1968 Rear seatbak Gap-osis

[franklinair]

Put the rear seatback in place today
There's a good 1" to 2" gap on each side. I'd had the seats re-upholstered some time ago, but just now got to the point of putting things back together. The rear quarter panels fit fine, but the seatback has an obvious gap on each side. Re-upholster & side padding?
The dash is going back together: applied 15"hg to the system, and all valves/doors work properly. (Marty- painted A/C Control Panel as you advised. Looks good.) I now have the A/C upgrade kit from ClassicAir, that will be next (plus the P/B Booster).

Neil

 

[rvrtrash]

They didn't give you a back frame for a convertible did they? I don't know how much narrower they are, but have heard they are narrower. Is there enough material in the back where they hog ringed it to just loosen the sides and slip some foam in?

Steve

 

[franklinair]

I'm going to pull the seatback out, and get a closer look at it. I thought about the 'narrowness' of the seatback and had the same thought about a convertible seat, but when you order upholstery they do not differentiate between coupe or convertible.

Neil

 

[di81977]

I can pull and measure my convertible rear seat later tonight, if that helps.

Glad to see you keeping busy Neil.

David

 

[franklinair]

That would be great. I'd appreciate the info. You don't really need to PULL the seatback- just measure the width.

Neil

 

[whodat]

I have the same problem.

 

[di81977]

Convertible rear seat is 43" measuring side to side from the back and 46" measuring from the front. I also noticed that a convertible rear seat has a much more pronounced hump in the middle compared to a coupe seat.

Hope this helps.
David

 

[franklinair]

I'll measure my coupe's seatback, and compare measurements.
Options:
1.) Cover exposed gap area (trunk divider board) with Nugget Gold vinyl.
2.) Add padding to the sides & re-cover.
3.) Purchase new seatpads & re-cover.

Current status is not acceptable.

Neil

 

[CougarCJ]

Convertible rear seat is 43" measuring side to side from the back and 46" measuring from the front. I also noticed that a convertible rear seat has a much more pronounced hump in the middle compared to a coupe seat.

Hope this helps.
David

They would be much thinner in thickness, too, at least on 1969-73 convertible seat backs. 1967-68 are they fairly thin too?

 

[dalorzo_f]

but when you order upholstery they do not differentiate between coupe or convertible.

Find a better vendor! They are VERY different!

I had a similar problem on my 68 S GT coupe. I found I had 67 rear 1/4 panels, when I went back to the originals (saved as in Oz you have to cut panels to mount seat belts and I wanted to keep the originals untouched) they fit fine.

As the fit with the 67's was so bad I also did not screw the panels to the body steel at the sides, which lets them "flex" inwards a bit more...

So are you sure they are the correct panels and seat, as the upholstery will not shrink steel by 1"!

 

[dalorzo_f]

Here's a pic of 68 convertible and coupe seatbacks side-by-side. Seat bottoms are equally diferent in dimensions...

 

[franklinair]

Very interesting, which raises more questions:
Are '67 & '68 quarter trim panels different? (P/N?, Dimensions?)
What is the width comparison, Coupe versus Convertible seatbacks & seatbottoms?

I will try to contact TMI (most popular manufacturer) and ask of any difference in coupe/convertible upholstery. The retail vendors' catalogs (NPD, MU) do not differentiate between the two.
As for my specific problem, I don't know if the PO mixed/matched seat parts when they re-did the interior. It wouldn't surprise me if they did. I'm finding a myriad of mistakes pertaining to 1968 models in general. Luckily, they are all relatively minor, but still require attention to make the car 'correct'.
Admittedly, I am taking some liberties in changing a few things from the original status of the car: I'm upgrading the interior to Deluxe, adding a Power Brake booster, and converting the A/C to the Sanden compressor & 134 freon, and I added the Mini-tach in place of the clock.

Neil

 

[dalorzo_f]

Are '67 & '68 quarter trim panels different?

Yes. 67 is part C6ZB-6531012/3. 68 is C8ZB-6531012/3. At least per the FAM drawing.

The main difference, as far as I can tell, is the 67 has a lip on the part that sits by the package tray that slips under the package tray that has an oval hole for a screw. On 68 this is not there, but a small "L" tab is on the inner side of the upper edge of the panel, this screws to the seatback near the clips that hold the tray down. Screws go horizontal into the seat back support on '68, where as on '67 they go vertically down. There may be other differences, but based on my pair that's what I recall when fixing my similar issue.

 

[dalorzo_f]

On NPD, their on line catalog clearly allows selection of coupe, convertible or fasback complete kits. If you look at how you order it is US-Y-SS-C.

The old e-paper pops up a note to call NPD for help, and as I don't have hard copy I'd guess if you call or mail in the order they gat back to you with clarification.

Where

US = Upholstery set
Y = year ,5,6,7,8
SS = body style, 63, 65, 76 (for 68)
C = color (alpha code)

 

[dalorzo_f]

Just a note, the FAM also calls out a different seat bottom as well from 67 to 68. I posted on VMF trying to see if anyone knew the year-to-year differences, and pretty much got laughed at. Most there don't seem too interested in correct anymore, as many of the "experienced" folks moved on to Concours forum, Stangfix and others after Bob sold it...

Been trying to document all convertible specific changes, and the seat back/bottom was one I could not get details on. I'd think one would need one of each side-by-side to do a detailed comparison as I'd bet its a subtle difference.

 

[dalorzo_f]

One more I found of the seat backs...

 

[CougarCJ]

One more I found of the seat backs...

Thanks, that's what I'm talking about. Thin on the top is convertible.

 

[dalorzo_f]

Yep. Smaller overall too... height and width. The convertible seat base is also not as wide or deep as the coupe. No way a coupe kit will fit on a convetible or the other way around...

 

[franklinair]

The seatback in my coupe is like the coupe version in the photo. Just too narrow in overall width.

Neil

 

[Ruppstang]

Most likely the pading was lost or damaged. Possibly pulled the sides too tight. At any rate it need to come apart and be repaired. Marty