Modern interior options?

[sanders7981]

I know this is probably more of an interior section thread, but what all options exists for modern seating options?  I scored a set of rear 2011-14 leather seats real cheap.  I haven't measured yet because I haven't picked up the seat from the seller, but I am wondering if they would fit?  If so, I am thinking of either just dying them a tan/saddle color, or getting an upholstery shop to make some covers for them.  It would probably take some minor modification of the rear seat area and mounting tabs, but I am cool with that. 

Thoughts?

[c00nhunterjoe]

Ive been eyeing up the modern charger rt seats. Costs are way too high for me though

[sanders7981]

I'll let you know how they fit.  I will have to wait to get some front seats thought.   I will need to do some searching for a good deal.  Cheapest I have found so far is about $800 for a pair. 

[Lord Warlock]

from what I've read on the topic, you'd need to lower the floor under the fronts to use modern rt or srt8 seats.  there is a thread here somewhere where someone did it but it was way more involved than just bolting them in.  katzkin makes nice seat cover replacements.  I swapped tan leather covers on my 2010 challenger

[Mike DC]

 
Compared to modern seats the vintage ones in our cars are smaller at the top.  Narrower.

Pre-1970 lowback buckets are very, well, low-backed.  I can't think of a modern seat I have ever seen with those dimensions.

[sanders7981]

Good info guys.  While I wish the modern seat was just plug and play, I now there will need to be some modifications.  I wonder if a custom seat bracket would be a better alternative then dropping the floor? 

[Lord Warlock]

I believe the reason why they dropped the floor was to get the seat at the correct eye level to see out properly, the headrests would probably come close to the roof otherwise.  It looked like they dropped the floor about 2 inches to make it fit, width wise the seats looked fine.  When they got done the seats looked great in the car.  And to tell the truth, the newer dodge RT seats are very comfortable, I'd love to put a pair in my charger but i'm not going thru the trouble of cutting the floorpan for it, I haven't driven the charger in decades, at least not more than 80 feet or so from the front garage to the back garage. 

[sanders7981]

My wife has a 2010 furious fuschia challenger, so I kind of got the idea because her seats are extremely comfortable.  I'll do some more research into it.  This isn't going to happen anytime soon, but at I will at least have the seats on standby.

[polywideblock]

have you thought about "other " brand  modern seats , might be able to find something that fits without modification and get them recovered to suit 

[Stevearino]

My project involves a Gen 2 body on an LX platform. As you can see from the first picture the seats fit fine in the body. I am not sure why you would have to lower the floor to mount the seats on a regular Gen 2 floor. As you can see from the second picture the seats are mounted here on a cross member that is nearly level with the pinch weld on the door sill. As far as the back seats are concerned they sit on a raised platform and with no platform in the Gen 2 floor they may fit. They sit very tall and as you can see from the last picture the LX package tray lines up with the bottom of my window which is a flush plug. A tunnel back would be much lower. There is a 3 inch height difference to consider but like I said maybe without the raised platform they would fit fine. Don't know about comfort in the back though.

[sanders7981]

Thanks for the pics and info!    those are the seats I want in the front.  I'll be following your build to see how it all turns out.  Good stuff!

[Eifelcharger]

Hi there,
When the basic body repairs are done on my '68 I'm checking out the fitment of bmw 6 series convertible seats. They look nice, are comfortable and have the 3points seatbelts integrated in the backrest .

Good luck

[Eifelcharger]

Just in case you like safety but don't want to fiddle with the lap belt and the thingy hanging from the roof 

[Stevearino]

One very important thing I forgot about The modern Charger seats that may be a deal breaker. They are not 2 door seats. That means that access to the back seat is very difficult. I myself  will probably change over to a set of new Challeger seats in the future. Very important to know if you want to access the rear seat area.

[cdr]

thats a good point STEVE 

[sanders7981]

Ahhhhhh ha.... Yep.  That's true.  Now I get what you are saying.  I wonder what modding would need to be done to make it function I that manner.  New Challenger seats would work, but they are way too expensive. 

[myk]

Eh, I didn't want to deal with having to plan out modifying seats from another car to fit mine, so I went with Procar's Rallye seats.  I bought their seats from Summit along with seat tracks.  Looking back on things I suppose a seat with integrated seat belts would've been nice...

[Stevearino]

Ahhhhhh ha.... Yep.  That's true.  Now I get what you are saying.  I wonder what modding would need to be done to make it function I that manner.  New Challenger seats would work, but they are way too expensive. 

I think it would be quite an undertaking. I think the frame of the 2 door seats is fundamentally different in that it is hinged and has a lock to keep it from rolling forward. Two issues not easily adapted to a fixed frame seat.

Eh, I didn't want to deal with having to plan out modifying seats from another car to fit mine, so I went with Procar's Rallye seats.  I bought their seats from Summit along with seat tracks.  Looking back on things I suppose a seat with integrated seat belts would've been nice...

Those are some sweet looking seats  myk.

[69charger2002]

My brother went with a set of 2002 ford taurus power seats. they fit very nice and he hooked up the power and now they slide back and forth and recline. Seats were $40 on craigslist, and he spent about $200 having custom leather put on them. Looks awesome. He made his door panels and did the whole interior a modern medium gray. Whats so ironic is dodge offered a ton of interior options back then, but gray was not one.. nowadays you can only get gray or taupe seems   

[Mike DC]

Whats so ironic is dodge offered a ton of interior options back then, but gray was not one.. nowadays you can only get gray or taupe seems   scratchchin

Yeah, these days it's pretty much either light gray, dark gray, or tan.  The auto industry has generally decided that interior colors shouldn't be very loud.  And those 3 colors also have the widest spread of possible exterior colors they wouldn't clash with. 


On the other hand, you don't go looking at a used silver car and find out it has a green interior these days.  Some buyers would order some goofy stuff if they had the option.
   

[Stevearino]

Whats so ironic is dodge offered a ton of interior options back then, but gray was not one.. nowadays you can only get gray or taupe seems   scratchchin

Yeah, these days it's pretty much either light gray, dark gray, or tan.  The auto industry has generally decided that interior colors shouldn't be very loud.  And those 3 colors also have the widest spread of possible exterior colors they wouldn't clash with. 


On the other hand, you don't go looking at a used silver car and find out it has a green interior these days.  Some buyers would order some goofy stuff if they had the option.
   

This complies with the philosophy of the car companies as of the 90's. It used to be they would try to build a car that people loved. Usually this meant that some people would hate it also. In the 90's they decided to build cars that would offend people the least. So that is why today we have oatmeal.

[Stevearino]

Sanders7981
I took a look at my seats to see if I could get them to fold over as the 2 door seats do. The seat back is bolted to the base with 4 bolts. Removing the lower bolt allows the seat to pivot forward. With this in mind I am going to investigate the possibility of using the Challenger seat latch system to secure the seat back. I  am only going to invest in one setup for the passenger side as this is all that I think would be necessary for the occasional back seat passenger.

[Mike DC]

 
These days cars are being designed for more than one owner.  Resale value meant shite in the 1960s and now it actually matters.  A silver car with a green interior would hurt the resale value which makes it less likely to be ordered.  Less likely to be ordered --> less likely to be offered. 

[Stevearino]

 
These days cars are being designed for more than one owner.  Resale value meant shite in the 1960s and now it actually matters.  A silver car with a green interior would hurt the resale value which makes it less likely to be ordered.  Less likely to be ordered --> less likely to be offered. 

You are absolutely correct Mike. With cars lasting as long as they do today you have to consider a broad audience. My first car was a 4 door  65 Impala with 60,000 miles on it. It was only 8 years old when I bought it for $600.00 and it was considered a beater almost ready of the junk yard. Cars with 100,000 miles on them were considered rare. Today you are just getting warmed up  when the car hits the 150,000 mark.

[cdr]

very true,my 1st car was a 68 charger,it was 9 years old  i traded my 10 speed bike for it,car was a worn out rust bucket

[Stevearino]

very true,my 1st car was a 68 charger,it was 9 years old  i traded my 10 speed bike for it,car was a worn out rust bucket

Considering what kind of shape these old cars were 40 years ago it is almost miraculous any survived to be restored until today.

[sanders7981]

Sanders7981
I took a look at my seats to see if I could get them to fold over as the 2 door seats do. The seat back is bolted to the base with 4 bolts. Removing the lower bolt allows the seat to pivot forward. With this in mind I am going to investigate the possibility of using the Challenger seat latch system to secure the seat back. I  am only going to invest in one setup for the passenger side as this is all that I think would be necessary for the occasional back seat passenger.

Sweet!  I was thinking something similar, but don't have the actual front seat to do this on.  I do think that modern challenger seats would be more applicable though. 

[Stevearino]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2010-DODGE-CHALLENGER-OEM-FRONT-AND-REAR-CLOTH-BUCKET-SEATS-BLACK-W-GREY-/111326171598?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item19eb8e91ce&vxp=mtr

[sanders7981]

Good find, but I am going to wait and hit up some of the salvage yards later this summer.  There are loads of challengers out there, and I bet quite a bit will end up in some type of accident. 

[Lord Warlock]

something to consider with challenger seats, up through 2010, the drivers seat doesn't have a latch to lean it forward to allow access to the back seat, the passenger side does but not the driver seat.  To do so you have to push the electric seat back button and slowly wait for it to move forward.  I think this may have changed in 2011 or 12, but not sure. 

[Stevearino]

something to consider with challenger seats, up through 2010, the drivers seat doesn't have a latch to lean it forward to allow access to the back seat, the passenger side does but not the driver seat.  To do so you have to push the electric seat back button and slowly wait for it to move forward.  I think this may have changed in 2011 or 12, but not sure. 

I tried that method with my SRT seats. The electric motor will push the seat almost into the steering wheel but you still can't get by it to get into the back seat. You have to get a tilt seat to get by. One on the passenger side would suit me. Unless you are planning to use it as a family car that should be sufficient access.