Power seat conversion for a 2nd gen.

[Dino]

Low on the list of mods I want but it's on there nonetheless.  I would like to replace my manual tracks with power tracks.  I don't think there's an actual bolt in unit so does anyone have any idea which power seat tracks would work in a Charger with some modification?  I don't want to cut up the floor but don't mind drilling a few new holes or cutting up and re-welding the tracks to fit my seats and floorboards.  They need to be 6 way seat tracks but I think that's what the more luxurious Chrysler's had anyway.

[JB400]

Maybe find a c body with them?

[Dino]

Maybe find a c body with them?

That's what I was thinking as well.  However if any track needs substantial modifications then I may better use something a little more modern...and then hook that up to an old c-barge switch.

[Ghoste]

Or would it be easier to retrofit something modern but from a much smaller car?  (knowing nothing about power seats my line of thinking here being that a smaller car would have a more compact mechanism and thereby easier to fit?)

[Dino]

Yeah I think that would make sense.  Heck maybe I can adapt the power parts to fit the original tracks.  I am trying to see the process and somehow it doesn't seem all that complicated.  Then again, those are usually famous last words in my book.   

[squeakfinder]

    I made a set of 77 Cordoba seats work in a 68 Charger along time ago. The driver side was electric. I never tried to mount the stock 68 seat to the electric tracks. I'm thinking I had to drill at least a couple of holes in the driver side floor to make it work.

[Ghoste]

There's a great source too, those mid to late 70's B-bodies would have similar dimensions to work with.  I wonder if the motors themselves though would be any different than C-body ones?  They might be the same. 

[Cooter]

Any newer car will be a crap shoot at best as to whether the seat track itself will physically be the same for the seat bottom as well as the floor pan. Most tracks in newer cars are NOT level like the floor bolt pattern of a 2nd Gen. Charger.

[Dino]

Cooter that's a good point, it may be more trouble than it's worth trying to fit the new stuff.

Squeek, those Cordoba's are starting to be my new favorite car, they have all the goodies I want in the Charger.   

I need to go to the local junkyard and see what they have.


Now I know that b bodies did not have power seats so what did in those days  Just the c bodies?

[Mopar Nut]

How often do you move your seat to make it worth installing power seats?

[Dino]

How often do you move your seat to make it worth installing power seats?

Unless my wife drives it, there is no need to move the seat period.  However this is a want more than a need, I like the power options so I try to incorporate as many as I can and make some up alomg the way.  With the c body switch installed it'll even look stock.

[Ghoste]

When you think about it that way, is there much need for power seats in any vehicle that was ever made?

[Cooter]

When you think about it that way, is there much need for power seats in any vehicle that was ever made?

Po0wer seats in a car/truck are like a Hemi VS 440 back in the day....One orders either one for different reasons.

[Ghoste]

Yeah, we have power seats in both of the newer cars here at my place and I'm sure whatever we order this year will have them again.  I'm just more agreeing with the statement about an actual need for them.  I rarely drive my wife's vehicle and she rarely mine so that is how often the seats would be changed.

[Cooter]

Yeah, we have power seats in both of the newer cars here at my place and I'm sure whatever we order this year will have them again.  I'm just more agreeing with the statement about an actual need for them.  I rarely drive my wife's vehicle and she rarely mine so that is how often the seats would be changed.

I understand, but it's the same thing..One RARELY needs to pay the extra for the SRT model, or the $900.00 extra for the 426 HEMI, when the base/440 model works just as well/better.

[Dino]

When two people share a car it's worth it.  In fact I always liked the memory seat and mirrors like Audi has.  Each keyfob when unlocking the car will put the seat and mirrors back to your settings.  Very convenient.  In my case there is no need for power seats at all, it's just something I want to have.  I did say it's low on the list.   

[Cooter]

I know what you mean Dino. I have all these power thingies in my Ram that's now getting up on 14 years old. I cringe every time I use one of them, but I try not to "Get used to them to the point I rely on them"...However, the heated mirror thingy is a wonderful thing when your mirrors are all frozen up with frost.

[Dino]

Cooter I feel that as long as you keep using the power things it'll be fine.  This stuff tends to break when we don't use it for a long time but seems fine as long as we use it a lot.  The more I use the Charger, the better it runs and the less little things break.

There's a few things that are a must though and the power windows is one of them.  I can't count the times I pulled over this year to roll em up or down.  If I would drive the car on Sunday's only then maybe I'd be fine without but for the miles I put on that thing it's no luxury.

I love my heated mirrors!  This is not just luxury but safety as well.  With as much crap as car companies come out, sometimes they do get it right.   

[squeakfinder]

     I resized a picture of seat tracks from a 78 Magnum about 8 times now. Still won't let me post it 

[Mike DC]

                         
By the time you fix all the problems with the 68/69 seat, you have built an entire new seat.


The stockers are not comfortable, not supportive, not adjustable, and the frames are not strong enough in a wreck.  And they still somehow ended up being heavy.  It's like the designers purposely set out to make a bad seat.

[Dino]

                         
By the time you fix all the problems with the 68/69 seat, you have built an entire new seat.


The stockers are not comfortable, not supportive, not adjustable, and the frames are not strong enough in a wreck.  And they still somehow ended up being heavy.  It's like the designers purposely set out to make a bad seat.

Yep they sure did screw up those!  I'm already designing new seat foam for it so I can make them more comfy and supportive.  Right now the only thing holding me in the seat is the removable cup holder that wedges between seat and console.   
Once the shoulder belts are in this will keep me in the seat a bit better.

I need to make it work though, I aboslutely love the stock seats with headrests.  There's as much chance of me swapping them for something else as I would cut up the grille!

I love working on this car and customizing stuff to make it look stock.  I would enjoy adapting the stock seats but again, low on the list, I have more pressing matters.

[kab69440]

Try the mechanism from a mid 90's Suburban. It's very similar in size and configuration to the 6way unit. Cheap, readily available and a two wire hookup.

[Mike DC]

Try the mechanism from a mid 90's Suburban. It's very similar in size and configuration to the 6way unit. Cheap, readily available and a two wire hookup.

Interesting.  

Although I'd rather have it manual.  I wonder if there is a non-power base model seat like that?  

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Yep they sure did screw up those!  I'm already designing new seat foam for it so I can make them more comfy and supportive.  Right now the only thing holding me in the seat is the removable cup holder that wedges between seat and console.   icon_smile_big
Once the shoulder belts are in this will keep me in the seat a bit better.

I need to make it work though, I aboslutely love the stock seats with headrests.  There's as much chance of me swapping them for something else as I would cut up the grille!

I love working on this car and customizing stuff to make it look stock.  I would enjoy adapting the stock seats but again, low on the list, I have more pressing matters.

Yeah, I think some stock-looking improvements to the '60s buckets would be a great tweak for these cars.  

The real problem is the frames.  I think they need a recline & lumbar adjustment, and some extra side bolstering.  The only way you're gonna get that would be to weld portions of another car's seat frame into the stock frame.  

Or maybe use a different seat frame entirely.  Strip it down to bare metal and literally just cut/weld/reshape things until it can be upholstered to look like a Mopar seat.

[Dino]

Thanks for the tip kab, I'll definitely check those out.   

Mike I was thinking about doing all that and I may install a lower back support as they are fairly small and easily installed.  I do miss that in the Charger as I have the one in my Honda set up pretty hard.  While I'm at it I could also install seat warmers but it would have to be real cheap and I doubt it is.  Although junkyards should have plenty of them....

For side bolsters we'll use foam.  Soft foam in the middle but a hard foam core on the sides covered in softer foam.  That'll give me cushion and support.  The seat covers will have a strip of neoprene stitched between the front of the cover and the sides so when you plop in the seat it will stretch instead of tear.  This will also make the cover look tight on the foam instead of loose and wrinkly.

Making a modern seat look like the old had not crossed my mind but it's a damn good idea.  The original frame is real simple and it shouldn't be too hard to make the new look like the old. 

I guess I have something to think about here.

[Iron Chef]

You might try something along the lines of what Kenny Wayne did on his 3rd Gen:

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,84183.msg1010869.html#msg1010869

(It's post 103)

I know yours isn't a 3rd Gen, but it's a good idea I thought.  Was going to do that on mine but then decided to go with Corbeau GTS II seats.

[Dino]

You might try something along the lines of what Kenny Wayne did on his 3rd Gen:

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,84183.msg1010869.html#msg1010869

(It's post 103)

I know yours isn't a 3rd Gen, but it's a good idea I thought.  Was going to do that on mine but then decided to go with Corbeau GTS II seats.

Ooo nice!  Thanks for the link, never saw that car.

I think it will be real easy to simply take an existing seat and transplant the moving parts over to my frame OR as Mike DC suggested, take a modern seat and make it look like a 2nd gen seat.  With all the foam fabbing I have to do to make the stock seats supportive, I'm leaning more and more towards that.  Seems easier to me to just start adapting the foam on a new seat until it looks like a 2nd gen seat.  I do need to pay attention to the overall height, that will be the tough part.  If it doesn't go low enough then my wife can't drive the car.

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

How often do you move your seat to make it worth installing power seats?

+1