Bench vs bucket Seat rails

by SonOfTheGrim Sat Dec 24, 2016 10:23 pm

I haven't been on here in a while. Over the last year or so I have been able to find or decipher most everything I've needed to get my chevelle going.

In just over a year and a half it has gone from this
Bench vs bucket Seat rails 21345738970_1d5414d736_b

Bench vs bucket Seat rails 21345738970_1d5414d736_b

To this

Bench vs bucket Seat rails 31012780544_ca2b3e02a3_b

Now I am pretty close to getting it on the road for real and I am buttoning up the last details which brings me to the questions I have. Lots of different things about wiring, parts interchange, and dash stuff.

My first question is about the seat rails. My car came with a bench seat but it wasn't bolted down. I took it out and am looking for a set of buckets out of something nice. So I took the bench seat rails off to bolt to whatever new seat I find but these rails don't seem to even fit the floor of my car.
Obviously I am talking about the outer rails since the bench doesn't have inner rails but does anyone have a picture of their bucket or bench seat rails that I could compare to mine? Or maybe pictures of custom rails to mount something like an S10 seat?

Thanks in advance!

by Mcarlo77 Sat Dec 24, 2016 11:53 pm

Did your car come with the front seat belt floor retractors? Reason I ask is that some forget that the rear of rail mounts on top of the retractors. Same with standard bucket seats. Exception is if either is power (although, Chevy didn't have power bucket seats...only Pontiac).

by SonOfTheGrim Sun Dec 25, 2016 12:25 am

That may be what I am looking for. My car did have both the roof and floor retractors. I'll dig those brackets out and see what sense I can make of it. Don't suppose anyone has a pic of stock belts installed to the floor? I have new universal 3 point belts that I'll be installing and could use some pictures to see where the originals bolted anyway.

by SonOfTheGrim Mon Dec 26, 2016 6:59 pm

Does anyone have pictures of their seats bolted down? I got the seatbelt brackets in place and bolted the seat rail to it but that picked the front of the rail up a good inch from the floor. Seems there is something under the front of the rail as well, which makes sense because the holes didn't line up there anyway.

by Mcarlo77 Mon Dec 26, 2016 7:29 pm

I don't have pics of bench/std bucket seats bolted down as my vehicles have swivels. But, the front of the rail will bolt to the floor pan and the rears should rest on top of the front seat belt retractors. The front mtg feet will compensate for the difference in height by being taller. The exception would be if the rails/mtg feet you have are from a power bench seat; in which case the feet would be the same height as both ends would mount to the floor and a different style seat belt retractor used for these would mount behind the seat rails. Can you send some pics of what you have?

by SonOfTheGrim Tue Dec 27, 2016 3:09 pm

This is what I've got
Bench vs bucket Seat rails 31065720594_7e3e4d9785_b

And in the car
Bench vs bucket Seat rails 31868693046_818cfbe15e_b

And the floor of my car
Bench vs bucket Seat rails 31065727164_00b8033587_b

With it all together and in the car the front hole doesn't line up with the hole in the cross brace. I've found pictures of brackets that seem to compensate for the difference. I'll probably make something to bolt the front down. Then I have to figure out the inner rails too.

by fasrnur Tue Dec 27, 2016 8:38 pm

These two links might help you sir. To me it looks like the front bolt might be broken off.

https://www.g3gm.com/t8673-bench-to-buckets-help-and-info
https://www.g3gm.com/t8131-camaro-buckets-into-malibu

by Mcarlo77 Wed Dec 28, 2016 12:00 am

Going off memory, I thought the front leg was taller to compensate for the rear leg sitting atop the floor retractor. Not sure why your mounting holes aren't lining up. I see the floor pans have been replaced. Is it possible the retractor mounting hole isn't located in the proper position? Is it possible the seat track is not original to the car?

by SonOfTheGrim Wed Dec 28, 2016 5:23 am

Thanks for the links. I'll read through them and see what I can find.

Mcarl the floor pans have been replaced but the cross braces were not moved, unless they were prior to me having the car. The rear mounting hole is actually in the frame rails so it really can't move. The front hole is clear and threaded. It just looks like it has a bolt in it from the bad angle and lighting.
It is also possible that the bench seat that came in the car was not the original because like I said, it wasn't bolted down anywhere. The wire that connects the adjustment levers left and right was also missing like it had been knocked off when removing or installing the seat.

by SonOfTheGrim Wed Dec 28, 2016 6:10 am

Looking through the first thread you linked Fastr I found this picture and I have marked what is on my floor in green vs what is not in red.
Bench vs bucket Seat rails 31815912631_20d299a79c_z

Bench vs bucket Seat rails 31815912631_20d299a79c_z

by Mcarlo77 Wed Dec 28, 2016 11:04 am

If your mtg points are correct, then that would lead you to focus on the rails not being correct.

The mtg holes on the feet of my swivel rails measure about 16 1/4" ctr-to-ctr. Using a spare bench seat retractor and positioning it alongside a spare swivel bracket using the common bolt hole mount on the floor as a reference, it looks like your ctr-to-ctr should measure about 15 1/2".

by SonOfTheGrim Thu Dec 29, 2016 4:47 am

I reinstalled the bench seat that was in my chevelle when I got it today and after bolting everything down with the front brackets I made and the retractor brackets on the back the seat is really close to the steering wheel. I actually ended up turning the retractors backward to move the seat back about 8 inches to get a comfortable position. I'll have to make longer brackets for the front but at least for now I have a seat that fits (kinda).
I still don't know what the fitment issue is. I will measure the existing holes and see what I find and I'll have to customize something for new bucket seats anyway.

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