Buying new Bullnose seats?

Has anyone bought new seats instead of swapping some out from a newer model truck? If so, where’d you get em from? I was thinking about getting these new seats: https://www.qualitex.com/qualitex-american-classic-low-back-40-20-40.html

Apparently they sell all the conversions to bolt into bench/bucket seat supports. Currently the PO of the truck put in bucket seats, so in theory, all I have to do is buy the seats and also buy the bucket seat attachments?

Also, what year seats, and from what other vehicles can I put in my truck?

I havent, I have been on the look out for the OE bench seat to swap back in my truck.

But I was looking at these bench seats which I could get custom made local to me but they are $1,400 - $1,800.



They basically would make them any way you want but for the cost I could come out cheaper with a OE bench seat and have a local upholstry shop cover it in custom leather.

I've looked at the qualitex seats.  Nice if you can spare the change.   I can't right now.   Just called 2 upholstery shops that said $300 - $600 to restore back to original type seat.  That is also repairing the cushion and metal in backs.   But that was soft quotes - they wanted to see it - understandable.   And would depend on what coverings.  

Wife says she has a tote full of black binder clips at work - I have a couple holding the saddle blanket on where the straps broke off - we may just clip the crap out of that and get the AC fixed first.  

I would assume that 1980 - 1996 Ford seats would fit pretty easily.  Others with a little work?  ANYTHING will fit if you have the skillz or cash to pay someone to fab it.

I swear though, I really like my plain lowback bench.  Other than no cupholders.  HAven't bought a console yet.

rcarlisle wrote

I swear though, I really like my plain low back bench.  Other than no cup holders.  HAven't bought a console yet.

I also like the low back its all about that era when safety be damned LOL

As for the cup holders I get my drinks in bottles with screw on caps.
Besides with a stick trans there's not much time to be drinking.
I dont like any of the consoles I have seen. If on the seat it takes up to much room, shifter on the floor so cant go there and same for the front of seat, shifter will hit it.
Dave ----

LOL.  yep low back bench is retro now.  I have a stainless coffee cup that I bring in morning and usually a go cup after lunch from a restaurant.  The pockets in front edge of saddle blanket cover will hold them but not very securely.

I was using the centerhole of the spare for the lunch go cup when it was laying down, just to get from lunch back to work.  I have it standing up now, so used the pocket last week.  It will hold but very hard to get drink back in after a stoplight.    I do know that my floor mats will contain a large amount of coffee without spilling on carpet.  

I had a console in the 92 Dakota I had that worked well.  middle belt holds it in place.   The Dakota was a 5 spd as well.  Armrest and cupholder.   And I usually had a child's car seat in the dakota too.   We had enough room and it cleared shifter in all gears with seat at back where I had to have it for me.  This thing used to be like $20 -30.  Not anymore.

https://www.campingworld.com/clutter-catcher-bench-seat-console-65219.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign=%7bCampaign%7d&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4cOEBhDMARIsAA3XDRgdmAxSsglYrrsJbwzq8qHPCQ0i3pTcbHqaXr2z95ebEoFY-eb_qvEaAsunEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

rcarlisle wrote

I Just called 2 upholstery shops that said $300 - $600 to restore back to original type seat.  That is also repairing the cushion and metal in backs.   But that was soft quotes - they wanted to see it - understandable.   And would depend on what coverings.  

Just had my later (94ish?) humpback seat that's in my 81 redone in vinyl for $480 out the door, so that sounds right in the range. Asked them to make it look fairly stock-ish. I think they did a good job. The lighting in the picture sucks but you can kind of get an idea.

That would suit me.  Looks nice.

I guess a good idea would be to ravage my local junk yard and find an old beat up bench seat and bring it to get reupholstered!

Otherwise I was thinking of taking out my back bench seat (original) and putting it in the front seat. I like the idea of having that space in the back for odds and ends, groceries, etc., that I don’t want to put in the bed. Would that work as well? I’m guessing the back bench seats will just plug and play if I were to install them in the front seat instead of my beat up buckets?

According to the PO, he had to modify the truck a little to fit the current bucket seats, but I’m guessing the original bench seat holes would still be there.

I haven't done it or looked at one personally (CrewCabs are very uncommon here) but I recall from some research awhile back that a guy on FTE had a rear bench out of a later 80's truck in his regular cab bullnose.

If you do it and get a definitive answer that will be good info for Gary to add to his Seat Interchange page. The page does mention that they reg cab and crew cab trucks shared the same floor pan but if we can specifically say the front and rear are a straight swap, that'll be nice.

Bill will probably know this off the top of his head. Tagging him.

FWIW, the factory front and rear bench seats in the crew cabs are the same, the rear has the back tilt latch and adjuster mechanism. Since Darth had aftermarket front seats, I can't say if the back would tilt forward.

Pete Whitstone wrote

rcarlisle wrote

I Just called 2 upholstery shops that said $300 - $600 to restore back to original type seat.  That is also repairing the cushion and metal in backs.   But that was soft quotes - they wanted to see it - understandable.   And would depend on what coverings.  

Just had my later (94ish?) humpback seat that's in my 81 redone in vinyl for $480 out the door, so that sounds right in the range. Asked them to make it look fairly stock-ish. I think they did a good job. The lighting in the picture sucks but you can kind of get an idea.

What material was used vinyl?

I know a guy that we use at work I am going to get him to do my seat once I find the proper bench seat but he has done seats for us at work in real leather for under $200 per seat for buckets.  I figured for a bench it would be around $400.  Ive had vinyl seats before and they just dont last I noticed but leather seems to be a lot more durable and I found a place that sells leather hide already dyed they have a dark cobalt blue that might be a good match for my dark blue interior.  They also state to be forewarned there will be brands on the hide.  I kind of want to see if they could source a Texas based ranch brand and I could have the upholstry guy place it in a visible spot.

I have a Qualitex seat frame in Darth that I pulled out of Bricknose at Pete's Used Parts in Newport News VA, the rear seat came out of a 1996 Centaurus conversion Crew Cab DRW truck he bought for the powertrain and when I asked about the interior he told me go ahead and take it. He gave me the Ford/Alcoa rims as a Christmas present.

The seat mounts and floor pan really didn't change from 1980-1997 other than the differences between models, and all crew cabs seem to have the tall transmission hump front section. The factory split seats and buckets sit on a platform that bolts onto the bench seat mounting points. The 96 I got the interior out of had a change in the seat mounts, the rear mounting point is a stud since it sits vertically and the front is still a bolt I have replaced the outer seats on the Qualitex base with a pair of 2000 Lincoln Continental ones that have power everything and an inflatable lumbar support. I need to modify the Qualitex base as the Lincoln seats are a bit too high.

My "almost son in law" repaired and refinished the center fold down seat back for me, and the only issue I have with it, the actual cup holders in addition to being a bit odd sized, are too shallow since the bottom isn't relieved for the base of the cup.

Those seats aren’t bad in price. I was quoted 1500 to redo the flex steel set up in my truck, which was a hard no!

I find that upholstery pricing varies wildly. I was looking to get 2 buckets and 2 door cards done on a Fiat X1/9 and the first guy I talked to quoted $3200 for leather. I shopped around a lot more and got them done for $1200 very nicely. This was not a stock re-skin type job, it was fairly customized, so still pretty expensive. But yeah, what a big difference in price.

Pete Whitstone wrote

I find that upholstery pricing varies wildly. I was looking to get 2 buckets and 2 door cards done on a Fiat X1/9 and the first guy I talked to quoted $3200 for leather. I shopped around a lot more and got them done for $1200 very nicely. This was not a stock re-skin type job, it was fairly customized, so still pretty expensive. But yeah, what a big difference in price.

They can vary, we tossed the original bench seat from my truck years ago cause we found a hispanic guy selling out the back of a cargo truck a bunch of brand new seats wrapped in plastic.  It was cheaper to get the explorer seats he had than it was to recover my seats.  Got those seats for $500.

Now some 23 years later and those seats are in need of recovering and now I am on the hunt for a bench seat cause the explorer bucket bench is ok but I never been a fan of the high head rests nor how low the seats sit compared to the bench.

Rusty_S85 wrote

Now some 23 years later and those seats are in need of recovering and now I am on the hunt for a bench seat cause the explorer bucket bench is ok but I never been a fan of the high head rests nor how low the seats sit compared to the bench.

I have the old flat-topped bench from my 81, it would need new foam but is otherwise usable as a core. I'm in the DFW TX area, where are you?

Or are you looking for a seat that's all ready to go?

Pete Whitstone wrote

Rusty_S85 wrote

Now some 23 years later and those seats are in need of recovering and now I am on the hunt for a bench seat cause the explorer bucket bench is ok but I never been a fan of the high head rests nor how low the seats sit compared to the bench.

I have the old flat-topped bench from my 81, it would need new foam but is otherwise usable as a core. I'm in the DFW TX area, where are you?

Or are you looking for a seat that's all ready to go?

Im not sure on what I am looking for seat wise.  Im still in the deciding stage as I work on my engine build.  Part of me is wondering if I want to get a later model seat with the pull out center arm rest or to go original without the pull out center arm rest.  I do plan on covering any seat I get how ever in leather in the proper dark blue though.  Im in Houston but there is a guy down here I heard about I need to contact that has a shop that all he sells is truck seats to see if he has one for me or not.

As soon as I sort out the rain gutters and windshield leaks in the truck (prob June), it is getting a new 40/20/40 seat to match the new flooring.

I like the look of those qualitex seats, the price is reasonable to me. I have requested swatches to see what color I like best. and for under $1k I can swing it.

It also means the seats I have in there now can go into the dually temporarily. I don' like the bench in there, my legs are too short to reach the clutch without being impaled on the steering wheel!