Bucket Seat/Center Console Project

Well first off let me start by saying I hadnt planned on installing bucket seats in the caprice, but an opportunity arose and I decided to go for it.

My friend was selling a set of seats from a 2011 Audi A6, perfect immaculate condition, not a scratch or tear anywhere, both for $100. So I said why not.

And here we are:

Ill upload more pics soon, and show the easy cheap brackets i had to make.

But for now, here we have German engineering fusing with an old Chevrolet lol

A 79 Caprice with air bags! Awesome! The seats do look good in there! Do the 79 seat belts clip into the 2011 receivers??

They look great! Nice job!

Nope had to get some cheap seat belts to use the metal whatever you call them things to fit the receiver on the seat, so if you look closely you will see two thingamabobs on the original seat belt, didnt want to cut up the originals to fit. But now ive got to get some seat belt guides/holders, since these came out of a 4 door, the seats dont move up for the rear passengers, and no seat belt guides, but all well, i think they look good and are very comfy and have firm support, very bolstered. Now im going out hunting for a center console, gonna take my measurements and see whats out in the yards.

mid 70s olds cutlass consoles fit perfectly and look great. If you find you like them, I have a 75 cutlass 442 with everything right down to the wiring, floor mounts and trans linkage(?).

Sweet Seventy9 wrote: I have a 75 cutlass 442 with everything right down to the wiring, floor mounts and trans linkage(?)

Is this something your willing to sell??

GM B-Body Forum wrote:Nope had to get some cheap seat belts to use the metal whatever you call them things to fit the receiver on the seat, so if you look closely you will see two thingamabobs on the original seat belt, didnt want to cut up the originals to fit. But now ive got to get some seat belt guides/holders, since these came out of a 4 door, the seats dont move up for the rear passengers, and no seat belt guides, but all well, i think they look good and are very comfy and have firm support, very bolstered. Now im going out hunting for a center console, gonna take my measurements and see whats out in the yards.

Ahh, I see that now. How in the world did you slide those on there without removing the other ones? It looks like the factory one is above the 2011 on one side and below it on the other. Am I seeing that right? I didn't think the factory "buckles" or "clasps" (I don't know the proper term either), would slide off the belts because of the metal mount at the end.

As for guides, I wonder if you couldn't attach some to the head rest or maybe the upper part of the seat (if there's any metal in there to screw to)?

Well im actually looking at these right now, they are on the new challengers and they look cool and are functional, ill have to order them and see if they would work http://pages.ebay.com/motors/link/?nav=item.view&id=321880482638&alt=web

As far as those seat belt clasp things, the universal seat belts i got your able to take them apart, so i just slid them on my belts, ive got to find a way without damaging them to remove the old ones.

GM B-Body Forum wrote:

Sweet Seventy9 wrote: I have a 75 cutlass 442 with everything right down to the wiring, floor mounts and trans linkage(?)

Is this something your willing to sell??

Sure.  It needs a good cleaning to look it's best but everything is there.

 

I bet those seatbelt receivers would work for you too.  Well, if you want to stay period correct.

hmmm, that might work, how much would you want to rip that out and ship to me, you can pm if you want. Im still gonna go to the yard and see if i can find anything, but if that car is still avail, and i dont find anything it might be a viable option.

Alright for those of you who were following this post, heres the continuation.

As you can see from the pics below, i purchased the center console from SweetSeventy9 that came out of a 75 cutlass.

This pretty much completes the deal, and if you ask me looks pretty darn good, im very impressed, Thanks SweetSeventy9!!

I had to purchase a few things to get it installed, like a new cable which is from a 73-77 a body, a back up light switch, bracket for the tranny, and ofcourse leds to light it all up.

I also got a hurst shift handle which i think seals the deal.

The worst part for me was cutting a hole in the tunnel, im somewhat of a "purist" if thats what you want to call it, so i like to do mods that are easily able to return to stock original as possible. But i made sure that small hole in the carpet and tunnel can be hid if i put the original seats back in.

On to the pics.......











This is the bracket i used, needed for the tranny.







And for those of you wondering, yes i removed the column shift lever, very simple, just pop out the pin and it slides out.

Thanks and WOW!, I still can't get over how awesome your whole interior looks! I can picture you out driving around, profiling the whole time! I sure would be!

It's sort of funny, I've been telling people about the console for years and everybody was like eh, whatever. Now that you've trusted me and installed one I've had a bunch of people contact me to find them one, LOL! Call me a Dick but except for ebay they've all suddenly become unavailable.

OOOHHH WEEEE, THAT'S AWESOME! Thanks for sharing the final look with the floor shifter installed. That is coming along magnificently!

That console looks really good in there, I mean really good. I like how it fits up to the dash, looks like it was made for it. I bet the ash tray still opens perfectly. Great work!

I cant say thanks enough Randy!
I love it, looks like it belongs, it fits so perfectly and even mounting the shifter was wasy because of that center brace across the floor pan.
And yes i still have full access to the ashtray lol, only thing is, is the console blocks the front facing floor heater vents, but i removed my heater box so it obviously aint a problem for me, i think with some small flex tube you could reroute it out of the sides if need be.

I looked at consoles from 3rd gen camaros, and a plethora of cars out in the yards but none would work or look right, yet again an A body pulls through for the rescue of a B body lol.

GM B-Body Forum wrote:I looked at consoles from 3rd gen camaros, and a plethora of cars out in the yards but none would work or look right, yet again an A body pulls through for the rescue of a B body lol.

I almost grabbed a mid 80's Grand Prix center console since they are same ones used in the 1979 Bonnevilles. I just couldn't see or imagine it making it overall look better once I am done. They are very squared off and flat, I think could look great in a four door. This console looks made for these coupes.  

GM B-Body Forum wrote:i think with some small flex tube you could reroute it out of the sides if need be.

Funny you mentioned this since the Grand Prix/Bonneville consoles have floor vents on each side of their big boxey base. You can see the side view from this ad.



same one from an 85 grand prix



another option like a Holiday 88



HAVE I EVER MENTIONED HOW MUCH I LOVE THESE CARS!!! PS I hope you dont mind me adding these pics to your thread. I'm also hoping it helps make it so not everyone goes and steals this exact idea once they add buckets and can see there are other options with these cars and keep a stock look/feel.

GM B-Body Forum wrote:<snip>only thing is, is the console blocks the front facing floor heater vents, but i removed my heater box so it obviously aint a problem for me, i think with some small flex tube you could reroute it out of the sides if need be.

The Cutlass has a piece that routes the air to the sides and toward the foot wells. I'll try to remember to grab it for you just so you have it.

GM B-Body Forum wrote:Alright for those of you who were following this post, heres the continuation.

As you can see from the pics below, i purchased the center console from SweetSeventy9 that came out of a 75 cutlass.

This pretty much completes the deal, and if you ask me looks pretty darn good, im very impressed, Thanks SweetSeventy9!!

I had to purchase a few things to get it installed, like a new cable which is from a 73-77 a body, a back up light switch, bracket for the tranny, and ofcourse leds to light it all up.

I also got a hurst shift handle which i think seals the deal.

The worst part for me was cutting a hole in the tunnel, im somewhat of a "purist" if thats what you want to call it, so i like to do mods that are easily able to return to stock original as possible. But i made sure that small hole in the carpet and tunnel can be hid if i put the original seats back in.

On to the pics.......











This is the bracket i used, needed for the tranny.







And for those of you wondering, yes i removed the column shift lever, very simple, just pop out the pin and it slides out.

where did you get your guages below your steering wheel from?

Pontiac, Buick and Olds had bucket seat and console options for their B-Bodies, but Chevy didn't.  Since the buckets and console were borrowed from each division's G-Body counterpart, I thought what if Chevy came out with such an option.  So I used buckets from a Buick G-Body and a console and shifter from a 87 Monte Carlo.  I also used used a Monte Carlo SS steering wheel, but I replaced the SS emblem with a bowtie emblem.  For my 85 Delta 88 Royale Brougham Coupe, I did the same thing, except I used console and shifter from an 86 Cutlass Supreme.  For my 77 Riviera, I took buckets from an S-10 blazer and using Buick Regal Console and shifter.  

Gooched78Caprice wrote:

GM B-Body Forum wrote:I looked at consoles from 3rd gen camaros, and a plethora of cars out in the yards but none would work or look right, yet again an A body pulls through for the rescue of a B body lol.

I almost grabbed a mid 80's Grand Prix center console since they are same ones used in the 1979 Bonnevilles. I just couldn't see or imagine it making it overall look better once I am done. They are very squared off and flat, I think could look great in a four door. This console looks made for these coupes.  

GM B-Body Forum wrote:i think with some small flex tube you could reroute it out of the sides if need be.

Funny you mentioned this since the Grand Prix/Bonneville consoles have floor vents on each side of their big boxey base. You can see the side view from this ad.



same one from an 85 grand prix



another option like a Holiday 88



HAVE I EVER MENTIONED HOW MUCH I LOVE THESE CARS!!! PS I hope you dont mind me adding these pics to your thread. I'm also hoping it helps make it so not everyone goes and steals this exact idea once they add buckets and can see there are other options with these cars and keep a stock look/feel.