Sticky #3: Pantera Seats

Great job on the seats ... they look excellent.

And great job on the post. thank you.

Steve,

Thanks for posting all information and the great photos! Very helpful and informative.

Devin

All,

Hope I can get a car soon so I can post in the seats area! :-P

Rob Garven

hey Garvino are we related?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by robertgarven:
All,

Hope I can get a car soon so I can post in the seats area! :-P

Rob Garven


Hi Robert,
I wanted to point out a red immaculate Pantera for sale at fantasy junction in northern Cali. Seems to be very original and a preL.

Cheers.

http://www.fantasyjunction.com...51%20Cleveland%20V-8

One owner brought me an unusual combination- Ferrari Boxer seats and a '73 Pantera. Those things were about the same "fit" as Mikael found. I wound up modifying pretty much everything in the car to accomodate them, including contour-cutting the single rake-adjust knobs, swapping the stock Pantera seat belt hex head bolts for countersunk flathead bolts, narrowed e-brake box and on and on... Then I found that Ferrari seats of that era do not use wheels in the tracks- they use flat polyethylene slider-pads.... which stick if the rails are not perfectly flat with someone in the seat. The adjuster levers also needed contouring to not dig into the floor mats. When finally done, to me they were not as comfortable as my reupholstered stock seats. Remember, most used seats available on the market were removed from that car for something better....

Hey guys... has anyone tried using a 71-73 Mustang seat? They sit quite low and have a thin back. There are now some cool aftermarket seat cover options for them, which wouldn't require high dollar upholstery work.

stock seat

cool aftermarket covers

Rob,

I do like the looks of the aftermarket seat skins that you posted. It would be interesting to see if the 71 to 73 Mustang seats would fit (height & width wise).

Devin

As Jack (Bosswrench) already pointed out, reupholstered stock seats can be quite comfortable. So save yourself a ton of time, effort and re-engineering to make something that doesn't belong fit, and spend that same money (or less) on a quality re-upholstery of your stock seats. Your bottom and your wallet will thank you!

Hi Garth, points are all legit. I have a very nice stock set....just looking for a different/custom look. If the stang seats don't work...they will likely be going in.

quote:

I have a very nice stock set....just looking for a different/custom look. If the stang seats don't work...they will likely be going in.

On the subject of seats, I have '69 Mach 1 seats in my 66 GT fastback - they provide a lot more support than the original Mustang low-backs and look like they belong.

The stock seats fit into the car the best. The original vinyl upholstery is actually what makes them uncomfortable although thinking about it, the Euro cars with the leather in the same pattern are just as uncomfortable. Maybe it's just the original foam that is the problem? I don't know?

The ones that Hall does with leather and new foam make them very comfortable.

The Pantera cabin is so tight that virtually any seat other than the stock one causes an issues in another place.

The way you have to slide in and out, the seats with the side bolsters just make it more difficult, impossible to move your hips which you need to do and the high backs with the built in head rests block your view.

It is amazing how this car just punishes certain body types. If you are built like an NFL middle linebacker, the soft stock seats are by far the best fit but if you start to play with lowered floor pans and pedal spacing the couple of inches here and there are amazing. In my case I have an adjustable steering wheel height on the column and a quick release steering wheel hub too.

Those "little" changes transform the cabin immensely but then gives you other seat options.

In fact you can actually put a real non-deformed human in the passenger seat if you go to a flat or reduced engine bubble.

Why those weren't demanded by Ford back when is beyond me. Seems like some kind of a 'pay back' thing that was going on? Did they loose in soccer or something?

My advice would be to stick to a plan rather than try alternatives constantly.

I would also say that 'race seats' are not the way to go in this car for the street.

Quick update: 71-73 Mustang high back seats do NOT work. They are too wide. I have installed the stock seats.

I am going to take a crack at 350z seats. Very comfortable and lits f extra bolster. More modern than some prefer but comfortable and far less ecpensuze than sparcos

These are stock seats. The right interior shop can do wonders:

Is that the King Ranch interior? Looks great!!

Has anyone ever tried the Ferrari Daytona seats in the Pantera?

I was a passenger in a Mercedes SLK 230 recently. I thought the seats might make for good transplants for the Pantera. They are thin, narrow, sturdy, well padded, trimmed in leather, they have side bolsters, and they have adjustable head rests.

The mounting base may be a little high, hard to tell unless you try fitting one in the Pantera. I don't know how easily they separate from the Mercedes mounting base either, as its hidden behind decorative plastic.

Food for thought however.

Hi All,

Here's another set of old Recaro seats. They've been in my Pantera since the mid 80's, and just reupholstered in leather.

Craig Cline

Italian-S, I worked on a '73 Pantera that came with Ferrari Boxer seats but not installed. Worst setup I've ever gotten snagged in. They are too wide- enough that I had to remove the stock seat belts, retractors and plates in the rockers and substitute 3" 'racing' belts which were already sort-of-installed. The setup obsoleted the stock shoulder harnesses but Hall over-the-shoulder harnesses were included. The attach bar did not fit & the special stock bolts were missing..... I made thin sheet metal covers for the rocker panels & used flat-head metric screws for clearance. The recliner knobs still interfered so they needed to be removed and a large bevel cut on each knob's periphery to clear stock rocker panel upholstery. The fore-&-aft adjusters were at floor-mat height so they needed careful S-bending to clear stock mats, and since F-cars do not use rollers in their adjustment rails but flat poly sliders, actually moving the seats back & forth was still a two-person effort with someone in a seat.

If I'd had ANY other seats available, I would have gladly used them & junked these F-car seats. About the only good thing was, they were high quality leather.... Maybe Daytona seats are narrower & would work better but I would NOT recommend early Ferrari seats like this car had under any circumstances, unless you plan on a pro totally reupholstering the car. Measure VERY carefully- Pantera cabins are narrow!

Can someone tell me if these are the original seat track style?

This is on a Recaro, which I don't like, and want to put in a set of Herrig's Corvette seats.....but I don't like those in cloth....!

BUT it would appear to me that the flat stock that is on this track is not stock?????

The seats move like poooo! How to fix? Properly....don't need electric.....

Ciao!
Steve