71 Flip forward bench seat?

[CG]

Ive seen threads on converting your regular bench to flip forward (somewhere here on the board). Can you make a 71 bench flip forward without doing anything to the seat covers at the pivot point? Doesn't the seat backs cover sort of stretch in to the lower part of the bench at the pivot point?

I have a new 71 houndstooth cover and wondering if this is a mod I can do on the 71 bench.

[jcwren]

Just out of curiosity, what advantage is there to flipping the seat forward? There's so little space behind the seat that I'm not sure what it would gain someone. A little more space if you removed the in-cab tank, but still, not generally useful space.

[franken]

From the look of things, the upper and lower are separate so making the back fold seems to be simple. It also looks like there's a pivot point designed in so it's a matter of figuring out what latches the back in position and making it unlatchable.

[Grumpy old man]

A flip forward seat back cover is designed to only attach to the seat back to allow it to fold foward ,Where as the stand seat cover is designed to attach to both the seat back and seat bottom and when installed does not allow the seat back to be able to fold ,The design also hides the seat back mounting frame giving it a more finished look . The solid mounted seat back was designed for 2 different reasons one being safety and the other being Federal law requirement also noted by the other safety features like side marker lights in 68 and wide back glass eventually led to windshields no longer being gasketed in 73 and 3 point belts A flip forward seat and standard mid 68 ^ seat are two different animals .given the right shouldered side mounting bolts and some welding and some creative upholstery work you can make the standard seat flip forward .

[Grumpy old man]

This picture shows the upholstery on the standard seat back attached to the seat bottom

[Grumpy old man]

Here are a couple pics of the 67-early 68 flip forward seat and the correct shoulder bolt , Also the wing nut designed to hold the seat back fastened in place .

[CG]

Originally Posted by jcwren

Just out of curiosity, what advantage is there to flipping the seat forward? There's so little space behind the seat that I'm not sure what it would gain someone. A little more space if you removed the in-cab tank, but still, not generally useful space.

I have a panel truck and was wondering if I could use the bench in there. They come with a tilting forward utility bucket on the passenger side (which I don't have). A bench that tilts forward would be a good alternative.

I do have a split bench, but I have a complete dark green interior and it would be nice to use what I have on hand.