What seats to put in 61 plymouth project..

Here is what I'm starting with:

A 1961 Plymouth 4 door. Great CA car that has a good paint job. Body is very solid. I wanted to do something really different. Originally I was going to just pull the suspension and rebuild it. Well, things kept coming off....




We decided to go ahead and rip everything out, so it looks like this now:



The entire front suspension has been glass beaded and repainted. Disc brakes are being put up front. When trying to decide what to do for power, we decided a 1961 needed a 6.1 SRT8 motor:



This actually has 6.1 internals, with ported 5.7 heads. Made over 420hp on the dyno, more than enough for my cruising needs.

With the power up front, what where we going to do inside:



Rip everything out and rewire it. Putting all of the factory gauges back in the car and adding some new ones. I'll have pictures of those this week. Installing a lot of power options. I wanted to put AC on it, so under the dash goes the vintage air unit, who needs a glove box:



In an attempt to keep the car quiet, we put sound deadening material all over the floorboard. There was no floorboard repair needed, which was a huge relief:



It turns out an E-body (cuda challenger) 8.75" rearend will bolt RIGHT into the back of the car.




The above pictures were done about 6-8 weeks ago. Below is an update of what has happened since.


A few from the front now with the frame under it and motor mounted:



Disc brake conversion. These disc brakes are from Engineered Components



Here is the march pully system on the front. We're not using their water pump pulley. Puts too much leverage on the front of it and will pull it out. Very clean setup, love how this looks. We have the same setup on my fathers 61 300-G.



Exhaust manifolds are off a Jeep Cherokee. Their coated in POR to help protect long term.

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Indy Cylinder Head's Mod Man intake. Allows you to run 2-4's, a 6 pack or a single 4 setup. You can run FI as well. The coil packs are mounted under the intake and we run spark plug wires so it's a dual plug setup .



Ron Francis power block. Gives you access to 12v without stacking a bunch of wires.



On top here you can see a factory chrysler cruise control, out of a mid 80's chrysler. Underneath you can see the locar throttle pressure linkage for the transmission and the accelerator.



ABS electronic brake system. This keeps a power booster off the fire wall.



ABS electric power brake master cylinder. Looks cool!



How did we bolt in a 6.1 into a 61 plymouth, we used 61 chrysler motor mounts!



Oil filter adapter is off a 5.7 truck to allow for clearance for the K frame.



8 3/4 rear end out of an E-body car, bolted right in! 2.76 gears, gas mileage baby



Lokar shift light indicator for the console shifter



Shifter, throttle pressure and shift indicator all right here. Accelerator pedal, all of this stuff pictured from Lokar!

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Mildon Oil pan, only the best. Did some plug relocation for better draining



Power Steering rebuilt by Steer and Gear in columbus.



Crossmember was modified to accept a B-Body transmission mount.



Quite fuel pump mounted in the back.



Custom back panels. Carpet down. Keyless entry mounted on the driver side. Have an electric trunk as well.



Full interior shot

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Vintage air unit hidden behind the dash, custom piece for the vents on the bottom.



Full on dash picture. On a Belevedere the top bezels came blank. The oil and volt gauge just fit right in. Got a factory clock out of a fury, rebuilt by JC Auto Restorations.



Turn signal indicator from, just some LED's we made up. Power door lock button from Watson Street Rod.



Lokar pedals, had to make the brake pedal, dead pedal as well



Shifter from locar, indicator is laying in the floor to be mounted once a console is made



FAST engine computer, mounted in the kick panel wall.



Back up camera for the license plate



Battery tray and reservoir holder for the power steering

 

Back is all wrapped up



Motor pretty much wrapped up minus the radiator and firewall coverings



Another engine picture



The front getting close.

 

How it sits today. Going to crank this weekend and off to the interior shop!















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So the car is basically done, minus the interior. I have a shop in charlotte, nc that is going to handle that. I had initially thought to go modern, but have decided against that. I'm currently considering 66-67 charger bucket seats for both front and back. The front will be buckets no matter what. Will have a console built for the shifter and other items. This car will be driven, a lot. It will not go on a trailer. With that said, does anyone have suggestions of a REALLY comfortable bucket seat I could go with? I really think I want to do buckets in the back, just to do something different.

I welcome any thoughts/suggestions.

 

I think you have built a real nice Modern Street Rod.
I think this is a home for old time traditional hot rodders.
I think one of us is lost.

 

Very impressive engineering on the car although none of the drivetrain is traditional in any way.

The seats from a 61-62 Chrysler 300 would fit and would give you front and rear bucket seats with a full length console and should virtually bolt in. Won't be cheap if you can find the parts but doesn't seem like cost is a big factor in your build.

I'm using a set of seats from a '63 Chrysler 300 sport in my '62 Chrysler. The front came with bucket seats, but with an armrest in the center that made it look like a bench seat. I'm replacing the center armrest with a Buick Wildcat console. The rear seat of the 63-64 300's is not buckets but the back seat upper does have a notch in it for a radio speaker, like a 60's Impala would.

Keep in mind if you try to put buckets in the back of the Plymouth, it will be difficult to step into the car through the back doors. The lower seat cushion of a 4 door is heavily rounded off on the corners for a reason.

 

Thank you!

My father has a 300G, which you can see in the background of the motor picture near the start. Like you said, the issue is trying to find it. With charger came as a bucket interior. Like this:

That sounds awesome! Do you have any pictures?

Thank you for the tip! That's why I was asking. Interior work is NOT my thing. I was hoping to do some mocking here shortly. Luckily chargers aren't expensive cars so the pieces have been fairly easy to come by.

 

Poor car. You could have saved yourself a lot of money and just bought a new Charger. Anything the really made that car unique is sitting in a pile somewhere. Are you going to have TV's in the headrests too. The build quality is top notch but it's still just a Charger with a different skin. Poor car.

 

I would just be using the seats out of a charger, a 1966 one I should point out. This car came with a bench. Putting a floor shifter in requires me to switch over to buckets. I want a mopar based bucket seat, to which there aren't a ton of options. I don't like how E-body seats work on long trips (I have a 70 cuda). The console will be custom built to the car. That's the point of a resto mod.

It's a 4 door Belvedere, hardly a highly collectable car. I was going to have my mom drive this 61 fury I have, which is 100% stock:



I'm not sure what a new charger has to do with this car. The 6.1 motor comes in a variety of cars. I will simply assume you don't understand the rest of the drive train if you think that's modern technology. I opened this thread to figure out what type of interior to go with for the car. If you all you had to offer were negative comments, why even post? We all have different ways of appreciating cars. Not like I chopped up a high dollar car. I sold the entire running drive line to a local man who was restoring a 58 wagon for 300 bucks to help him out. By me modding this car, someone else was able to benefit. I love cars of all types, maybe one day you can do the same.

 

A new Charger would have cost you less. At least your mom will have a nice car. As mentioned, you are probably in the wrong forum. Might want to check out a street rodder forum. At least there isn't a Honda engine under the hood I guess. Not really impressed.

 

If I based every car purchase I had strictly on price, doubt I'd have any old cars. I collect cars because it's a passion for both my father and I. I don't own cars to impress others. I do it so my 67 year old father and I can share a passion. 100% of this work, outside of the interior upholstery was done by us. Some will love the car, some will hate it. I have no issue with that. For me, it was never about the car, as it was time with my father. That's what old cars should be about. Sharing a common interest. It's a shame you're so negative to something because it isn't your preference.

I imagine you're one of those that walks up to my dad's 300G and screams when they see this:

 

this whole forum is filled with people who scream when they see that.

thats the point. this forums is for traditional cars built in a traditional manner.

no one is trying to insult your work per say.

 

If you and your dad want to cut the value of the car in half, that's up to you. Just shows you have more money than brains. I guess than explains a lot about this thread. Good thing you didn't get your hands on a Tucker. But based on results, my opinion is that it's time waisted.

 

The Charger interior is nice looking and the full length console does have a 300G/300H look to it. But take a look at how far forward the bottom of each Charger rear seat sticks forward. Now imagine that bolted into your car. When you open the door, the edge of the back seat will be extended forward almost to the door pillar, and you'll have to practically step over the seat to get in from the rear. You could round off the ends of the Charger seats, but then the seat bases of both rear buckets are basically going to look like a 1/4 slice of pizza. And that kinda ruins the whole point of rear buckets. If this car was a 2 door, it'd be a whole different story.

The Charger seats are probably also going to be kinda narrow for that car. The Chrysler seats are the same width as the Plymouth (I have a '60 Fury and I measured, I'm using a back seat upper from a '64 300-K in my Fury to get the radio speaker notch)

Here's a quick pic of the seats I have. The '63 300 sport buckets are identical to the ones in a 300H (probably G too, not sure) but they were changed in '64.

If you can find the seats out of a '63 300 sport 4 door hardtop, the back seat will be rounded off for back seat entrance, and it'll have buckets up front that don't fold forward, which might be just what you want for a 4 door Plymouth. New Yorkers may have used the same seats in '63 as well.

They shouldn't be any harder to find than the Charger seats would be, and definitely not any more expensive, I have $75 in the set shown.

 

Cut the value of the car in half? It's a 4 door belvedere haha. The value of the car to start with was next to nothing.

The more money than brains comment is funny. Especially given what my father has done for the mopar industry over his life.

 

Thanks so much for the advice, I really appreciate it. I see what you're saying in regards to the length of the rear seat. I'm going to search for some of those seats tonight. While I understand this forum may not have been the best place to ask the question, this member was able to provide me some great information.

 

Fixed that for you.

I'm sorry, but if your father has done ANYTHING for the Mopar industry over his life, that Chrysler (and the Plymouth) cancelled any and all debts. Let me know what he's done, because if he's tied into a place I would deal with, I can stop now.

I've been a Mopar guy since high school, so I don't mind things being modded. Those engines would look great in a Challenger or a Dart (the small ones). The funny part is you 'improved' both of those cars with weaker transmissions thinking new MUST be better. You'll learn.

You know, just below your avatar, it says you joined this forum in 2009. You will get no pass from me because I'm sure if you haven't posted, you've read enough to know what this place is about. It's not about what you did to those poor cars (< plural, and add the Charger donor car in that too). In fact, I think you came in knowing what kind of reception you'd get. Again, got troll Street Rodder's website. You'd fit right in.

 

Ummm putting 2 and 2 together here... Herb Mccandless lives in Burlington, NC these days... Given the screen name, his Dad may be him.

Either way... I kinda like the car. Granted, this is a "traditional" forum and maybe it's not the best "fit" for this car, the car still is different and looks to be well done.

 

If you made it this far on the car, what is it about the interior that requires input? I can see the man hours invested. Must be something more on your mind than interior.

 

John, I was more of a Ramchargers fan than Sox & Martin. As mentioned, if that's a true '61 300G, Herb cashed in his credits. Driving the car for Ronnie Sox doesn't mean Chrysler owes him anything. At this point, I wish he drove Chevies.

 

The 300G used to be a white car. It was painted 17 years ago to red. It sat for 15 years as my dad was loaded with other things. At the point that it wasn't original color, he decided to mod it his way. Yes, we knew the purists would hate it. His opinion was that he would never sell the car, so he wanted it his way. The irony of your statement about the value being cut in half, was him being offered 20-25% over current market price for a restored G while in Florida. I'm sure you're well aware of the collector that opens his collection 1-2 times a year for charity. It was at that event the offered was made, don't think you'll questions the means of the person making the offer.

I'm sure my father could learn a lot from you. My father is Herb McCandless. He's done a thing or 293824 for the mopar world in his time. As far as the ramchargers, they all had dinner at my parents house last year. I purchased Mr. Hovers desoto if you'd like to come look at it sometime. I own ronnies 65 barracuda he used to drive around as well.

I'm sure your contributions to the car world far exceed my fathers. Have fun reading the article that is being done on the 61 Belvedere for 2 magazines. It's being contrasted as a his/hers with the blue/white pink/white combo's.

Sorry you're so arrogant that you can't appreciate a car. Talking down about my father is just going a bit too far. This is about freaking cars. If they are that important to you, might I suggest a social life/hobby to help you out.

 

In answer to your original question ,,,,what kind of seats,,,back in around 57 to 62 Mopar came out with swivel bucket seats for I believe , the Imperials .That would be different. they had a handle on the side of the seat ,when released the seat would swivel towards the door.

 

Yes, the letter cars had seats like this, the G as an example. Finding them hasn't been an easy task. When you do, they are quite pricy. I'm really liking the example one of the previous posters gave. I think that's the direction I'm going to go. Especially with it being a bigger seat. Sadly the rear bucket idea just doesn't seem like it will work.

 

In before the lock!!! neat car though!

 

hi,

1. your dad did what your dad did, not you.

2. this site is for traditional cars, your car is not traditional, thats what they are getting on you about.

would you go on a baseball forum, ask about football, and then get mad/defensive when people said "hey, you're an idiot, go ask on a football forum" and then tell them they dont appreciate balls, and that your dad was a coach for the dolphins?

 

I asked about what seats to put into a car. For people that drive their cars, I wanted to know what seats came off as being very comfortable. I didn't realize people who like traditional cars were unable to answer such a difficult question.

I visit many forums, on various subjects, most have conversations on all types of vehicles. On our viper forum, all types of cars are talked about. As people appreciate cars of all types. Your analogy makes the assumption that people can only know one thing and nothing else.

I also never took any of the credit for things my father did, so your first point is mute.

 

I think you are on the right track with the Charger seats as they will look right in that car.
Now that said, you start whining because the guys give you static about your billet laden modern engined car when the premise of this board is traditional cars with traditional engines and NO BILLET crap hanging off them. Go back to the top of the index page and read the part about traditional cars and then go out in the garage and take a look at your billet laden fuel injected modern power trained four door and you will see that you are in the wrong house with that one.

Lots of street machine forums out there for cars like yours but this isn't the place for that car.