In our decision as to what to do with the seats, we had to make a few decisions. One option was to go back to an original bench seat. The advantage of that was of course it is more original, and also it can accommodate seating for three. Of course,big you have ever driven one of these with a floor shift, you can get rather familiar with the center seat occupant in the process. You decide if that is good or bad, I guess it depends upon who that occupant is. The other issue was that we didn't have a bench.
This led us to do some exploring. Several years ago, Kevin and I were roaming through a salvage yard in town and came across an old tree trimming truck, a 6400 that I actually remember being in service when I was a kid. (I am a bit eccentric in that regard, I still remember many individual busses I worked on 40 years ago) in any event, I suggested we go look at it. Knowing this yard, I was almost positive it would still be there.
Sure enough, it was. It has suffered heavy rust damage, and the seat was still there. We also assessed what parts it may yield us in our project. As crazy as I an, wI have to admit how cool it would be to have two....We took some photos and made plans to come back. It was also on this visit that we found another Chevrolet Isuzu truck with a nice set of 9R-22.5 tires on it. A price for them was set, and another decision to make. They will at least be a significant improvement, and will get us through the restoration period.
Back to the seats. The cost of restoring the bench from the yard truck, plus the benefits to the modern seats made our decision. I liked the new seats having three point seat belts as well as head restraints. I don't mind swapping safety for originality at some point. I did however decide that I would fashion seat brackets that could be unbolted and allow an oe bench seat to bolt in the OE locations. I carefully cut the welds holding them in and repair any scars from them. I went to a local sheet metal shop to collect a stock of metal to work with. I also removed various remnants from the 2001 Silverado electrical system that were still attached to them. I also thought that adding a console would make it feel more complete and comfortable. The added convenience of cup holders and storage didn't hurt either. A trip back to the salvage yard resulted in a console from a Dodge Durrango that fit nicely between the seats. I fashioned a plate that I welded to the floor to be able to bolt the console to. After everything was installed, it felt quite good. I added 4 plates to the underside of the floor with nuts welded to to attach the new seat brackets to and welded them to the seat frames.
I will include some photos of the salvage yard truck, and of the seat install.
