Seat differences

[Avalanche]

Does any one know if there is a difference between the 1970 challenger seats from the 1973. Are they interchable.

 

[ramenth]

Does any one know if there is a difference between the 1970 challenger seats from the 1973. Are they interchable.

Can't speak for the Challenger, but the seats in my '74 Barracuda came from a '70 Cuda. Front and rear.

 

[Chryco Psycho]

yes they are interchangable but the the hinge / latch is different on the 70 like every other part !! It seems they redesigned the whole car between 70 -71 for no apparent reason

 

[burdar]

73 and 74 didn't use plastic seat backs and the foam isn't replaceable like the 70-71 foam. I doubt you'd be able to recover a 73-74 seat with a 70 seat cover and get a plastic seat back to fit.

The seats will physically bolt in but they won't look stock.

 

[challenger6pak]

70-74 Challenger rear seats all use the same frame and foam. Any style of upholstery can be used on them. The only exception is the convertible seat. The bottom convertible seat frame is the same as the hardtop. The back of the convertible rear seat is narrower to fit the convertible top frame in the car. The front frames and foam are as follows: The 70 is by itself; the 71 & 72 are the same; the 73-74 are the same. If you stay in the same year group the front seat backs are side specific. You can interchange the bottom frames from side to side. You can also change the bottom front seat frames with any year of bottom seat frames. This makes the front seat backs the only year specific item. I post this in case you would need to mix and match to build a seat set before you reupholster them. The seat foam must match the year and type of upholstery you use. The Cuda seats are separated in the same year categories. The frames will interchange with Challenger. To use the Challenger upholstery the seat foam must be changed to match the type and year of Challenger upholstery. Also, I am 90% sure that the front seat frames in a 71 B body are the same as 71 Challenger/Cuda. If so, a 71 Road Runner/Charger front seat bottom could be used as a replacement bottom seat frame for any year of Challenger/ Cuda. As has been said, any of the seats will physically interchange if you do not worry about the year/style break down.

 

[Chryco Psycho]

I agree , the B Body seats and A body too are the same frame but use different rails on the floor as the floor pans are different shape

 

[burdar]

The 70 is by itself; the 71 is by itself; the 72-74 are all the same.

But 72 still used a plastic seat back...73-74 did not. My guess is the 72 seat back is probably a one year only part too.

The foam used in 70 and 71 was replaceable correct? In 72 or 73 they changed to a different style foam that can be repaired but not replaced like the earlier years. Right?

 

[challenger6pak]

I did not know about the A body seats. Just so this does not get too confusing with other things people may have heard or read. The 71 B floor pan is different from the seat mounts back. It is the same pan from the seat mounts forward as the E body. What Chryco says is correct even though you may have heard that the floor pans are the same. They are and they are not.

 

[challenger6pak]

Thanks Burdar. I accidently grouped the seats wrong. The 71 and 72 are the same. You are correct about the foam. The 73 up seats had the foam molded around the frame. You will still have to match uphostry to the foam. I'll change my year grouping on the above post. What I am not sure about is this. Does the 72 seat frame have the foam molded to the frame even though the frame is the same as a 71?

 

[Avalanche]

Thats not confussing at all?????

 

[Ray]

My head just exploded!

 

[burntorange70]

Thats not confussing at all?????

Lets go at it another way.

What is it your trying to do?



They will not be factory but will work/interchange.

 

[Avalanche]

Lets go at it another way.

What is it your trying to do?



They will not be factory but will work/interchange.

I have a 70 chally with rusted seats and frames. I have an oppertunity to buy a complete set of seats from a 73 chally. I was wondering if I could re-cover the 73 to look like 70. But from the posts I realized that the seats are too different and wont look correct.

 

[challenger6pak]

What is rusted on your 70 seats?

 

[Avalanche]

What is rusted on your 70 seats?

The car is a convertible and on the driver side seat one of the tracks are rusted and missing 1/2. The passenger side is just rusted and not moving. the back seat the part that connects to the floor one is rusted off.
I thought it would be easier and cheaper to find seats with good tracks and bottoms, than trying to fix and weld pieces.

 

[challenger6pak]

Sounds like you need seat tracks and a rear seat bottom. Do you have any pics of the rear seat bottom. It is the bottom horizontal part, not the top vertical part of the rear seat. I have taken all of the upholstery off of seats and welded in pieces to repair rust outs. I have replaced the springs that were rusted out also. This may be an option for you. It's not a bad job. It is just another step to get the car done. It is why I tried to explain mixing and matching of seat parts to make a whole. I remember the day where there were not many aftermarket parts. You had to make what you needed. I worry we may head back that way if the economy stays the way it is. I would start by taking the seats out if they are not out already. You can take the two side bolts out of the seat with the frozen track and separate the bottom from the seat top or back. This way the seat bottom can be put flat on a work bench. With the bottom being the only thing to work with you can use WD-40, Penatrol or another rust freeing substance on the seat track. I have let tracks sit for a few days and then with the help of a hammer I was able to tap them on their ends until they freed up. Don't tap the studs to try and free up the tracks. They will break off. On each seat one track will move without disengaging the slide lock. The other track will have to have the slide lock disengaged for it to break loose.

 

[Avalanche]

I'm going to take your advice and seperate the seat from the bottom and try to loosen the tracks. I thought it would be easier and cheaper to find good donor seats than fix what I have. But it sounds like it may require less time than I think.
Thanks for the advice!

 

[challenger6pak]

I looked at some tracks I have here. Originally, I was thinking of a different type of track. Both tracks have locks. There is the handle to release the track on one side. There should be a cable that goes across to the other track to release it at the same time. If your cable is missing you will have to release the track with the tab the cable is mounted to. If you don't release these locks your tracks won't move. Let me know how it turns out.
Tod

 

[Avalanche]

After re-reading this thread i can understand the differences in the seats. My question is, can you use the 71 seats with the 70 plastic backs(to put in a 70 chally) ? I know that 70 had metal covers and 71 didn't, but is that the only difference?
What I'm trying to do is use 71 seats with 70 foams and seat covers, with 70 backs. To make it look 70 original.

 

[Chryco Psycho]

the frame is similar , installing 70 covers onto those seats & using the plastic backs works fine , you may have to buy or build foam to match the contours of the different covers