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I have decided that I am going to put bucket seats in Henry if for no other reason than to get bolsters to hold my fat butt in one place. I made a preliminary trek to out local U-Pull-It and either it got bigger or I am just not as agile as I one was. After looking at a lot of foreign seats which were too low, I saw a set in a Honda van and they have additional mounts that raise the seats to the same 14" height of Henry's stock seat. I also looked at American seats but for some reason, this yard doesn't seem to have any nice examples. One thing I did see in one vehicle that tweaked my interest was a ratty set that had an arm rest/console in the middle which would I would love to have for some additional storage. Oh and I am not putting in electric since there is no place to go with the seats.
So what have others with '48-'52 F-1s put in their trucks?
Made a trip to the local U-Pull-It and found these. They came out of a 2000 Explorer. The console was gutted and it was the one with a hollow area under the armrest. It was just a shell so I went back last week and got this console out of a Ranger (same console as used in the Explorer) just the wrong color but it was complete. The cup holder is broken but they are still available so I got one off of e-bay.
They were filthy but they cleaned up nice with my Hoover carpet cleaner attachment. But they are only 10" high and the stock seats are 14" high. Took the seats out and found that the pedestal it sat on was 4" high and it unbolts from the seat. So they are bolted in and I'll put a piece of 3/4" plywood on top, cover it with black carpet and mount the seats on that. Making progress. Might consider taking the tank out if I find that I can indeed get some extra legroom by doing so. The stock seat top hit the cab under the window so taking out the tank would not give me any more legroom. Let's hope this seat set up will. While I like the Mustang tank under the truck, that would entail exhaust work so I might look into what could be done in the bed.
I just purchased a 2010 escape with leather and I like the buckets so I might try to look for some with the console. I don't need the electric since not a lot of room for adjustment but do like the way they fit my butt. If I did my bench (stock) I would have just as much in it as the escape seats would cost.
Mr Ed,
In my experience moving the tank will not get you more leg room and will complicate running the exhaust. Mine are 1990 Ranger seats. The original tank is in there.
I don't like to see bucket seats in any classic car or truck so I used a bench seat out of a 1990 Ford Ranger. I tilted it back about two inches and used the original gas tank and tool tray. Had plenty of room at the steering wheel. I'm 6'2" and weigh 215 pounds. I look through the center of the windshield. With the original seat I was looking through the upper 1/4 of the windshield.
2000 ford windstar van . The height is correct for my 53 but the nice thing about power is the tilt and height movement even if you can't use fore & aft .
Mr Ed,
In my experience moving the tank will not get you more leg room and will complicate running the exhaust. Mine are 1990 Ranger seats. The original tank is in there.
Agreed. The stock seat back hits the cab just under the window so it would not yield any more leg room. Just thinking out loud. Your seats look good. My original seat was redone in vinyl and it is a bit slippery so the bolsters on the buckets are to keep my fat carcass in place. Makes me wonder how a tall driver drove these back in the day.
You could test the seats mounted a little higher than stock for increased leg room. That can then become a headroom issue and/or a steering wheel issue. My steering column came out of a late 70's T-Bird. It is a tilt column. I went thru a test for seat position before final fab of the seat support.
I was thinking of doing just that. But I think it will be for naught since my tilt wheel, already in the up position, hits my belly. But hey, it's worth a shot.
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