Thanks, I am fired up again to get it done so things should keep moving forward ok. Went out last night after work and finished bolting the cab down, next I will be putting the steering column and pedals back in for final checks. Need to install the gas pedal, figure out what seat to use, dash mods, guage placement, etc..
Gotta find that thread with different seats that have been used, I do not know if I want to use the stock seat..maybe if I pack some foam in it to stiffen it up, it is like a worn out couch right now!
I have been told that the cab for truck #1 is also being worked on, so at some point that will show up and I will have to get back to the 6 speed truck as well.

 

Hey Dave,
Looking good over there! You are making great progress in the middle of
winter! Whatever happened to truck #1? Did you sell it off?


Ben in Austin
1950 F1


Here is the seat article I think you were looking for. We used a Chevy S10 bench seat in our's - works great & looks stock.


Here are some measurements that you might want to consider when looking for a new seat.
· Inside cab width from door panel to door panel (where the seat bottom is the widest)
o 1948-1952 F-1 = 53.5 inches
o 1953-1956 F-100 = 58 inches
· Distance between the door handle tips
o 1949 F-1 = 51.5 inches
· Distance between the fat part of the door handles
o 1949 F-1 = 45-5/8 inches
· Distance across the cab at the rear door post
o 1949 F-1 = 57 inches
· Distance from door panel to door panel
o 1957-1960 F-100 = 62 inches
· Distance from door handle to door handle
o 1957-1960 F-100 = 56 inches
· Stock bench seat width
o 1960 F-100 = 59 inches
There seems to be an issue (particularly found by older members of the forum) with the space between the steering wheel and the seat shrinking over time, resulting in limited intestinal accommodation. Fortunately the newer seats use a different type of spring so they tend to be thinner in the back. This provides more room in that area. This is something to think about before you buy a big, fat seat out of a Cadillac or Lincoln or some other land yacht. With a newer seat, you will usually pick up storage space under the seat bottom as well.
The following suggestions are based upon input from this forum. There is also an article in the August 2004 issue of Classic Truck that deals with this subject and contains many pictures of the suggested alternative seats. Note that we are not spending time discussing bucket seats. Once you ditch the console, you can pretty much fit any bucket into any truck, although generally you’ll end up with a built in headrest sticking up in your back window.
1948-1952 Trucks – Seat Width No More Than 52 Inches
· 2000 Ford Escort buckets
· Mid/late 1980s to 1996 Ford Ranger or Broncos
o 60/40 bench or buckets
o Perfect fit
o Used by many
o Bench is 51” wide at it’s widest point
o Back folds forward
o No headrests to poke up in the back window
o 2-door donors fold, 4-door donors don’t
o Very popular with members of the forum
· 1989 through mid 1990s Ford Explorer
o Buckets or 60/40 bench
· Middle or rear seats out of a 1996 Dodge Caravan
· 1996 and newer Chevy Astro Van
· 1996 and newer full sized GM van middle or rear seats
· 1995 and newer Toyota Tacoma
· 1994 and newer Chevy S-10/Sonoma
1953-1960 Trucks – Seat Width No More Than 58 Inches
· 2001 F-150
NOTE: There are several different styles of bench seats used in the late 1980s through late 1990s GM trucks – quasi-buckets, 60/40s and full benches. They all tend to have thin backs which helps to increase leg space where needed. Some have built in arms rests and a level of seat bottom sculpturing to them, some don’t. These seats are also well liked by a number of the members of this forum.
· 1988-1998 GM truck seats
o Excellent looking brackets
o Easy to adapt
o Headrests tend to be removable
· 1988-1994 Chevy Silverado bench
o No headrest
o Fold down arm rest
o Very stylish
· 1997 and newer F-150 bench
o Has a built in headrest
o Brackets are a bit of a challenge
· Late 1990s Chevy Suburban
· 1987 Chevy pickup bench
· The 2000 and newer Suburban
o 60/40 bench
o Removable headrests
o Not the most stylish thing
o Brackets are clunky looking
The 1999 and newer GM Silverado 40/20/40 “bench” is an interesting possibility. It’s 60 inches wide, but it’s really more like two buckets with a “jump seat” between. You could easily omit the middle section and put in a narrower console or nothing. They do have built shoulder belts, saving you the issue of mounting the shoulder restraint to the wall between the rear window and the doors. You might fit this whole set up into a 1953-1960 F-100. The 1994 through 2001 Dodge truck also has a similar set up, though less stylish than the GM version. It will have the same pluses and minuses.
Another issue to consider is that you need to build some sort of bracket to mount your new seat(s) to your truck. If you’re using the 1988-1998 GM seats, it’s pretty straightforward. Just look at the stock GM mounting brackets and it’s a no brainer. However, if you’re using Ford seats or buckets, this can get a little tricky. For a few good pictures of the brackets one member made to install a later model seat check out this thread. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=114729 The work was done by KAI - our German buddy. He was putting a 1980 F-350 seat in a 1954 F-100. His brackets deal quite nicely with the weird bend/angle in the front of the stock Ford brackets. They are wonderful in their simplicity and could easily be modified to compensate for a shorter driver.
For an excellent example of brackets fabricated to hold the 1996-2000 Ranger 60/40 bench/bucket, check out those made by Scott123 (Scott Jones). He has provided pictures and plans, so you could make a copy of the “Scott123 Super-Duper seat frame 2000” if you wish.
Check out their galleries for the pictures/plans referred. <!-- / message -->
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Fomoko1..Morris Chapter Leader Manitoba/Saskatchewan
2012 F150 Super Cab FX4
56 F350 dually & 53 & 56 M100 93 F150
98 Ranger XLT S/cab
65/67 Mustang Fastbacks

 

Hey Ben, how ya doing?

Truck #1 cab is in body shop jail, but I have been told it is being worked on, so once that gets back to me that build will continue. I know the chop has been done, just needed finish welding, and cab corners are going on as well. The completed chassis is in the corner covered up for now, that build will continue as soon as the cab is back.
Thanks for the seat info, I know from driving your truck that the S10 seat worked great, did you have it mounted on the stock S10 mounts or was something custom made to mount it?

 

Hey Dave,
You are really getting there on the 2nd truck - been following along.
Your method for getting the rubber cab mounts in there was genius.

We had some old mustang buckets in our truck when we bought it & we adjusted that home made mount to work - nothing fancy. We used some steel plates to make the mounts after playing with the height, pedals, steering wheel, etc. We also had the gas tank relocated to give us more cab room.

Looking good up there in New York!

Ben in Austin
1950 F1

 

Thanks Ben!
You know my wife loves your truck, so dont be suprised that I will be painting the inside of my cab a similar color, only difference being I think I am going to paint the dash with some heavy flake and a darker contrasting blue.
I will hit the boneyard next week and see what is out there for a seat.

 

Dave... I was at a car show this fall and I spoke with a guy that had a nice c10 .. He was using the center row seats from a 2013 Honda odyssey.. It was a neat setup mid height 2 buckets and a center jump seat folded up it looked like a bench and down had nice cup holders ect... It's something worth looking into... I know in my case I'm going to need some sort of split bench or buckets .. If the wife was driving no way I'd be able to fit in the cab and if I moved pedals I wouldn't be able to drive it

 

You know I forgot about the wife driving deal, I converted my 70 chevelle from bench to buckets because when my wife drove my knees were up in the dashboard! Forgot all about it but I do want to be able to get 3 people in the cab, so I may have to look into the split bench as well.

 

Ben,

How are those mounts hooked to the floor pans?

How are the seats bolted onto the mounts?

I don't want to come across as a safety **** but from just those pics you have me a bit concerned.

 

Hey Clint,
The seat "stands" are fully welded into floor support plates & bolted in.
The seats are in there fully bolted with grade 8 bolts. I think I'm good but I'll take another look.

I'll tell you the seat belt style that we choice blows. If they aren't exactly straight up takes forever to get the belt out of there - very frustrating. I'm going to swap in something better this Spring...

Ben in Austin
1950 F1

 

6 months into the build, less about a month I took off since it has been pretty cold out. January 1st the ground was bare, this was the view today and more coming tonight. The 56 Dodge truck never made it inside, wont be moving now for awhile.



Cab is mounted for good now, so put the column back in so I could deal with pedals, seat mounting, dash work, etc. before taking it all back apart for painting.

Got the gas pedal in and had to make a brake pedal, welded and pinned two pedals together to get enough length. Not pretty but plenty strong and it will get cleaned up and painted later.

 

Made brackets today to tie the brake pedal mount to the upper firewall and the lower dash. Made from scrap cutoffs of course, free is good

 

Hey Dave,
After seeing your snow picture above I'm surprised you've been
able to get anything done this past week! Keep up your great momentum!
A lot of the newer guys are following your lead with the Jag IFS - nice to see.

Hang in there. (I'm not going to tell you the weather here in Texas - suffice it to say that the snow we never had - has in fact all melted).

Ben in Austin
1950 F1

 

Hey Ben,
My momentum is close to zero! With the cold I am really getting nothing done, stuff that I would do in a day takes a few days or more since I only go out in the garage for a few hours now here and there. If I were in Texas I would be driving this thing already!
If anyone is following my lead they are really following the others here who did the jag before me, I looked at a lot of great build threads before I started my own. I remember Jeffs build thread specifically, I tried looking through the picture albums of some members but they are too clunky to use so I gave up on that.
I attempted to look at the junkyard today to see what was available as far as a bench seat but as expected everything is buried in snow. Found one dakota split bench in gray but I think I am going to use these bucket seats that I already have. Truck will be blue so a blue interior will work fine. They are from a 1994 chevy full size extended cab truck and only have to be raised 2 1/2" inches from their factory mounting points.

 

Change of plans on the seat, decided to get another look around the boneyard and found a nice split bench with a fold down arm rest. My wife and daughter just may fit in the truck with my fat ****.
My buddies at the boneyard dragged down this Dakota for me so I could work without standing in 2 feet of snow. Balmy 7 degrees and spinning wrenches do not mix!



Seat was in decent shape, grabbed the shoulder belts as well so they will be going in the truck.



Seat will fit nice, but I have to make a platform to raise it up about 6 inches. Because it has mounts like bucket seats I cant just raise the outer part of the seat, there are 4 bolts for each section.



Next problem, another reason not to change direction in the middle of a build!
The new seat puts the driver over to the left almost 2 inches further over than stock, so I need to move my steering column to the left which centers it between the gauge holes (should of been this way IMO anyway!)
This also means new column mount, new or modify the brake pedal bracing I just made, and as a "might as well" I am going to switch steering columns and throw in a tilt column I found on the shelf. Looks to be a 1970s column so not too modern looking and it will help with the steering wheel angle.
Oh well too cold to paint in the garage anyway, might as well do more welding.

 

Nice find on the seats!