SN95 seats DON'T just "bolt to our tracks"?

Topic: SN95 seats DON'T just "bolt to our tracks"? (Read 6698 times) previous topic - next topic

SN95 seats DON'T just "bolt to our tracks"?

October 18, 2019, 12:27:47 AM

I have some 2003 Mustang centennial seats that I am using the frames from. The threaded holes about an inch off from bolting on - I will need to drill all 4 track holes to get them to fit correctly on the tracks.

I assume this is actually normal? I was just surprised that everyone says the sn95 seats just bolt to our tracks, but that isn't the case with the frames I have.

Too late to mess with that tonight, but it should only take a handful of minutes this weekend once I find some drill bits.

Re: SN95 seats DON'T just "bolt to our tracks"?

Reply #1 – October 18, 2019, 11:03:03 AM

I put 94-98 seats into my '84 XR-7, and don't recall any weirdness.

This was waaay back in a time known as the 1990's, so I could've forgotten a couple things since then.

Re: SN95 seats DON'T just "bolt to our tracks"?

Reply #2 – October 18, 2019, 12:53:20 PM

It will be nice to have this cobra style seat in there - no more seat lean. SN95 frame, new TMI cobra foam, TMI cobra upholstery.

I will lose passenger lumbar (not much of a thing past '95 on Fords), adjustable bolsters (not buying the original Cobra seats for their going rate, but I never used the manual bolsters on my stock seats), and pullout knee bolsters though...I will especially miss those knee bolsters.

I was just going to put them in last night and have a first sit, but ran into this bolt-up issue.

Re: SN95 seats DON'T just "bolt to our tracks"?

Reply #3 – October 18, 2019, 03:20:35 PM

Those look really nice!

I have '95 GT seats in the '86 and I don't recall there being a need to redrill any holes. Driver's side track is power, passenger side is manual. IIRC there are two sets of holes for the rear attachment; the Cougar/T-Bird uses the ones furthest outward, and the Mustang used the inner ones. Want to say it was around a 2" difference.

Re: SN95 seats DON'T just "bolt to our tracks"?

Reply #4 – October 18, 2019, 04:11:14 PM

I'll get pictures tonight. I extended the track upward the max to get the most working clearance, and don't recall seeing anything but one hole per corner.

I also forgot to modify the lock-in of the headrest on the seats before upholstery. Wish these didn't require removal of seat back upholstery in order to release the headrest. I will have to look and see if I can grind anything off the headrest to prevent this, but still allow them to "click into place". I need to be able to take a headrest to an upholstery shop for vinyl match, to get the rear seats done, but this issue would prevent me from installing one of the headrests until then.

Re: SN95 seats DON'T just "bolt to our tracks"?

Reply #5 – October 18, 2019, 06:49:06 PM

It might've been a change in the 99+ cars. 94-98 seats were pretty much a drop-in.

Re: SN95 seats DON'T just "bolt to our tracks"?

Reply #6 – October 18, 2019, 08:00:01 PM

Here is what I'm seeing - threads are different location, and I need a spacer on both sides.

Our brackets are flat:

Our seat frames are flat:

2003 Mustang seat frames mount higher up on the front:

Better shot of the front:

Our brackets have this distance front to back:

Measurement on the stock seat:

Measurement on the 2003 Mustang frame:

Left to right are 14" on both sets of seats and frames, so width isn't an issue. Measurements without the camera angle throwing things off, the Mustang seat is 14x14 inch bolt spacing. Our stock seats are 14x14-11/16 inch. A difference of 11/16". Mustang seat frame bottom/mounting surface sits up higher in the front.

It seems that welding to the Mustang seat frame would be "best" and tap new holes, or one could drill new holes in our seat brackets and use almost anything as a spacer, with longer bolts.

Re: SN95 seats DON'T just "bolt to our tracks"?

Reply #7 – October 18, 2019, 08:08:25 PM

And look how much that dog hair likes to stick to the new fabric, compared to stock. I really like the factory cloth material Ford used...doesn't seem like a vacuum of every piece of fuzz in the garage.

Re: SN95 seats DON'T just "bolt to our tracks"?

Reply #8 – October 18, 2019, 08:18:46 PM

On a related topic, where is that ground connector off the center frame/motor supposed to connect to? I don't have anything connected to it, and no wire that I know about, but it seems a spade quick-disconnect type connector is supposed to be pressed onto it.

This is the thing just under the harness connector pictured here (in the photo, looks like a broken wire, but it's a metal piece):

Re: SN95 seats DON'T just "bolt to our tracks"?

Reply #9 – October 19, 2019, 09:18:06 PM

New holes drilled at 14-inches:

I needed to clearance the track on the outside edge for the seat frame and upholstery. I didn't want to add an another half-inch of height to the seat using spacers. Seemed very thick metal, so I don't think this is a concern. The other side of the seat tracks (inside) is much smaller.

This shows the clearance that I needed:

Front-only spacers are still needed since the seat frame bottom isn't flat like our stock seats are:

Other photos of the bottom:

And finally in the car:

Re: SN95 seats DON'T just "bolt to our tracks"?

Reply #10 – October 20, 2019, 07:55:15 PM

The passenger manual tracks are already 14" spacing. This was mostly a bolt-in affair.

The 2003 Mustang seat frame is also flat on the passenger side. Driver side was the odd one out.

Measurements:

Mounted and clearance with a couple washers:

Installed in car (headrests to be installed after modification):

Re: SN95 seats DON'T just "bolt to our tracks"?

Reply #11 – October 20, 2019, 07:58:56 PM

I swear both of these seats feel like they sit more forward than stock, but the rear track bolts and sear-back hinge bolts are positioned in the same spot as the old seats. Perhaps these have more rear cushion, and the shorter seat bottoms are just giving me that illusion.

Would like both to have the seat tracks extended rearward a bit at some point.

Re: SN95 seats DON'T just "bolt to our tracks"?

Reply #12 – October 23, 2019, 10:54:23 AM

I have heard that the 99+ seats have the latch for the seat belts bolted to the seat itself instead of the trans tunnel. I have also heard that the 99+ latch will not accept the 95 and down seat belts. You may have to remove the latch off the seats you have and run with the stock latch so your seat belts will work. May want to check this now and I would be curious to know if that is BS or not.

Re: SN95 seats DON'T just "bolt to our tracks"?

Reply #13 – October 23, 2019, 04:03:43 PM

I did some seat "upgrades" using TMI items as well. I was able to take a stock set of Turbo Coupe seats and modify them. First, I stripped them down to the bare frames, added upgraded "Cobra" style foam with more aggressive bolstering from TMI. Then, I recovered them with a seat cover set from TMI that I was able to custom spec the color combo/material for ... the SVO Mustang used the same charcoal color, so it matched up nicely. This allowed me to keep the adjustable side bolsters and knee bolster along with the lumbar.

Here's the link, but all of the photos have since disappeared:
https://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/index.php?topic=40410.0

Pics of the finished product ... you'll have to forgive the lighting. This is where I ended, but there was a lot of experimentation along the way. I did some hole drilling in a spare power seat track with some Corbeau seats, but just never got them to fit to my liking. Looks like yours bolted up without too much issue, Good job.

Re: SN95 seats DON'T just "bolt to our tracks"?

Reply #14 – October 23, 2019, 05:00:00 PM

Quote

I have heard that the 99+ seats have the latch for the seat belts bolted to the seat itself instead of the trans tunnel. I have also heard that the 99+ latch will not accept the 95 and down seat belts. You may have to remove the latch off the seats you have and run with the stock latch so your seat belts will work. May want to check this now and I would be curious to know if that is BS or not.

Our seat belt buckles bolt to the seat track. I bolted the seats to my tracks, and the buckles are the same factory ones. I did shorten the buckle mounting bolt on the passenger side so that it doesn't press into the upholstery, but that was just excess bolt length.