Help me decide on what way to re-do my seats

[The WebWheeler]

When I bought the car many years ago these were what I had in the front for seats. ( Look original to me? )


Yeah when they developed a bad case of gangster lean I found these in the junk yard & threw them in there.


Now here's where I'm not sure what way to go.

The Original seats seem to be missing something, have you noticed what?

& then I'm also wondering what material I should go with?
I personally prefer cloth, like a velour or something like that that dont get to hot sitting in the sunlight during the summer if I leave the top down.

I cant stand vinyl seats & dont think I care much for leather.
Should I stick to what's original?
I've been keeping the car as original as I could over all these years even though I've been wanting to hot rod it too.
I like the idea of an unmolested original Stang.

[In2Fords]

can you put the uppers from the newer set onto the lowers of the "original" set? that way you can keep the slide out knee bolster for those long trips and get a headrest I never liked Leather much untill I started driving my First Lincoln Mark VII, I feel in love with the leather seats and am SO glad I have them in my explorer. Easy to clean and as long as I keep the AC on its perfect

[The WebWheeler]

You spotted it, Its the head rest that are missing.
I wonder if that's factory?
If this car came without the headrest I'll keep it that way.
I figure once the current material is removed we can see if the seats had it or not.
The upholstery shop has a spare set of what look like factory gt seat with the open square head rest, I might be able to buy from them.

What does the factory '85 GT seats look like?
Did they have a headrest & if so what does it look like?
The ones the shop has have lower bolster & a square head rest.

I wanna stick to as original as I can with this car.

[wraithracing]

We constantly see unusual things with Mustangs and Capris, but I would bet the original seats had headrests.

Without more pictures its hard to tell, but I believe looking at the wear on the bottom and the lack of wear on the upper section of the driver's seat, I would say the upper was reupholstered at some point. They probably removed the headrests at that time.

You might be able to feel the headrest slot in the top through the upholstery. It will be a rectangular slot in the middle.

TMI makes alot of upholstery kits for the Mustangs and they even reproduce the Halo headrests now.

http://www.mustangupholstery.com/

Trey

[dburdyshaw]

SMS Auto Fabrics

[jeff85]

I'm kind of curious if the leather seats are original, because why would someone order leather and not get cruise control?
The cloth seats are comfortable and fairly easy to maintain. If you go to my album I have some pictures of the interior of my original 85 GT convertible.

[subsGT]

I'm kind of curious if the leather seats are original, because why would someone order leather and not get cruise control?
The cloth seats are comfortable and fairly easy to maintain. If you go to my album I have some pictures of the interior of my original 85 GT convertible.

back in the day, a buyer could order any option separately, not as a package...or maybe they're from a different car

[Bryan Knebworth]

You spotted it, Its the head rest that are missing.
I wonder if that's factory?
If this car came without the headrest I'll keep it that way.
I figure once the current material is removed we can see if the seats had it or not.
The upholstery shop has a spare set of what look like factory gt seat with the open square head rest, I might be able to buy from them.

What does the factory '85 GT seats look like?
Did they have a headrest & if so what does it look like?
The ones the shop has have lower bolster & a square head rest.

I wanna stick to as original as I can with this car.

I've seen (3) styles of seats in the '85 GT;
*Your replacement seat, however they are more often seen in the LX.
*The Leather seat(with headrest)
*The Recaro style "Halo" seat

Personally, I'd go with the O.E. style Grey leather(with headrest).
If I went non-OE, I'd go with Flo-Fit.

[86-5_OH]

i saw an 86? 85? gt convertible at the junkyard with the same seats yours came with originally. they were exact with no headrest either. and ive seen a couple more gt convertibes like that as well.

[The WebWheeler]

i saw an 86? 85? gt convertible at the junkyard with the same seats yours came with originally. they were exact with no headrest either. and ive seen a couple more gt convertibes like that as well.

So maybe mine came from the factory that way?
If that could be true, I'd like to leave it like that because its not as common & to be honest I like the way it looks when the top is down.

Though I know the head rest are suppose to be a safety thing.

[wraithracing]

According to the brochures in the Library, the seats you have were optional in your 85 Convertible.

I am not an expert, so I admit that I could incorrect here, but I personally have never seen thoses seats in OEM condition without headrests.

IIRC, I believe the headrests were required to meet safety requirements for whiplash in a crash.

I am sure others have removed their headrests for some reason or another, but I can't find any original photos or information that shows the headrests as a delete option.

It's your car, so you can leave the headrests off if you prefer.

Personally, I think the seats look better with a headrest, any headrest, but that's me.

Best of Luck!

Trey

[The WebWheeler]

Can anyone post some picture of some 4 eyes with the tops down & with halo rest or what ever so I can look at them?
I'll do a google to see if I can find some too.

Thanks.

[The WebWheeler]

Here's some I found:







Or Heck, Maybe I should just get some nice aftermarket seats.... What do you guys think?

[bwguardian]

Is the back seat leather-vinyl or cloth? It looks to me like someone has had the vinyl surround redone utilizing the front leather and did not put the head rest back.

[The WebWheeler]

Is the back seat leather-vinyl or cloth?

Its the factory leather or shall I better say whats left of it.

[84GT Ragtop]

I bought 85 GT halo 'vert seats with the seat belt hooks off ebay a few years ago for my 84 GT 'vert and recovered them in the GT red piping upholstery. I'd go that route with yours before I went with leather, but that's a personal thing for me --- I just don't like how hot leather is in summer, and how cold it is in winter. LOL

[69boss]

There was an early Saleen Vert that came with headrest delete, so I think it was an option...

Just don't get rear-ended, unless you plan on getting cozy with your chiropractor for life.

[The WebWheeler]

The red piping will not do in my car, being there is not red what so ever on the car except for the tail lights.

[The WebWheeler]

There was an early Saleen Vert that came with headrest delete, so I think it was an option...

Just don't get rear-ended, unless you plan on getting cozy with your chiropractor for life.

I suppose that right around when they started changing the law to require them so I suppose it was still optional to get them without them.

[84GT Ragtop]

The red piping will not do in my car, being there is not red what so ever on the car except for the tail lights.

How about white piping then?. I'm pretty sure I've seen new upholstery kits like that, though I'm pretty sure it wasn't factory correct. That would set your interior off nicely. I went with the red piping because my 'vert is red, and it tied in well.

[The WebWheeler]

How about I stick with the no headrest seats?
Or maybe if I went with the halo seats I have them redone with no piping.

[84GT Ragtop]

How about I stick with the no headrest seats?
Or maybe if I went with the halo seats I have them redone with no piping.

No, no, you don't want that. These are not the droids you're looking for.

[The WebWheeler]

Someone watches a bit to much Star Wars.

[DeraldRice]

If it were my car, I would use the halo seats because they are the seats that everyone associates with a Mustang of this era. They are also a comfortable seat.

However, I would make a few compromises based on comfort and style. Since you don't like sitting on leather or vinyl, how about using an ultrasuede or cloth on the seating surfaces, and a vinyl on the other outside surfaces of the seat. Very similar to the F150 Lightnings. You would then have some unique, durable, comfortable, and traditional seats that you could live with. Using coordinating conservative colors of material , it could even be made to look similar to a factory option.