New seat

[Bill Hanlon]

With MUCH help from Bill Brubaker (he did MOST of the work) I now have a new seat in my '52 GMC.
This seat is from a 2003 GMC Safari van (Chevy Astro van) with a leather package and removable 2nd
and 3rd row seating.

Here is what the seat looks like when popped out of the van.

The seat has two of these brackets on the bottom to allow easy removal from and insertion to the Safari
van. Not all vans have this quick release seating.

We removed each bracket (they are identical, not mirror image of each other) by taking out two small
bolts at the front and one large bolt at the rear of each bracket.

Here is a detail shot of the front attach point of the bracket.

We cut the front attach point off of the bracket to use with our new seat mount.

We bent and cut the front attach point from the bracket to line up with the seat and our new 1" x 1" tubing
that runs between the stock seat slides about 1" behind the original attach bolts.

Welded it together and put "tabs" on the bottom of the front square tubing 47.5" center to center of
the original slide mounting bolts.

Front is done.

At the rear of the slides we made a "porch" for the 1" x 1" tubing to sit on. This was necessary to get
maximum rear adjustment from the new seat. I'm 6' 5" and need all the legroom an old GMC truck
can spare. This porch is welded to the rear of the slide and is the only permanent modification to the
truck in this whole job. The original seat will drop back in place if desired. The rear of the seat will be
1/8" higher than stock, otherwise it is the same as original.

Detail of the porch and attaching hardware.

Detail of attachment of rear tubing to seat. Note that the attach bolt is captive. MAKE
SURE IT IS THROUGH THE HOLE IN THE ANGLE IRON BEFORE YOU WELD THE ANGLE
IRON TO THE TUBE.

And the results ....

Again, many thanks to Bill Brubaker for his help in welding and fab skills.
And to his wife Susan for putting up with both of us.

 

[Kens 50 PU]

Wow!

That is slick Bill! As is now, have you gained any leg room?

Ken

 

[Bill Hanlon]

I forgot to thank Ken. He and I did the original skull session on this update and decided it was possible to use the stock slides. Thanks Ken!


I gained about an inch of dashboard to vertical part of the seat space. Also, the seat bottom is about an inch lower that with the original seat. This leather seat is thicker that the van's cloth seat options. And more comfy than the stock seat.

If you are available tomorrow I'll drive by and show it to you.

 

[Kens 50 PU]

Cool!

Come around lunchtime! It's my turn to buy!

Ken

 

[Bill Hanlon]

Just remembered I have to go to Conroe and sign up for Medicare in the morning. Should be back in time for a little later lunch. I'll call you when I leave Conroe.

 

[Bilbo]

Hey Bill! I like your computer skills, showing drafting lines and all! I had a good time working with you. That's the kind of project that feels good when done. Seat looks really nice, and is comfortable as well. I had plenty of leg room

 

[Bill Hanlon]

I had plenty of leg room

But you're vertically challenged Bilbo.

 

[Bilbo]

But you're vertically challenged Bilbo.

Yeah, and If you ask around I'm sure you'll find out I'm challenged in a number of other areas as well.....

 

[50 Chevy LS3]

very useful thread...

Thanks, guys, for this very good thread. The seat looks like a perfect fit. I like that you were able to use the original sliders.
This should help a lot of people decide how to get a modern seat on a budget.
I was able to find two original seats, but, they are both in rough shape. You just gave me a much better, less expensive, option.

 

[Chiro]

Looks Great!!!

Good work, fellas. I was wondering when you were going to post a tech article on that. Looks awesome. I would love to find one of those seats to put in my truck. Is it the second or third row seat? Can you please tell me the years and makes this seat came in?

Thanks,

Andy

 

[Bill Hanlon]

Is it the second or third row seat?

In my case it was 3rd row, but my understanding is that on some vans the 2nd and 3rd row seats are interchangeable.

Can you please tell me the years and makes this seat came in?

The guy I got the hint from about using this type of seat said 1998 through 2005 Chevy Astro Van and GMC Safari van. His seat was not equipped with the quick install/remove mechanism that mine had. His bolted to the van floor.

 

[50 Chevy LS3]

I'm curious if it would be hard to make brackets so a guy could use the original side covers?
The ones down low that cover the sliders and seat riser.

 

[Chiro]

In my case it was 3rd row, but my understanding is that on some vans the 2nd and 3rd row seats are interchangeable.



The guy I got the hint from about using this type of seat said 1998 through 2005 Chevy Astro Van and GMC Safari van. His seat was not equipped with the quick install/remove mechanism that mine had. His bolted to the van floor.

I have one of those Astro van seats in my shop in storage. I thaw those brackets on the bottom also. I was going to use it as a back seat in my Model A hot rod that I'm building but it just doesn't fit the period of that build. It doesn't have the arm rest/cup holder in the middle though and it isn't leather. Mine is a third row seat and it is tucked away up in the attic of my garage. I'm not taking it out until spring. LOL. I thought they were way to narrow for our trucks.

How wide is that seat Bill and does the cushion line you up nicely with the steering wheel?

Andy

 

[Chiro]

Lucky

Bill,

I remember some time ago when you first told us you were looking for such a seat. I began searching craigslist for one but gave up after not being able to find the leather one. I even asked some of the boneyards near me but they didn't have any either.

I just searched Craigslist this morning and the exact same seat popped up about an hour drive away. Hopefully he still has it when I call him later.

Andy

 

[Chiro]

Porch

Hey Bill,

Instead of building that "porch" can't you just use a spacer to bring the rear of the seat up enough to clear so you get full rearward adjustment of the new seat for legroom?

Andy

 

[Bill Hanlon]

I'm curious if it would be hard to make brackets so a guy could use the original side covers?
The ones down low that cover the sliders and seat riser.

The side covers are held on the stock seat frame front corner by some sheet metal screws. I guess a guy could reproduce a curved portion of the seat frame tube and attach it to the new frame.

Gives me something to think about.

 

[Bill Hanlon]

How wide is that seat Bill and does the cushion line you up nicely with the steering wheel?

Andy

56" wide. The cushion lines you up about 1.5" outboard of the steering wheel.

The bench seat you have gives another inch+ of dashboard to seat back and seat cushion to cab roof space than the overstuffed leather seat offers.

 

[Bill Hanlon]

Hey Bill,

Instead of building that "porch" can't you just use a spacer to bring the rear of the seat up enough to clear so you get full rearward adjustment of the new seat for legroom?

Andy

The porch supports the 1"x1" tubing across the rear of the seat. It would need to be there even if the cab floor brace was not there.

 

[Zig]

I wonder if there could be a way to cut off an inch or two off the bottom of the stock seat supports and weld a piece of flat metal that could be drilled for a nice size bolt at the front and rear of each support that would allow the seat to be bolted through the floorboard. (With reinforcement underneath, of course.)
Yeah, you'd have to cut off the apron from the original seat all the way down to floor level, but that's only time and some swear words here and there... ?

 

[Bill Hanlon]

I wonder if there could be a way to cut off an inch or two off the bottom of the stock seat supports and weld a piece of flat metal that could be drilled for a nice size bolt at the front and rear of each support that would allow the seat to be bolted through the floorboard. (With reinforcement underneath, of course.)

Could, but the brackets that came with my seat would have had to be "sectioned" about 4 inches to get the seating surface back down to the same height as the stock seat. Ken and I considered that originally. It would make for easy removal of the seat. But there would be NO forward/backward adjustment of the seat.