3A
I used the black carbon, part number 1080-CF12. I actually bought it on eBay. I got a single roll that was 1 ft x 5 ft for around $20. I probably have enough left to do another one of the smaller pieces, 4 ft long would be enough but I wanted some extra to "learn" with. There are some youtube videos for installing the stuff and working with it. Just goes on like a sticker and becomes pretty pliable with heat from a hair dryer.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on January 04, 2017, 12:00:38 PM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on January 04, 2017, 12:00:38 PM
Quote
Looking very nice. Was never a fan of the wood grain look.
I'm quite envious of the condition of your carpet.
Thanks. The stuff actually has a bit of texture to it too, kind of cool ... looks much more like "real" carbon fiber then some of your standard black and silver square pattern stuff that is out there. You could probably get crazy and cover a lot of other stuff with it as well. I have a set of the XR7 dash pieces as well, but wanted to try something a little different.
Cleaning the carpet up a little is on the agenda before the seats go in ... you can see the marks that were left by the seat tracks. Gonna see if I have any luck getting them out.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on January 12, 2017, 09:44:02 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on January 12, 2017, 09:44:02 AM
Another step closer ... just received my restored front seat belt assemblies from Ssnake-Oyl. I've been waiting several weeks for these, but I can finally start putting the rear interior back together again. Paid a pretty penny to have them restored, but they turned out really nice. Just had the fronts done. They were starting to fray, would loosen up while wearing them (requiring a constant tug to take up the slack), and the female receptacle had seemed to loosen up as well and wouldn't always stay engaged depending on the angle. I tried cleaning them up and considered just buying new Mustang units and modifying them to work, but I just got tired of dealing with it and wanted it to be "right". I ended up switching to the Mustang style female receptacle in the process of the seat swap so that I could put new plastic sleeves on them. My stock floor sleeves are good and will be reused. The stock seat sleeves were not horrible but are cracked in spots ... with switching to 87-88 seat tracks and an aftermarket seat, I figured this was probably the better way to go. With any luck, hoping the seats go in this weekend.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on February 02, 2017, 01:32:28 PM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on February 02, 2017, 01:32:28 PM
Since I got my seat belts back, I have the rear interior going back together. With the addition of the courtesy lamps and fabric arm rest trim, I have all the holes ready to go. Also installed my faux carbon instrument cluster surround piece and got my center console switch plate all plugged back in and tested.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: Vintage on February 05, 2017, 08:42:24 AM
Post by: Vintage on February 05, 2017, 08:42:24 AM
Just catching back up with this thread, great looking detailing and pictures Cougar. Appreciate all the progress pics and look forward to seeing it all come together. Maybe I missed it, but how is the height on the seats once mounted in the car going to work out like?
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on February 13, 2017, 01:21:51 PM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on February 13, 2017, 01:21:51 PM
Quote
Maybe I missed it, but how is the height on the seats once mounted in the car going to work out like?
Well ... funny you should ask ...
I finally got around to installing the passenger side seat about two weeks ago. I attached the power seat track and put the seat in the car, bolted it all up, but I was not happy with the height. Visually, it looks great, but it just felt too high. I removed the seat, bolted it up to the manual tracks, and tried to see if that somehow made any difference ... still the same feeling. Definitely felt deflated after all of the time and money I have put into this effort thus far. I started looking at all my options and how I might be able to lower the seat ... searched some Mustang message boards and discovered that Corbeau offers a "shaved base" option. I would have seen this as an option had I bought the seats directly from them, but I didn't. Even if I would have ordered directly from them, I can't say that I would have moved forward with this as an option (I probably wouldn't have truth be told).
So ... I called Corbeau and had a talk with them. I ended up removing the lower seat cushions from both seats and shipped them back to Corbeau. The "shaved base" option is supposed to remove 1" from the bottom of the seat foam without effecting any performance of the overall seat. I'll have to wait until I get them back to see if this fixes the issue for me or not. Maybe 1" will make all the difference (that's what she said!). If not, I might have to see what I can do with the actual brackets to get the seats a little lower. I compared a stock seat with brackets and a Corbeau seat with brackets and took all kinds of measurements with them just sitting on the cement floor. The seats are very close to one another so I'm skeptically hopeful.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: Aerocoupe on February 13, 2017, 01:42:04 PM
Post by: Aerocoupe on February 13, 2017, 01:42:04 PM
Can you tell me the name of the lady you talked to at Corbeau? I talked to them over a year ago about the shaved base option and the guy I talked to would not sell me shaved foam and said I would have to do it myself which I opted not to do. I would love to ship mine in and get this done as my seats are way too high. Weird thing is I have the exact same seats in my Coupe and they do not feel as high. I am going to see if I can remove the seat cushion out of the Coupe and the same one out of the Bird and see if by some chance I got shaved seat cushions the first time I ordered these seats.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on February 13, 2017, 01:59:26 PM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on February 13, 2017, 01:59:26 PM
Quote from: Aerocoupe;459241
Can you tell me the name of the lady you talked to at Corbeau? I talked to them over a year ago about the shaved base option and the guy I talked to would not sell me shaved foam and said I would have to do it myself which I opted not to do. I would love to ship mine in and get this done as my seats are way too high. Weird thing is I have the exact same seats in my Coupe and they do not feel as high. I am going to see if I can remove the seat cushion out of the Coupe and the same one out of the Bird and see if by some chance I got shaved seat cushions the first time I ordered these seats.
I don't remember who I talked to, but it was a man. I believe his name was Justin for some reason. I called and he answered the phone. I can call them again and see who it was if you would like me to, just let me know. I asked if I could talk to someone in tech support or customer service and he told me that he could help me. He recommended taking the foam bottoms to a local interior shop as well ... to which I told him I wasn't prepared to do. I specifically asked if I could send them back to them (for a charge of course) and have it done. He took my information, gave me an RMA number, and I shipped them back. It's not that I don't trust an interior shop to do it per say, but Corbeau should be able to see that my cushions are new and unused and just send me shaved replacements. My concern is that a local shop would need to uncover the foam, shave it to Corbeau's spec, recover it taking in any extra fabric, etc, etc ... Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they wouldn't just sell you complete replacement shaved bottoms with the fabric covering if you pushed them on it.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: Aerocoupe on February 14, 2017, 09:04:51 AM
Post by: Aerocoupe on February 14, 2017, 09:04:51 AM
I am going to swap out the seat cushions between the two cars on the drivers seat this weekend and see if there is a difference. Hopefully the ones in the Coupe are shaved and that will do the trick. If not I am going to cut legs the manual seat tracks and drop them that way. I may have to do both as I really like these seats and do not want start the whole seat shopping thing again.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on February 14, 2017, 09:16:13 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on February 14, 2017, 09:16:13 AM
Quote from: Aerocoupe;459254
I am going to swap out the seat cushions between the two cars on the drivers seat this weekend and see if there is a difference. Hopefully the ones in the Coupe are shaved and that will do the trick. If not I am going to cut legs the manual seat tracks and drop them that way. I may have to do both as I really like these seats and do not want start the whole seat shopping thing again.
Let me know. Yeah, I hear ya ... love the look and feel of the seats, hate to go to all this trouble for nothing. It looks like there is some decent clearance to make some mods to the tracks and gain some additional drop that way.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on March 08, 2017, 09:40:58 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on March 08, 2017, 09:40:58 AM
Back at it with some small progress. Decided to modify a set of speaker grates several weeks ago and got around to buttoning up the passenger door. I've never been a big fan of how these speaker grates were designed by Ford. One of my originals had a broken rib or two and then the other had a broken mounting tab on the backside. Also a little bit of an odd discovery ... my 85 grates have a single vertical bar on the backside of the drivers side ribs and the passenger side has three of these vertical bars. My drivers side had the broken ribs and I think the additional bars on the passenger side grate help to stabilize these and prevent this problem. I pulled a set off of an 86 and those have three vertical bars on both grates (an improvement over 85). Unless you are super careful/gentle, it's very easy to break the mounting tabs on the top backside of the grates, if they are not already broken ... in my own opinion, they are almost a one time use only part as far as these tabs are concerned. Usually when I find these in the junk yard, the tabs are already broken. The 87/88 grates are very similar but a screw was added towards the top of the grate. Again, I'm not overly impressed with the location of this mounting screw. It seems too high and is located on a relatively thin piece of the grate. Often when you find these grates, they are cracked around this screw ... that might be from over tightening, but I still think Ford could have done a little better in the design of these. So ... I decide to try to do a little improvement using both "designs" if you will. I took a junk yard set of 86 grates and drilled and countersunk a mounting screw location that was in an area of the grate that had a little more "meat" to it and wasn't as close to the edge as the 87/88 design. From there, I took some adhesive and glued a sizable fender washer to the back side of the grate. I then painted it to match using interior paint from LMR and installed it. Overall, it came out really well ... not overly wild about having a screw to look at where there wasn't one before but when compared to the 87/88 design, it think it looks just as "factory".
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on March 28, 2017, 09:56:29 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on March 28, 2017, 09:56:29 AM
Well, wrapped up my driver's side door interior finally with the same speaker grate modification and happy with the results thus far. I ended up changing my mind on the center console and took out the shorter 87/88 vintage and went back to the "correct" 85/86 full length style. Bought a new NOS light switch/ash tray panel for this console since I didn't already have one of this variety laying around. Installed my rear courtesy lights and plugged everything back in electrically. I have two sets of the rear lights and one of the sets had pretty worn chrome paint on it. I ended up using some rubbing compound to remove the remaining paint only to reveal that the original plastic underneath was pretty close to my charcoal gray interior. Thinking I might just leave them this way ... add's to the whole "50 shades of gray" interior ... ha!
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on March 28, 2017, 10:25:59 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on March 28, 2017, 10:25:59 AM
Buttoned up the remainder of the center console work and finished all of my audio and climate control re-install and wiring. Removed the 93 Mustang "COBRA" hatch emblem I had on my cigarette lighter panel and replaced it with a "COUGAR" emblem. This emblem is "font" correct, matching the emblem on the taillight. I could be wrong but I believe it is actually off of a pre-83 Cougar. Sorry about the flash, makes it hard to really get a good sense of the carbon fiber overlay I used on the dash trim pieces. My next plans are to monkey with the seat tracks some more to see if I can't get a little bit lower. I received my shaved bases back for the Corbeau seats and reinstalled them, but I'm still not happy with the overall height ... the saga continues ...
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: BCA on March 28, 2017, 11:04:47 AM
Post by: BCA on March 28, 2017, 11:04:47 AM
Custom defrost label?
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on March 28, 2017, 11:21:49 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on March 28, 2017, 11:21:49 AM
Quote
Custom defrost label?
Wow ... that didn't take long for someone to notice! Yeah, "custom" using all mid/late 80's vintage Ford parts and putting them together. Wanted it to look like it belonged there from the factory. I'm still working out some of the finer details and in the picture, it's just mocked up to test fit. As Eric would say ... ancient Chinese secret ... at least for the moment. I'll get some better photos and share the mod once I have it all worked out.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: BCA on March 28, 2017, 11:37:28 AM
Post by: BCA on March 28, 2017, 11:37:28 AM
Cool.
Looking forward to the info. :D
Looking forward to the info. :D
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: FoxyCouGirl on March 28, 2017, 01:10:35 PM
Post by: FoxyCouGirl on March 28, 2017, 01:10:35 PM
I'm new to this forum and this popped up in my 'what's new' feed. Your interior looks great!! It's clean. Great work!!
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: thunderjet302 on March 30, 2017, 11:34:18 PM
Post by: thunderjet302 on March 30, 2017, 11:34:18 PM
Quote from: 85CougarCobra;460068
Wow ... that didn't take long for someone to notice! Yeah, "custom" using all mid/late 80's vintage Ford parts and putting them together. Wanted it to look like it belonged there from the factory. I'm still working out some of the finer details and in the picture, it's just mocked up to test fit. As Eric would say ... ancient Chinese secret ... at least for the moment. I'll get some better photos and share the mod once I have it all worked out.
As a FYI:
84-89 Lincoln Mark VIIs had a rear defrost switch next to the antenna switch. They actually use the same panel as 85-88 Thunderbirds and Cougars. That's why power antenna Thunderbirds and Cougars have a blank next to the antenna switch.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on March 31, 2017, 08:30:29 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on March 31, 2017, 08:30:29 AM
Now you're stealing my thunder ... lol.
Yeah, I bought a Mark series switch plate and then pulled the overlay off of it. I don't think these panels are the same between cars though. The Mark series panel is wider left to right than the one for the Cougar/Tbird, at least in my case it is ... and it attaches to the dash with different screw mounting positions. Maybe the Turbo Coupes had a wider panel with a wider opening cover as I know some had three switches located over there versus the two I have room for. I was then able to remove the overlay off of the Cougar/Tbird panel and cut the Mark series overlay down to the correct size and install it on the Cougar/Tbird panel while maintaining the "REAR DEFOG" lettering. I also cut the raised switch cover out of the Cougar/Tbird panel so that the overlay would lay nice and flat. I didn't end up using the Mark series switch due to mounting depth and used one out of an Escort. Here are shots of the two stock panels (Mark versus Cougar/Tbird), I'll try to get some better shots of my frank'n-panel this weekend.
Yeah, I bought a Mark series switch plate and then pulled the overlay off of it. I don't think these panels are the same between cars though. The Mark series panel is wider left to right than the one for the Cougar/Tbird, at least in my case it is ... and it attaches to the dash with different screw mounting positions. Maybe the Turbo Coupes had a wider panel with a wider opening cover as I know some had three switches located over there versus the two I have room for. I was then able to remove the overlay off of the Cougar/Tbird panel and cut the Mark series overlay down to the correct size and install it on the Cougar/Tbird panel while maintaining the "REAR DEFOG" lettering. I also cut the raised switch cover out of the Cougar/Tbird panel so that the overlay would lay nice and flat. I didn't end up using the Mark series switch due to mounting depth and used one out of an Escort. Here are shots of the two stock panels (Mark versus Cougar/Tbird), I'll try to get some better shots of my frank'n-panel this weekend.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on March 31, 2017, 08:40:17 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on March 31, 2017, 08:40:17 AM
Quote from: FoxyCouGirl;460072
I'm new to this forum and this popped up in my 'what's new' feed. Your interior looks great!! It's clean. Great work!!
Thank you ... it's a work in progress.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on June 29, 2017, 11:32:57 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on June 29, 2017, 11:32:57 AM
Well ... it's been a while since a posted on the seats. Needless to say, I decided to go in a different direction. I got the Corbeau seats installed, but just couldn't manage to get them to ever feel quite "right" in the car. I had the bases shaved and even experimented with a Corbeau made manual seat track. The seats looked nice in the car, I just never liked my driving position in them ... still felt like I was sitting up too high. I have a different plan in play at the moment and will start a new thread in a few weeks as I acspoogeulate the necessary pieces.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on June 29, 2017, 11:53:47 AM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on June 29, 2017, 11:53:47 AM
On a positive note, I did get the interior back together and buttoned up. I ended up putting the Mustang seats back in for the time being so that I could make it to Carlisle. Got the XR-7/Turbo Coupe sport steering wheel installed, put in a new set of white face gauges (old ones were starting to peel up in spots), and switched out my padded vinyl arm rest for the thinner leather version (had it recovered with new material as well).
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: EricCoolCats on June 29, 2017, 04:51:11 PM
Post by: EricCoolCats on June 29, 2017, 04:51:11 PM
When I saw the car at Carlisle, I knew there had to be snags with the Corbeau seat install. That's a bummer because those are nice seats but if you can't make them the way you need them, there really is no point in going forward. Great effort though.
Title: Corbeau GTS II Seat Install
Post by: 85CougarCobra on June 29, 2017, 11:00:54 PM
Post by: 85CougarCobra on June 29, 2017, 11:00:54 PM
Yeah, technically, they fit. I ultimately just couldn't live with the position. They are nice seats and very comfortable, just felt like my head was in the roof. It's kind of odd too because the measurements of the seats are all very similar to the factory sport seats. I have to think that the bottoms were maybe just that more firm and that I didn't really sink down into them as much. Dunno ... oh well. I already sold them, so recouped a nice chunk of the initial cost ... although, the seats are what prompted me to go through the entire interior again and make some changes/additions, so it wasn't a total wasted effort. I'm in the process of acquiring a couple of items for a different style of seat upgrade, so I'm hopeful that all works out and I can share it in the coming weeks.