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Seat conversion problem

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Old Jan 15, 2021 | 09:47 PM
  #1  
FordWindsorLife's Avatar
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Seat conversion problem

Alrighty, so I apparently did not entirely plan this through. I was wanting to convert my 1993 F250 5.8l XLT Extended cabs bucket seats into bench seats. My current bucket seats were beyond repair. So I picked up some 1992 F150 XLT bench seats, payed for them, and the bolts dont line up. I see two holes in front of the bench where they are supposed to be and line up perfectly. So I guess my question is, is there any way to try and get this to work without having to drill holes into the cab? Any help would be much appreciated!
 
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Old Jan 15, 2021 | 10:13 PM
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Nope, you’ll have to drill 4 new holes for the bench, none of the original 8 holes for the buckets will be reused.
 
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Old Jan 15, 2021 | 10:45 PM
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You could weld some angle/flat stock to your bench rails with holes that index to the existing mounting locations.
 
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Old Jan 16, 2021 | 10:40 PM
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Alrighty so I was able to drill the holes and mount the seat, now my only question. Do any of you know of any seat covers that would look like this https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/BK_7302656 ?
Problem being, mine is a 50/50 bench, and they fold at a angle each towards the center. So any help would be appreciated, not finding any retro style bench seats for it.

 
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Old Jan 17, 2021 | 07:51 AM
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Originally Posted by FordWindsorLife
Alrighty so I was able to drill the holes and mount the seat...
Only because I’m curious, did you reinforce the mounting points or are you relying on the sheet metal to hold the bench in place if you get in an accident?

I don’t see how you would be able to put the cover on the seat back. There wouldn’t be enough fabric to allow half of the seat to fold forward. My guess is that someone does make a cover for that seat style.
 
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Old Jan 17, 2021 | 10:16 AM
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Originally Posted by FordWindsorLife
Alrighty so I was able to drill the holes and mount the seat, now my only question. Do any of you know of any seat covers that would look like this https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/BK_7302656 ?
Problem being, mine is a 50/50 bench, and they fold at a angle each towards the center. So any help would be appreciated, not finding any retro style bench seats for it.
Seatcoverman.com. I've bought seat covers from him a bunch of times, including for the exact seat you've got there, in my '92 F250. Just installed a fresh one on my F150 yesterday, in fact.
 
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Old Jan 17, 2021 | 01:54 PM
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Going to be real honest here, I have never done anything like this before. However I did noticed that the metal was thinner in the new drilled spots, so I did begin thinking about how to reinforce it. It is going to happen, just for now until I can figure this out it will remain on the sheet metal.

Also not going to lie, the sheet metal on this truck is rather thick in itself. And the only type of wreck that I can picture that would effect the bench seat either bending, or ripping through the sheet metal (which is already rather thick in the spot where its mounted now) either involves the truck hitting something so hard and fast that it rips out the bolts and sends me flying, or the entire cab folds in the middle. And to be honest this is a pre airbag truck, if any of these were to occur my chest cavity is going to become very intimate with the wheel and dashboard anyhow...
Or is my logic flawed, and or am I not thinking about something? (I cant tell if this came across at condescending or not, genuinely curios)
 
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Old Jan 17, 2021 | 02:01 PM
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No, we’re glad you’re asking these questions.

Exactly what seats are in there now? The captains or the 40/20/40’s? The way I’m reading it you have the bench seat pictured above installer now. Or is that your old seat?

You drilled 8 new holes, yes? I did this swap to my rig and made plates to go underneath the cab and used lock washers. I rode like that for over 2 years and still was not comfortable with it and ended up putting the bench seat back in for safety reasons a couple weeks ago. But I would absolutely not ride the way you have it now with how thin the sheet metal is...
 
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Old Jan 17, 2021 | 02:04 PM
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I see what’s going on. You swapped captains for a bench. So you had to drill 4 new holes. Got it. Either way, yes, it needs to be reinforced.
 
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Old Jan 17, 2021 | 02:10 PM
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Do the plates have to be welded to the vehicle, or are they purely there just to evenly distribute the weight? What were the dimensions of yours?
 
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Old Jan 17, 2021 | 02:13 PM
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I didn’t weld mine, but that wouldn’t be a bad idea.

I no longer have brackets I made to measure but they were rectangles (I had to shape a couple to conform to the floor pan) around 5-6”
 
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