With the intention of staying period-correct, I've been kicking around the idea of finding a pair of 1970s sports car seats that might be a good replacement for the bench in my Dart.

I don't care for the modern Summit/Jegs aftermarket seats. Many of them seem to be overly padded or they have the shoulder harness holes that look wrong on a 1970s car, IMO.

Sorry to say that I don't care for the OEM buckets either. They look nice but they don't offer any more lateral support than my bench.

So a couple of options that have come up:

Datsun 240/260/280 Z seats. Classic looking seats with neat vent details, slim and light. Moderate lateral support.

Porsche 914 seats- very minimalistic and interesting looking. They should be extremely light.

C3 Vette seats- there were at least three primary types between '68 and '82...Chevy seats in a Dodge is a weird thought but I really do love Corvettes so I could get over it.

Any other suggestions? What would it take to get these mounted up? What do you guys typically do for seat belts?
Any thoughts are welcome.

I don't know about on a dart, but the 80's Omni/Charger/Turismo seats will bolt right onto e-body tracks. I have a pic on my computer at home but one moparts member had them reupholstered to match his car and they looked great. I used to have a shelby charger and the seats were comfortable and provided the extra side bolsters you are probably looking for.

Great info there! I will check that out.
My dad had an Omni GLH when they were new and I remember the seats being pretty supportive. That might be a good option with some upholstery work. I'm not sure if they will have the 70s look that I have in mind but they may do the trick.

Thanks!

Dumb question: Bench seat cars will need to have a second track welded on each side, right? IIRC, the stock ones are bolted but I don't believe the provisions are there to just bolt new tracks in place...

When I get home I'll see if I can find that pic of the reupholstered omni seats and post it.

Your floor will be dimpled where the bolts for the bucket seat tracks go, however the factory bucket seat cars had a steel plate welded over top to provide some reinforcement. If you're not too particular you can cheat with some large washers instead. I found some 3" diameter washers somewhere and used those.

Reflections7 was the user that had the Omni/Turismo seats. His post is still hear, but the pictures are not showing up as he used Photobucket. He hasn't posted here since 2011. If I recall he did a lot of posts showing body work and paint. I think I have a picture of his car on my old computer as I was once considering more modern seats for my car.

Quote "Porsche 914 seats- very minimalistic and interesting looking."

Years ago a friend had a set of Porsche seats in a '69 dart.
Fit well, looked great.
Did just what you are looking for.

Does anyone know how much the Porsche 914 and the Omni seats weigh?

Looking for something light but comfortable.

Thanks!

Here's the thread

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/662338/1.html

Omni seats aren't on the light side. But I can vouch that they are comfy and give good side to side support. Downside is the side bolsters can make getting in and out a little difficult if you are short legged and heavy set like me. Less sliding into the seat, and more wedging yourseld into the seat.

Had a set of 914 seats in a tube chassis Vega they are very light.

Porsche 996 seats. Thought they had an e/b body bucket seat look to them.

Omni seats. I've had several sets of them out before, I don't remember them being any heavier or lighter than muscle era mopar seats.

More omni seats.

Sebring convertible seats have a built in shoulder belt - might be a good option.

Not a direct answer... but Scat/Procar rally seats work very well for me. Appearance fits a classic, good side support and comfortable over long distance. Brackets are (or were) available to bolt into a '70E.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sca-80-1000-51l

2001 Pontiac Grand Am GT leather bucket seats. Comfortable, not too wide to fit and low profile.

I had Omni/Charger seats in my 67 Dart GTS when I bought it, they were comfy and pretty much were a bolt-in. There is a repop of the bucket seat floor reinforcement.

I'll have to take a look at 2 pairs of seats I have stored here for probably 20 years. One pair is the blue and gray Shelby Charger seats. The other pair is a set of red Omni seats. They might be a good fit for my plain 74 Charger and more comfortable. Worth a look as I haven't thought about them in a long time.
Terry