I pulled these seats out of a ’72 Comet about 15 years ago and they have been in my attic ever since. They were original to the car. I plan on using them in my restoration and want to replace the seat foam before I have them recovered. I contacted one of the Mustang upholstery suppliers to see if they could provide the correct foam. Surprisingly, they said that they could not translate them to a Mustang seat. Now, I’m sure that Mercury did not have custom seats made for the Comet and used something off of a Mustang. Does anyone recognize what Mustang used these seats so that I can get the proper foam? http://www.tmiproducts.com/mustang/browse-by-category/foam.html?p=1 Thanks, Micah
Yes 71/73 mustang... Don't confuse them just say you want the foam for a 71 mustang.... I used both the foam and mach1 covers on mine....
Dave & Ken, Thanks for the info. I tried to look it up in my Ford parts manual but it did not cover the Comet. I suspected the Maverick was the same seat but I had no way to confirm. I would like to go with a foam with more support. Do you know if the Sport Seat from 71-73 would also work? It looks the same except for the extra padding on the sides: http://www.tmiproducts.com/mustang/...73-deluxe-mach-1-sport-seat-foam-pad-set.html I really like the Shelby style but I have no idea if that would work since it is for a 69-70. http://www.tmiproducts.com/mustang/...1-shelby-sport-seat-hi-back-foam-pad-set.html
Here is what I was going to order next month to restuff my seats. There seems to be a lot of different brands out there with varying prices, probably the quality of the foam? I was thinking these looked like they might be a better quality ... http://www.npdlink.com/store/produc...e_concours-138525-2453.html?shop_by_year=1971
Hard to tell what out there is any good until you get it in your hands and can compare it. The only difference I see here is TMI is a manufacturor and NPD is a retailer. Might even be the same product they are selling. Who knows anymore. I am looking for the hing covers and the plastic seat back. The only source I have found is out of them http://www.ohiomustang.com/store/item_listing.asp?pcid=3&L1=Interior&L2=Seat Trim&p=4&ps=10 Please let us know what you think of the ones you buy. Micah
The sport seat foam looks a bit like what I did to mine. I used stock foam, but added material in the bolsters to beef them up. I used Standard Mustang Coupe skins on mine, and adapted it to the back seat as well. It looks "factory", but obviously is not accurate for a true resto. Fastback skins are made for the folding seat, so that would add a problem if you wanted Mach 1 upholstery. I cut the bottom frame on my rear seat pretty radically. If doing it again, I might be tempted to add material to the seat bottom skin if using the Coupe upholstery. Surprisingly, the seat back skin is very close, as is... about an inch wider. I just took that up by pulling it snug. So, any foam set for 71-73 Mustang/Cougar ought to work fine. I would stay away from that Shelby set, and 69-70 Mustang foam ... the seat frames look a bit different to me. Another thing to pay attention to, and you are OK as far as your seats go, is that 72-73 Mustang seat backs have the latch release on the side. 71 had them in the center. I don't know if Comets all had them on the side or not. These seat frames can be adapted for either style to match the seat backs if needed, with the right hardware.
NPD sells TMI, and they also have those covers. The thing with NPD, if you buy it, and it doesn't work, you can return it.
Jeff, I finally ordered my seat foam from TMI. They just came out with a new style with even more bolstering: http://www.tmiproducts.com/mustang/browse-by-category/foam/1971-73-mach1-sport-r-ll-seat-molded-foam.html They are at my upholster in California and he ran into a problem. The backs of the seat fit fine but the new foam cushions are about 2” smaller around the seat frame. I spoke with TMI and they do not have a cross reference for Maverick/Comet seats. I assumed that the 71-73 Mach 1 seats were the same and should have fit with no problems. They don’t seem too eager to go out and compare the sizes of the cushions for me to see if I should have used a set from a ’69-‘70. I’m re-reading your post and noticed you made a reference to the fastback seats being different. You referenced having to cut your frames. Was this because the foam did not fit the frame or the seat covers did not fit? Were you referencing the back of the front seats or the actual back seat? I wonder if the ’70 high back foam is what I should have ordered. http://www.tmiproducts.com/mustang/browse-by-category/foam.html?p=2 I’m just trying to figure out why the bottom foam was not a direct fit and try to figure out if I should have ordered something different. Otherwise, I will be cutting the cushion to widen it to fit the frame. If anyone has some info on this, please let me know.
I went out to the garage and measured a couple of 71-73 Mustang seat bottom frames that I have. The sheetmetal base is right at 17 inches wide, the supporting wire is 18 inches wide at the back of the frame and flares out to about 20.5 at the front. Also, it looks to me that over time, these wires get flattened a bit with use, especially the outboard one due to people getting in and out of the seat. I seem to remember having to shove them back up a bit so that they were even again. The width at the hinge mounts for the seat upper is a touch over 17 inches because the frame flares a little. If your seat backs will fit on these, they are up for sale.... cheap .... PM me for details. When I was referring to fastback seats being different, I was talking about the back seat .... it folds, so the upper portion is two pieces and very different. That is why I went with coupe upholstery. The skins are closer for the back seat. I really had to chop the frame for the rear seat bottom. Mav seat is taller than the Mustang rear seat.
Jeff, Thanks. I looked at my parts book last night. The cushion foam for the Mustang and the Maverick are definitely the same. Unfortunately, I don’t have a parts book for Mercury. Therefore, I can’t tell if they did something special for the Comet. This is complicated by the upholsterer being 200 miles away. I wish I could get my hands on them and take a look for myself. I will look into the prospect that something is bent. I don’t think the upholsterer has pulled apart the other seat. I will have him do that to see if there is just something messed up with the driver seat. As I compare my photo at the top of the page to your seat, mine looks a little smashed down. This was supposed to be simple.
I really like those new seats, make sure you post some pictures once they are done. I've been thinking I may ditch my SVO seats, and get some of those. I just want to see some better pictures than they've been showing in the magazines.
I'm doing them in black leather with a red accent similar to these, but the pleats will not go all the way down. Rear seats will be done to match:
Jeff, Do you mind posting what was on the cushion tag. My tag is D2ZB-6563100AC MGR 2130002AD My upholster is just going to cut my foam on the outside edges and add a total of 2.5" of foam. They should work then. I suspect Mercury had to make the seat a little more plush since they are more high end. I suspect they just changed the cushion and kept the seat back the same. I hope that has not effected the seat rails where they dont fit the Maverick floor (I doubt it). The Pinto used a high back seat that looks exactly the same but the cushion is a different part number than the Maverick and Mustang bucket. Maybe they had to put less foam in the seat since it was a Pinto. Thanks, Micah
My tag is it the same number up to the "AC", and I know that this seat came out of a 72 or 73 Cougar with Deluxe interior. It pretty well matches Ford part numbers up to that point. I suspect the digits that follow may show manufacturing detail ( a serial #?). I grabbed another seat bottom that didn't have a cover. It didn't have a tag, but what I noticed was that the side supports were flat on one side and almost vertical on the other. I would stress to your upholsterer to bend those back up, and to really look at the vertical height built into the padding for a guide as to how much.
