How To: Fold down seat conversion

-
72bluNblu

72bluNblu

FABO Gold Member
FABO Gold Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2008
Messages
15,030
Reaction score
9,062
Location
NorCal
72bluNblu submitted a new Article:

How To: Fold down seat conversion

Ok, so here it is. I've seen it asked a bunch, I've heard of a few folks that have done it, but here it is. How to convert a standard Duster over to a fold down seat. Most of these pictures are mine, some of them are not. I should have taken more pictures of my conversion parts before I started.

So, here's what I started with. Your basic standard non-folding seat Duster with cross bracing.

View attachment 1714970299

View attachment 1714970300

View attachment 1714970301
To do this, you probably need a parts car. It's the only way to do it and get it to look original, that's for sure. For those that don't know, the fold-down seat cars are not just standard cars with the cross brace removed. The package tray is completely different and has additional bracing added, as does the floor, to make up for the lack of the cross brace.

Here's your basic fold down car...
View attachment 1714970302

And the extra bracing...
View attachment 1714970303

View attachment 1714970304

And all the parts that you'd need for a full conversion...

View attachment 1714970305


View attachment 1714970306 View attachment 1714970307

View attachment 1714970308 View attachment 1714970309



But you see those black arrows in the first picture? That's all you REALLY need. The upper part of the seat, the filler neck, the pass-through floor support, and the latches and hardware for the security panel and upper part of the seat. Sure, you'd have to fab the seat brackets and floor braces, but that stuff is really just sheet metal. Anyway, I was fortunate enough to get everything but the package tray from the local wrecking yard. And that's where my conversion is going to differ, because I'm not a fan of the fold down package shelf or the gaping hole it leaves behind the seat on a stock fold down car.

So, here we go. :D

Since I'm not worried about looking stock, and because the stock package tray has your VIN number stamped on it, I'm keeping my package tray and my speakers, thank you very much.

But in order to do that, I need to reinforce the package tray to make up for the cross bracing I'm about to remove. So before I pulled the cross brace, I installed a 1" x.083" wall tube, replicating the reinforced section on the factory fold down cars. The tubing has landing plates on the stock uprights that locate the package tray and go back into the roof structure and quarters.

View attachment 1714970310

With the OE floor braces and 1" tube installed, I spot welded the edge of the package tray to the 1" tube. Then I pulled the cross brace. Literally, the entire cross brace is held in by 18 spot welds. That's it. Once removed, it becomes apparent how little "bracing" it really adds.

View attachment 1714970310

With the cross brace out, I made clearance for the fold down pass through. Clearance is the only reason I can think of for Ma Mopar adding the curved and raised section of the fold down seat. It looks like heck, what with the big open space behind the seat. But, it would allow for a taller item in the pass through. Anyway, I cut the sheet metal back to the 1" cross brace and folded the corners of the package tray bracing over and spotted them together to add stiffness in the corners.

While I was at it, I located the seat and tacked in the brackets. The lower brackets line up with a pair of "dents" in the wheel tubs, and the uppers are pretty easy if you've got the seat, just bolt it into the bottom brackets and decide where the upper tabs need to go. Because my package tray comes further forward, I had to trim the corners of the upper tabs before I welded them in. With that done, I added the sheet metal that makes the pass through flat. But, lest you think that's just for looks, keep in mind it bolts to the floor in about 12 different places, and effectively adds a second layer of sheet metal to the floor. So it also adds support.

View attachment 1714970312

The "security panel", otherwise known as the piece of plywood with a hinge on it, was totally shot in my donor car. But, it was good enough to provide a pattern, which I then added to. I also took the brackets, hinge, and latches from it when I made my MUCH improved latching security panel. I also added the catches to the bottom of the package tray for the security panel latches.

View attachment 1714970313

View attachment 1714970314

Now we're talking! The panel is 3/16" aluminum diamond plate. Much sturdier than the stock 1/4" plywood, and a heck of a lot sexier. :D

View attachment 1714970311

So now to finish things up. With the brackets installed, the security panel made, and room made for the pass through, it's back to reinstalling everything. My donor car had the same EXACT tan interior that my Duster had, but that's no good. So, I did a complete vinyl dye on EVERYTHING. Yes, even the seats. It works ok, but eventually I'll need new seat covers.

And, fun fact, the fold down seat bottom is EXACTLY the same as a non fold down seat bottom. So, you only need the top part of the seat for a conversion. I know this because the seat bottom in my car now is the same one that was in it before, because it was in better shape than the donor car's.

Anyway, while I was at it, I added FatMat's Rattletrap sound deadening material to everything. I also cut a slit into the stock fold down interior panels, because as you've already seen I didn't cut my package tray back far enough to use the stock panels in uncut form. But all that was required was cutting a nice "J" shape into the panels, about a 1/8" wide, so the panel would slide over the package tray bracing. The picture doesn't show it, but I also added FatMat to the back of the seat and the security panel as well to keep those trunk rattles in the trunk when everything is buttoned up.

View attachment 1714970316

And because I like making extra work for myself, I covered the package tray liner with a carbon fiber look vinyl, and added a section with a piece of fiber board to flap down and cover the areas that won't be covered by the seat or interior panels.

View attachment 1714970317

Which pretty much brings us to the end of this conversion. I reinstalled the package tray, and bought a few yards of cut pile carpet to match the carpet in the rest of the car and used upholstery adhesive to glue it all down. No, it doesn't have the nice sewn edge, but hey, that's life.

View attachment 1714970318

View attachment 1714970319

View attachment 1714970320

View attachment 1714970321

View attachment 1714970322

And here we go, the final product! Obviously, a short overview of all of this. I'm sure I forgot some things, but believe it or not I have MORE pictures, so if anyone has any questions I'm sure I could come up with an answer and probably a picture. :thumbup:


View attachment 1714970323
Click to expand...

Read more about this article here...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Very interesting
My currant dart and my old one were both fold down seat cars, I have a spare roof with package tray from a non fold down seat duster and thought about buying that in my currant dart so I can add rear speakers
 
Dude, Have you been in my garage taking pictures!?!?!?! I'm RIGHT in the middle of doing the same thing... even down to keeping the full package tray with speakers! I've not yet cut the fender covers, but will shortly. Heck, I'm even adding the 1" bar along the leading edge. How freaking coincidental is that?
Very good write up.
*Ahem...Joey, sticky please
 
spikekid999 said:
Very interesting
My currant dart and my old one were both fold down seat cars, I have a spare roof with package tray from a non fold down seat duster and thought about buying that in my currant dart so I can add rear speakers
Click to expand...

If you already have a fold down car the easiest thing to do would probably be to just section the "standard" package shelf. That should allow for the speakers, but retain your original VIN and fold down bracing to keep the chassis intact. Just watch the front edge of the fold down package shelf, that's where the bracing is.

player1up said:
Dude, Have you been in my garage taking pictures!?!?!?! I'm RIGHT in the middle of doing the same thing... even down to keeping the full package tray with speakers! I've not yet cut the fender covers, but will shortly. Heck, I'm even adding the 1" bar along the leading edge. How freaking coincidental is that?
Very good write up.
*Ahem...Joey, sticky please
Click to expand...

Nice! I cut the interior panels with a set of tin snips, worked out very well. I just used the donor car, but I have another set that was originally black that I left just in case I messed it up. But it was pretty simple. Good luck with your conversion!
 
Yeah I'd just section it in, still undecided if I'm gonna swap it in though, I might make some fiberglass pods for the underside of the fold down parcel trey (or what there is of one)
 
That looks awesome! Seeing what you did definitely gets rid of the worries of the fold-down rear seat cars not being as "rigid" as the standard cars. Thanks for the write-up!
 
Good job, looks great.
I did this conversion many years ago on my old Sport.
I had a donor car.
What I did with the package tray was cut it in half and only use the front section with the curve, This way it looked like it was installed from the factory.
 
It's a shame because I will be doing away with my setup. With the cage and possible mini tub, there is no need or easy possibility for me to keep it all.
 
Fst73_360 said:
It's a shame because I will be doing away with my setup. With the cage and possible mini tub, there is no need or easy possibility for me to keep it all.
Click to expand...

Yeah I thought about that, especially the mini tub. But I'm pretty confident I can fit 285's into the stock wheel tub out back. And realistically, I KNOW I can fit 275's, because I've already done it. That's more rubber than I need anyway. It won't put down more than 450 hp, so I don't need anything more than a 275. Guys run way faster cars on road courses, and the drag strip, with far skinnier tires than that.

It should work with a 4 point rear bar, you'd just have to be paying attention when you ran the down bars into the trunk. Otherwise the security panel wouldn't work. Anything more than that and you can't have passengers back there anyway, so there's no real point in having a back seat at all.

For me, my car is a driver, not a racer. Sure, I may take it to a few track days or autocrosses, but it already doesn't fit into any competitive class. So it's just for fun, not competition or times. But it sure will be fun, and I'll still be able to pick up 8' light bulbs at the hardware store for my shop.:D
 
fantastic job!! that is what a clean fold down seat looks like!! Great write up with photos. Lawrence
 
VDART said:
fantastic job!! that is what a clean fold down seat looks like!! Great write up with photos. Lawrence
Click to expand...

Thanks! And thanks for the extra hardware for the seat and security panel, came in handy. :thumbup:
 
spikekid999 said:
wounder if anyones done a fold down seat conversion in a swinger?
Click to expand...

I know the duster and dart standard back seats don't interchange, one of them is taller. I'm not sure the fold down seat would be the right size. But if the upper part if the seat could be made to work, the rest of the parts should work. The security panel height might need to change too, but that's easy enough. And of course the interior panels would need a rework, but that might not be any worse than what I did for mine.
 
75slant6 said:
bump and a x2!
Click to expand...

Hey thanks! :thumbup:

Oh, and a small update since I was reading through this again. For all of the big tire lovers out there, I managed to fit a set of 295/35/18's into the stock wheel tubs. I needed the 1/2" hanger/shackle offset on the rear springs, and I cut about a 1/2" out of the inner quarter lip on the outside to make room. So, if you don't need to run tires wider than 295, you can keep the stock wheel tubs and fold down seat option.

Really, you could probably still do a mini-tub and retain the fold down seat. You'd have to rework the area where the seat brackets mount, narrow the security panel, and just carpet over the wheel tubs because the inner panels wouldn't fit anymore. But if you can do the rest of the mini-tub, none of that would be too difficult. You'd just have a smaller pass-through area to haul stuff.

And, I've made great use of my fold-down seat already. So far I've managed to haul a set of '71 Duster doors, complete with hardware, windows, everything, in my car with the fold down. That wasn't enough, so when a '72 Dart hit the yard at PickNPull I pulled the doors AND fenders, and still managed to get everything in my Duster for the trip home. It also worked spectacularly to haul a 55" LED tv. :glasses7:

The speakers hanging down do limit the vertical space in the pass-through, which is probably another reason Ma Mopar cut the package tray back and deleted the rear speakers. But I've already hauled a ton of stuff with the speakers in place, so it really isn't a huge issue.
 
Years ago I had a dart sport /6, with the fold down option. I hauled home a queen size water bed with bookcase headboard. Wish I still had that car as a daily driver.
 
Hey! My first "how-to" at FABO! Thanks for the upgrade 6pk2goDemon! :thumbup:

In fact, it turns out that the increased popularity on this thread finally exceeded the bandwidth on my free Photobucket account. But that's taken care of, so hopefully no more disappearing pictures. :D
 
I just purchased a "shell" of a 67 Dart GT that has been poorly tubbed with a four point bar installed. I have considered removing the bar and re-doing the tubs to improve its intended finished curb apeal. The cross bracing has been removed, and I can't find it anywhere on-line to restore body rigidity. Intended use is 95% street, 5% track. 440 X 727 X narrowed 8.75 with 4:10's. Any recomendations about how to replace that cross bracing or otherwise restore body stregnth?
 
csilver said:
I just purchased a "shell" of a 67 Dart GT that has been poorly tubbed with a four point bar installed. I have considered removing the bar and re-doing the tubs to improve its intended finished curb apeal. The cross bracing has been removed, and I can't find it anywhere on-line to restore body rigidity. Intended use is 95% street, 5% track. 440 X 727 X narrowed 8.75 with 4:10's. Any recomendations about how to replace that cross bracing or otherwise restore body stregnth?
Click to expand...

I would say that with the 4 point bar in place there really isn't a huge need for the cross bracing. But, if you were going to remove the bar I would try to find a parts car to source the original cross bracing. As far as I know it isn't reproduced, but I haven't tried looking for it either. That would be the easiest thing, the cross bracing is just spot welded into place as you can see above.

In fact if you want the cross bracing out of my car you can PM me. I can separate it in the middle so it can be shipped. The only thing I'm not positive about is whether or not the cross bracing is the same length for the Dart's and Dusters. But if you're interested just shoot me a PM and I'll measure my Dart.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top