Rear Seat in a GT???

[husker]

Did any GT's ever come with a rear seat??? I don't think so but thought I would ask. I have a family of four and am looking to put a rear seat in my GT. Any suggestions? I think there is enough room for my 2 small munchkins (3 and 6). I would have to take out the rear 'platform' and find a seat that would fit between the rear wheel wells and then of course attach seatbelts. Anybody do this before? Any suggestions before I begin combing junkyards and measuring all rear seats I come across?

[mjustice]

Depending on the state you're in, i don't think this would be legal.
I know it isn't here in california. Beore my father gave me his '71 he installed a rear belt for a car seat. And yes, he was caught and he got a ticket for doing it.....
If it is legal in your state, considering the small size of the rear platform, you might be better off using those side mounted jump seats that they use for extended cab pickups. Although the seat belt mounting locations will probably have to be reinforced.
I've never tried it, so i'm not really sure of the specifics.

[johnbran]

That I know of, the GT's never came out with a rear seat, but I believe there was a few pics of one that was custom built with a rear seat on the web somewhere. It may have even been on this site in one of the galleries. Does anyone remember it? I'll search my picture file and see if I saved the pic. If so, I'll post it later. I had thought of doing the same thing with my '70 at one time, but I decided to leave it a 2 seater. I was told once that the little Datsun Z cars (240Z, 260Z, 280Z) were close in size and if you could find one out of a 280ZX or 2+2 it might have a rear seat that is close to fitting in your GT. I haven't checked it out though, but it might be an idea for something to look for.

Best of luck!!
John

[johnbran]

I don't know if I'm doing this right or not, but I'm going to try to post a pic on here of the GT with a rear seat. If it doesn't work, email me and I can email you the pic.

John

[husker]

Thanks for the info... I just called the Colorado DMV and they don't care how many seats a car does or doesn't have. On their advice I called the Colorado State Patrol and they said that as long as it is safe, they don't care either. I asked if the "looking safe" was my interpretation or theirs if I get pulled over and they said "It just needs to be safe". Big help there but it looks like I can do it as long as it's safe. These are my kids that will be riding back there and believe me I will do everything I can think of to make it safe.

The z cars are a good suggestion... I will look into a 2+2.

It almost looks like Malcom's GT in the member picture pages has a rear seat. I have sent him an e-mail asking that question.

[husker]

OK Johnbran - you beat me to it... That was the picture of Malcom's GT I was talking about. I will let you know what Malcom's reply is.

[George]

There is not much to bolt a seat to except the wooden platform that is held down by just a few screws.I have built rear a seat for a volkswagen that looked simular to the one in the picture.I used 3/4 inch plywood and square tubing for the frame and covered it with a layer of foam and vinyl.It looked good but was very uncomfortable.As long as the seatbelts are bolted to through metal with a big washer to keep them from pulling through they should work ok.

[husker]

I would remove the platform that is currently there and weld in tubing through the wheel wells to the frame. That way there would be more foot room. I think that finding a rear seat that is close is the way to go. It would be relatively easy to cut down an existing seat and then reupholster it.

[Yello'71]

this might seem like a dumb question to some people but is the convertible gt shown in this forum the same size as the 71 gt? i have a 71 gt and that car looks considerably bigger inside than the car i have.

[husker]

Maybe they shrink when you wash them... kidding... I thought that all GTs were the same size - even the same body... just different options.

I bet it is the targa top that makes it look like there is more room.

[Yello'71]

lol very funny. i dunno maybe im just crazy but it doesnt quite seem the same. ill be runnin out to the garage and back all day tryin to figure this out.

[oldopelguy]

My GT had the rear window shelf and curtain removed, much like you wold do with a convertible. There was a ton of room back there, and upholstering the sides was a breeze.

[husker]

oldopelguy - where did you put the spare??? Or did you toss it and hope that you don't get a flat???

[Chris_1970GT]

While I dunno for sure what oldopelguy's answer will be, I have my suspicions. I've been thinking pretty hard about trading that rear shelf in for a little more space (for a pc-based MP3 system among other things) and a Triple-A Membership - Though I'll bet a minispare would take up much less space.

Actually I do have every intention of modifying the rear package area so I can move my front seats back about 3-4 inches and still recline comfortably. Being 6'4" I have to say that while the opel has surprising leg room (though not side to side) I can't quite EVER stretch my legs out all the way. Makes long trips kind of a bummer. I may also go electric headlight mechanism - that durned lever is cool as all get out <ka-chunk!>, but it pokes me right above the knee :P

[ben]

let me know how its done
i was thinking about one more bucket seat
in back that would fold down for spare tire
i would like tooo move my seat back too
what about steering wheel
what abou the gt wheigh limts
is like 4 or 500 pounds

[oldopelguy]

I only took the top shelf and the curtain out, then covered the tire with a truck-type vinyl cover. I still had 2 6x9'6 in the front plate below the shelf, along with the anm and such underneath. I'll try to scrounge-up a couple of photos.

You might look through Stanly's restoration pictures for a rough estimate, though. I seem to remember a photo of the rear area with everything stripped out that reveals a lot of the room you can gain.

[husker]

johnbran... I got a reply from Malcom today... He said that his car does not have a back seat at all - It is just upholstered to look like it. Oh well, back to the drawing board. I have a friend with a Z 2+2 and I plan on getting the measurements of his back seat soon.

[Jason73GT]

I've often thought about those fold up seats you used to find in older extended cab trucks...don't remember how they were attached other than that they were attached to the outer wall and they faced the center of the car instead of forward....just a thought

[johnbran]

Husker,
If that isn't a back seat in malcolm's GT, then it is one heck of an optical illusion. At least you have an idea of what a back seat might look like in one anyway.

I looked at a '79 Datsun 280ZX 2+2 yesterday that was parked at the store, just to refresh my memory on the rear seats. It really looked to be similar in width to the GT, but it might be just a little wider. Wider is better than narrower though, because it's easier to cut one down than try to make one wider. Let me know if you get the measurements off your friends Z. I'd be interested to know just how close they really are.

The S-10 jump seats might work too, as was mentioned. I had a couple of extended cab S-10's a few years back and from what I remember of the rear seats, they bolted to the outside "wall" of the cab with a couple of bolts and then had a strange shaped plate with several (4-5?) bolts that bolted them to the floor of the truck. I think it might be possible to get them mounted in a GT, but it would probably take a little work to get a surface that would mate up with the mounting plates correctly to be solid. My guess as to the reason for this would be that they used several indentions and angles to reinforce the mount rather than just bolting on a flat plate with a bunch of holes in it which would be more likely to warp or bend. I may still have a set of those little jump seats somewhere around here, but I can't guarantee it. If I run across them, I'll try to get a pic of them posted on here so you can see whether or not you could make them work. I still think I would rather go with the full rear seat out of a Z car or something though. A seat from a hatchback Z or other folding back seat could possibly even be mounted to still lay forward and make use of the space behind it for an emergency spare or something. Just a thought. But, if all else fails though, the jump seat may be the ticket.

Best of luck,
John

[rallye73]

The seat I was goingto use in my GT was the rear seat from a porsche 924 or 944. It is just about the perfect width, only the ears on the seat back need to be trimmed a little off each side. You would have to form a floorpan out of sheet metal or cut part of the pan off one of these cars since the seat of the seat sitts directly on the pan. the seat back is designed to drop forward to allow access to the compartment behind it. It latches in the upright position by means of a pin bolted to the body on each side. To drop the seat back, the 924 uses a plastic pull loop on the drivers side and the 944 uses buttons on top of the seatback. Unknown if/how the 968 would work (last of that model series).

Darrin

I could take pictures of the seats and the floorpans I have if anyone is interested.

[jmowens]

has anyone actually done this yet? This will be something I will have to do if/when I get another GT.

[Clayton918]

Sounds very interesting.
I'd be tempted to put a back seat in my GT, but you know what would inevitably occur...Backseat driver!!

[soybean]

On the 69 I have, it has belts in the back, no seats. If there were no seats why were the belts put in the back? I've never understood this. Was it like the Subaru Brat, that they put the seats in the back so they could say it was a passenger car? Just curious. Jarrell

[baz]

Originally Posted by soybean On the 69 I have, it has belts in the back, no seats. If there were no seats why were the belts put in the back? I've never understood this. Was it like the Subaru Brat, that they put the seats in the back so they could say it was a passenger car? Just curious. Jarrell

jarrell i wonder if opel were thinking of trying the japanese market as they did not allow 2 seater cars till the late 80's or there abouts ,this is why you get the jap 2+2 cars like the 240 with seats in the back that only a paraplegic could use
so to sell the gt there it would need to be a 2+2 and have seats like malcolms(yxy) trimmed out in the back and belts to comply to RTA for that country ,even if they could not be used
for my self i would not carry a precious load like my kids (if any of them were small enough to fit now) in the back of a gt as it was made for 2 and i dont think the shell would take a rear end shunt and let them have a chance to get out or live back there if it had a fire