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

Topic: SN95 seats DON'T just "bolt to our tracks"? (Read 6702 times) previous topic - next topic

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

Reply #15 – October 23, 2019, 05:03:20 PM

Quote

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.

Yeah, they sell fox-mustang "Cobra-like" replacement foam and upholstery. I am still tempted to try such a thing out, but I'd also need to repair my broken or bent driver seat-back. There's things that I just like about the stock seats.

Would be easy to flip the Mustang seats.

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

Reply #16 – October 24, 2019, 12:04:50 AM

Quote from: 85CougarCobra – on 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.

Do those Fox mustang "cobra" version sets work on our frames? Are the frames that similar, or are they identical to Mustangs?

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

Reply #17 – October 24, 2019, 09:39:34 PM

Quote from: Masejoer – on October 24, 2019, 12:04:50 AM

Do those Fox mustang "cobra" version sets work on our frames? Are the frames that similar, or are they identical to Mustangs?

Yes ... sort of ... ha!

Fox Mustang seats are direct bolt ins for our cars. All you have to do is remove the seat from the Mustang and then swap out the seat brackets from the Mustang ones to the Tbird/Cougar ones and then install them in your car, no drilling or modifying involved.

As far as the actual seat construction and inner frames, there are some variations from year to year. The Tbirds/Cougars used a 24" seat back, Mustangs used both 24" and 26" ... they flip flopped back and forth between years and possibly models (GT, LX, convertibles). In my research, I've found the following to basically hold true for Mustangs:

-87-89 used the 26" "high" seat back fully articulated seat with adjustable knee bolster and the large headrest
-90-91 used the same seat, except with a 24" "low" seat back and small headrests
-92-93 went back to the 26" "high" seat back, but kept the smaller headrest, and the adjustable knee bolster went away and was just integrated into the lower part of the seat foam as a single piece.

If you tear down a Tbird/Cougar sport seat (TC, Sport, XR7) ... the inner frames should match a 90-91 Mustang GT/sport seat, the only overall difference is the smaller profile headrest ... but you can pick whichever style headrest you prefer, they all install into the seat back frame the same way. I imagine the seat base frames are probably all the same in Mustangs from 87-93. For the years where they did away with the adjustable knee bolster, I imagine they just achieved this by covering the seat base with a different seat base foam. The seats that I rebuilt were 87-88 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe seats. I tore them down to the bare frames and used TMI seat foam part number 43-73790.

https://www.cjponyparts.com/tmi-seat-foam-sport-svo-style-for-2003-2004-cobra-style-upholstery-1990-1991/p/SF37-V/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkdzQ-aK25QIVjpOzCh35lgUfEAQYASABEgIOp_D_BwE#217=985&year=1990

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

Reply #18 – October 25, 2019, 12:16:15 AM

So you're running the 90-91 seat foam/upholstery with the 87-89 headrest upholstery? The headrest foam is the same as ours?

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

Reply #19 – October 25, 2019, 10:43:41 AM

Any idea about my 83/84 Mustang sport seats? If they are 24 or 26"?

I would like to redo them and put in my Cougar that has LS Cougar seats.

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

Reply #20 – October 25, 2019, 11:24:37 AM

Quote from: Masejoer – on October 25, 2019, 12:16:15 AM

So you're running the 90-91 seat foam/upholstery with the 87-89 headrest upholstery? The headrest foam is the same as ours?

Yes. The TMI foam and upholstery set that I purchased were 90-91 Mustang spec.

These are the TMI part numbers I used:
TMI Cobra Seat Foam (24")        43-73790
TMI Cobra Seat Upholstery (24")      43-73998
TMI Large Headrest Upholstery       43-7305

The seat upholstery kit (# 43-73998) only covers the front seats. It is an 8 piece set - (2) seat bottom covers, (2) seat back covers, (2) small headrest covers, and (2) knee bolster covers.

I called TMI and ordered the upholstery set directly from them because I wanted them to customize the materials and color combo. I believe I ordered the foam from CJ Pony Parts because they were the cheapest option at the time.

All of the pre-made/off the shelf upholstery kits that TMI sells on various websites are pretty much spec'd as stock Fox Mustang interior replacements. I requested material samples from TMI and the 84-86 Mustang SVO gray vinyl was an identical match to the factory charcoal gray used in my car on the door panels. If you have a Tbird/Cougar that shares an interior color with the Mustang, then you can probably get an exact material match ... if not, then you'll need to get creative.

I spec'd the charcoal gray for the body of the seats and then went with a black suede for the inner parts. Because the 90-91 kit comes with smaller headrests, I had to order the larger headrests as an additional option/charge. You don't get new headrest foam, you just re-use your existing - peel the stock covering off and install the new covering. I believe the larger headrest used on the LS/LX/Sport/Turbo Coupe/XR7 are the same as the larger Mustang headrest.

Here's pics of the 87 Mustang seats I had in my car (26" high back) and the Turbo Coupe seats (24" low back) that I ended up converting. The blue Turbo Coupe seats are now what is converted and in my car.

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

Reply #21 – October 25, 2019, 11:39:16 AM

Can you send me the set of photos from your other thread, so I can piece together what all you did? I can pm you my e-mail address if you don't have them up anywhere, such as dropbox, google drive, etc.

It sounds straightforward, but seeing is telling.

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

Reply #22 – October 25, 2019, 11:49:48 AM

Quote from: mcb82gt – on October 25, 2019, 10:43:41 AM

Any idea about my 83/84 Mustang sport seats? If they are 24 or 26"?

I would like to redo them and put in my Cougar that has LS Cougar seats.

Do you have the adjustable knee bolster or is the base a single piece? You probably have the 24" low back, I think all the pre '87 Fox Mustang seats were 24" ... but don't hold me to that. I'll try to snap a picture of the bare frame when I get home later and post it. You can measure the backs ... just go from the bottom of the back to the top (below the headrest) ... it should be noticeable if you are well past 24".

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

Reply #23 – October 25, 2019, 12:02:59 PM

Quote from: Masejoer – on October 25, 2019, 11:39:16 AM

Can you send me the set of photos from your other thread, so I can piece together what all you did? I can pm you my e-mail address if you don't have them up anywhere, such as dropbox, google drive, etc.

It sounds straightforward, but seeing is telling.

Unfortunately, I don't have them ... sorry about that. Don't know why, but looks like I must have deleted most of them from my phone. A have a few, but not much that would help without any context. I did some searching and LMR has a good video that pretty much holds true: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=13&v=tFnsX3tv4fA

I posted the photos directly to the message board, but they must have gotten lost in the move to the new host somehow. BCA reached out and said that he has them saved. He's going to try to put them back into the thread over the weekend if he has some time.

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

Reply #24 – October 25, 2019, 12:05:12 PM

Sorry ... wrong video ... try this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj7F-wLQFSA

The backseat stuff obviously doesn't apply. For that, I was able to order material from TMI by the yard. I took the back seat to a local upholstery shop and had it recovered to match the front seats.

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

Reply #25 – October 25, 2019, 07:23:26 PM

Quote from: 85CougarCobra – on October 25, 2019, 11:49:48 AM

Quote from: mcb82gt – on October 25, 2019, 10:43:41 AM
Any idea about my 83/84 Mustang sport seats? If they are 24 or 26"?

I would like to redo them and put in my Cougar that has LS Cougar seats.

Do you have the adjustable knee bolster or is the base a single piece? You probably have the 24" low back, I think all the pre '87 Fox Mustang seats were 24" ... but don't hold me to that. I'll try to snap a picture of the bare frame when I get home later and post it. You can measure the backs ... just go from the bottom of the back to the top (below the headrest) ... it should be noticeable if you are well past 24".

So here's my physical seat measurement research that hopefully helps. All of these seats are 85-88 Tbird/Cougar. The bare frame and foam are from an '85 Cougar GS, The red vinyl seat is from my '86 Cougar GS convertible, and the two tone raven sport seat is from an '87-88 Turbo Coupe. Without taking apart the sport seat, I don't know if the seat back frame is the same part number as the others, but I suspect it is ... the bolstering and contours of the seat are all done with the foam and upholstery. The base frames are different with a sport seat due to additional bracketry that controls the side bolster in/out adjustment. Either way, these particular backs all measure to 24" for a Fox Tbird/Cougar. My only call out is that the LS/LX seat back might be 26" ... I don't have one of those handy to measure but they have appeared "taller" to me in the past.

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

Reply #26 – October 25, 2019, 07:26:35 PM

Here's measurements of the actual seats.

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

Reply #27 – October 27, 2019, 03:47:30 AM

I have listed the seats for sale, and have a potential sale already getting lined up. Mostly a waste of money and time, but I'll at least recoup my costs and gain some experience. Just lost some garage floor space and storage of foam/upholstery for a couple years...

I'd love to do this Mustang foam/upholstery swap onto the stick frames, after repairing/strengthening my driver side seat back. I'd also likely refinish the frames, as you had.

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

Reply #28 – October 27, 2019, 07:45:29 AM

This has really got my attention. This may be something I attempt as a winter project.
Well done

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

Reply #29 – October 28, 2019, 09:40:34 AM

Quote from: Masejoer – on October 27, 2019, 03:47:30 AM

I have listed the seats for sale, and have a potential sale already getting lined up. Mostly a waste of money and time, but I'll at least recoup my costs and gain some experience. Just lost some garage floor space and storage of foam/upholstery for a couple years...

I'd love to do this Mustang foam/upholstery swap onto the stick frames, after repairing/strengthening my driver side seat back. I'd also likely refinish the frames, as you had.

Oh man ... sorry to contribute to you selling the seats. I just went down this rabbit hole through trying to make a set of Corbeau seats work in my car. I drilled and modified the seat tracks similar to what you were trying to do here and I just wasn't happy with them. Great seats, just didn't like how they fit in the car. That's what turned my attention to trying to modify the stock seats and led to all my research and discovery with the TMI options. You can even just rebuild a stock sport seat with their foam options if you have the usual side bolster deterioration going on. They also have some interesting foam options that transform the stock seat to a whole different look. It's a nice alternative and you don't have to worry about fitment issues since your building off of a stock frame. The main issue is just knowing what seat assembly your working with and then picking the right items to go along with it.