View Full Version : stupid question


importkiller
06-07-2003, 07:48 PM
today i found a 1983 Buick Lesabre in a junkyard, and the inteior is in perfect shape, and i mean perfect. all its missing is the steering columin and the speedometer. and i was wondering if the interior of that would fit in my 1977 Buick Electra Limited. they are both 4dr cars. could someone gimme some help? please?

rcfryer
06-08-2003, 09:39 AM
The best way to determine if the '83 seats will fit is to ask the salvage yard to look it up in the interchange book. From my own experience I can say that since the '83 is a smaller car than the '77, the seats will probably be too narrow. You may be able to use the front seat, even if it is narrower, but the rear seat may leave a gap at the edges. You may want to take a tape measure and see what the dimentions of your '77 seats are, and go back to the salvage yard and measure the seats that are in the '83. The seat mountings may or may not fit exactly, but you should be able to use some of them or modify them to work. You can measure the distances between the mounting studs on both cars and compare; then make a determination if they will work. The rear seat is secured on the top with three spears or hooks that will probably be fine for either seat. The bottom of the rear backrest is bolted in using the seat belt bolts and the tabs are usually wide enough to accomidate moving the hole an inch or so in either direction, so mounting the rear backrest should not present much of a problem. The rear cushion is secured by the wire frame tucked into a spear like bracket welded to the floor of the car. This may or may not line up with the newer seats and your rear seat bottom may just sit there loose with no means to secure it. You may be able to cut the brackets off and reweld them in another position to accomidate the newer seat.
Overall, the seat replacement project could present some problems due to the mounting and size differences in the seats, but is not impossible. You will have to look closely at the differences in the seats and mountings and determine if the extra effort is worth it to use the newer interior.
Good luck with your project.