Ford 1970 Ranchero Squire 429 Cobra-Jet: Bucket Seats

1970		Ranchero Squire
429 Cobra Jet

Don't hate me because my seats are Chrysler

Like most 1970 Fords my Ranchero came from the factory with bench seats. And although the seat was in PERFECT condition, let's face it, by 2000 model year standards they weren't comfortable and provided absolutely no lateral support. Just turning a corner after a stoplight was enough to cause you to slide all over the seat. And 1970 seat belts didn't have a retractor in the shoulder belt either so once you were buckled in forget trying to reach forward to roll the window up and down.

It was time for an upgrade. After some research I settled on the bucket seats out of a Chrysler Sebring convertible.

Here's the hype straight from Chrysler's web site.

Front shoulder belts adjust automatically to the best position for your height
Front buckets with 6-way power driver's seat, reclining seatbacks and adjustable head restraints

These seats come in more or less the right color, are comfortable, and have a built in seat belt, so I can solve two problems at once.

After a bit of searching I found a salvage yard on the mainland that could sell me the seats. The price of $450 plus $300 shipping (only overnight shipping comes to Kauai) was a bit high, but after months of searching it was the best I could do. So the UPS man arrived and I this is what I got.

Removing the bench seat was a quick thirty minute operation.

Anyone need a 1970 medium ginger Ford bench seat in PERFECT condition? I'll even throw in the seat belts.

But you have to pay the shipping.

The Sebring seats are designed for a very different floor pan and I had to fabricate the brackets to mount the seats. All in all it took two days to build the brackets and bolt them into the Ranchero using grade 8 hardware.

The one unexpected trick was getting the Sebring's seatbelt retractors to work: They are designed to be electronically controller by the air bag computer. My Ranchero didn't have an air bag computer, LOL. Wiring the seat motors themselves with an inline 15A fuse was a breeze compared to that.

The results were well worth the effort. I've got comfortable 6-way power seats, modern seat belts, and I don't slip all over going around corners.

Next step... A custom console!