[cjohnson6772]

I am new here and very new to the world of auto interiors, so please bare with me.

I have a 1972 Chevy pickup and I am really wanting to swap in some low back bucket seats. An original set is quite rare and unfortunately out of my budget. I was wondering if you think it would be possible to take a much more common set of high back bucket seats such as those from a late '77 to '87 K5 blazer and cut the seat backs down to the appropriate height. The seat bottoms on these seats are the same and the back is the same as well except the later seat is simply taller.

Anyone have any suggestions? Pictures of bare high back frames? I don't have a set of the high backs yet and I am hesitant to acquire any to strip down before I know what I am getting into.

Thank you all so much in advance for your help.

[DanTwoLakes]

It's not a problem to cut the frames down, and if you can weld you should be in good shape. You'll also have to cut down the seat covers, the foam, and possibly the back springs, depending on which way they are installed now. You should be able to make them any way you want with no problem.

[cjohnson6772]

First of all, all flattery aside, you really do some amazing work.

What I have in mind is actually cutting the frames on the tall '87 seats and then using a set of stock reproduction covers for '72 seats. I am essentially wanting to turn a '87 set of buckets into the prettier '72 buckets.

Well if it at least doable then I may go ahead and try to get a set of the taller seats. I appreciate the reply and you can expect to see me back here with more question

[ronbo]

Working on my cut down seats out of a '89 Mustang GT. The Recaro knockoffs. Whacked 2 inches out of the backs. I am sewing new covers, adjusting the height, preserving the pattern, listings , etc.
Since this is my first upholstery venture, I wanted to KISS and stay something I think I can do. If you change too much, well, good luck.

[DanTwoLakes]

Originally Posted by cjohnson6772

First of all, all flattery aside, you really do some amazing work.

What I have in mind is actually cutting the frames on the tall '87 seats and then using a set of stock reproduction covers for '72 seats. I am essentially wanting to turn a '87 set of buckets into the prettier '72 buckets.

Well if it at least doable then I may go ahead and try to get a set of the taller seats. I appreciate the reply and you can expect to see me back here with more question

Thank you for the compliment. That would work just fine. You have the seat cover part solved, now all you have to do is adjust the frame, seat foam, and the seat springs if necessary. Good luck.

[cjohnson6772]

Originally Posted by ronbo

Working on my cut down seats out of a '89 Mustang GT. The Recaro knockoffs. Whacked 2 inches out of the backs. I am sewing new covers, adjusting the height, preserving the pattern, listings , etc.
Since this is my first upholstery venture, I wanted to KISS and stay something I think I can do. If you change too much, well, good luck.

That sounds awesome. Any chance you have some pics of cutting your seats down?!?!? I think I can manage by tearing into them and figuring it out as I go, but I would much rather have some pics to go off of if possible. Thanks!

[DanTwoLakes]

Almost all seat frames are different, especially from one manufacturer to another. The only way you'll know how to lower the frames is to take off the seat cover and the foam and see what the best place is to cut the frame to lower it. This would generally be higher up on the seat, but not always.

[440man]

I wonder how hard it would be to perform this operation from a width perspective. Cutting down the width of the whole seat by a couple of inches so it would fit between the console hump and the door. Probably same things apply.

[cjohnson6772]

Originally Posted by 440man

I wonder how hard it would be to perform this operation from a width perspective. Cutting down the width of the whole seat by a couple of inches so it would fit between the console hump and the door. Probably same things apply.

You're probably right, but you would have to do both the seat back and bottom for this operation. To just shorten, then only the back should have to be cut.

[DanTwoLakes]

That would be considerably harder. I don't know if you could think of all the things that would need to be changed to accomplish that.

[ogre]

these are the seats out of my 58 chevy truk
originally from an 07 ford fusion
i did not like how tall they looked from the back window even with the head rest removed
i sectioned 6'' from the height and had a neighbor recover them in ultra-suede
in this pic the pass seat is cut down, driver is not.
new seats have a steel frame and foam, no springs.
i glued the foam and reshaped the foam





making them look like stock 72 seats with stock covers would take a bunch more work than this.
sectioning the width would be a job in it's self

[cjohnson6772]

Originally Posted by ogre

these are the seats out of my 58 chevy truk
originally from an 07 ford fusion
i did not like how tall they looked from the back window even with the head rest removed
i sectioned 6'' from the height and had a neighbor recover them in ultra-suede
in this pic the pass seat is cut down, driver is not.
new seats have a steel frame and foam, no springs.
i glued the foam and reshaped the foam





making them look like stock 72 seats with stock covers would take a bunch more work than this.
sectioning the width would be a job in it's self

Wow..this looks like a really awesome job. So am I understanding correctly that the original seats had springs and you eliminated them? How do the seats feel with just foam? Is there any real advantage to springs in the back of a seat over just foam?

I believe that the width on the late '77-'87 seats should be the same as the '72, so I am thinking/hoping I would only have to cut the back down in height. The seat bottoms should be identical.

[ogre]

cj
i may have miss spoke there
if there were springs i left them
i just remember the metal frame, lots of metal frame
i tried to find a pic of the frame did not do so
i did not touch the bottom cushions

[cjohnson6772]

no worries man.

i appreciate the info. i am going to try and source a cheap set to attempt the transformation. i'm just excited that someone else has successfully cut a set of buckets down to size. on every other forum people just ignore my post or say they don't think it can be done.

if/when i get cracking on this (hopefully within the week) then i will take lots of pics and post

[ty1295]

I just did this same thing with some s10 seats. The frame is VERY easy to cut down, couple tack weld to cut and your done.

Being my dad has a 68gmc truck with factory buckets I knew what those seats looked like. When I got done sewing these seats up I thought to myself how similar they are now.