Convertible Back Seat
09-13-10, 08:45 AM
#1
DD Rex
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Convertible Back Seat
Question - did any of the FC convertibles come with the 2+2 rear seat? Is it possible to convert a convertible into a 2+2 using the normal coupe belts/seats/carpet/panels? I have a pristine 1990 that I just bought as a daily driver that could really use the midget seats for my younger family members. I understand that they are pretty useless for normal people, but I just want them for the youngins.
Kev
Kev
09-13-10, 09:40 AM
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Hmm, good question. You would lose the windblocker panel, and I think you would need to remove the targa panel when putting down the top, but the seats just may fit. I doubt the coupe's carpet would fit, so you would probably need custom carpeting. You may also need to custom fabricate seat and belt mounting brackets. My main concern would be safety, and I'm not sure if I would place my kids in a seating configuration that was not approved by a reputable safety organization.
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09-13-10, 11:49 AM
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DD Rex
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So there is a bunch of structual stuff that would need cut out to make it work. Has anyone actually done this yet? My search turned up that you need to move the spare tire and the amp back there, and that the support in the center is higher than the coupes. I don't really want to cut up the car at all, as it is VERY nice and completely factory stock. I was hoping for more of a bolt in solution that could be reversed down the road. I wonder if a custom seats could be made to work without cutting up the car. Thoughts?
Does anyone have pictures of the exposed back cargo area of a coupe versus that of a convertible. That would give me a much better idea of what I'd need to do.
Does anyone have pictures of the exposed back cargo area of a coupe versus that of a convertible. That would give me a much better idea of what I'd need to do.
09-13-10, 12:49 PM
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Kev
09-13-10, 01:36 PM
#13
The 2+2 coupes are impossible to sit in as it is, I imagine a 2+2 vert being even more cramped. I had back seats in my sport when I got it, I think it would be uncomfortable even for a child. There's literally 4-5" of leg/foot room. Not to mention the seats themselves, which take the term 'bucket seats' to a whole new level.
09-13-10, 04:09 PM
#15
you have to remove the part for the spare tire, and even then they dont fit the same. theres a big extra metal brace that the seats would normaly sit on, so they wind up sittin a bit higher, also you have to take out the convertable motors and do everything byhand, but you could put them back later, its reversilble.
i fit two 5'5 chicks in the back with the top removed perminatly, other wise there heads probably woulda hit the glass.
sadly i this was a car i was mocking up a hardtop for, and blew the engine in 2008, i no longer have it, nore any pix, so dont say "pix or it didnt happen"
the seats fell a part in the sun after a few months, they cracked, and you could just see foam.
09-13-10, 05:01 PM
#16
So... you can't put useful rear seats in a convertible. Removing the entire top and motors pretty much defeats the purpose, and the car will by definition no longer be convertible. It also would not be possible to keep the top in place, since there would be no head room with it up, or the glass jammed into the passengers' backs with it folded with the hard section removed.
09-13-10, 07:19 PM
#17
I've done it. i didnt use the side plastics, just the rear peice and the bottom peice+seat belts.
you have to remove the part for the spare tire, and even then they dont fit the same. theres a big extra metal brace that the seats would normaly sit on, so they wind up sittin a bit higher, also you have to take out the convertable motors and do everything byhand, but you could put them back later, its reversilble.
i fit two 5'5 chicks in the back with the top removed perminatly, other wise there heads probably woulda hit the glass.
sadly i this was a car i was mocking up a hardtop for, and blew the engine in 2008, i no longer have it, nore any pix, so dont say "pix or it didnt happen"
the seats fell a part in the sun after a few months, they cracked, and you could just see foam.
you have to remove the part for the spare tire, and even then they dont fit the same. theres a big extra metal brace that the seats would normaly sit on, so they wind up sittin a bit higher, also you have to take out the convertable motors and do everything byhand, but you could put them back later, its reversilble.
i fit two 5'5 chicks in the back with the top removed perminatly, other wise there heads probably woulda hit the glass.
sadly i this was a car i was mocking up a hardtop for, and blew the engine in 2008, i no longer have it, nore any pix, so dont say "pix or it didnt happen"
the seats fell a part in the sun after a few months, they cracked, and you could just see foam.
I say the 'prove it' didn't happen even if you did have pics.
09-14-10, 07:47 AM
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DD Rex
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I don't think pulling the motor out and making a permanent convertible is considered a "successful" conversion. There appears to be no hope for a simple, clean 2+2 convertible swap.
+1 on the slooowwwwness of the N/A auto verts. My '71 Ford pickup could probably beat the Rex in a race. But it's sexy, so it's got that going for it. And I've never seen a 20 year old car in better mechanical and body condition. It's mint!
+1 on the slooowwwwness of the N/A auto verts. My '71 Ford pickup could probably beat the Rex in a race. But it's sexy, so it's got that going for it. And I've never seen a 20 year old car in better mechanical and body condition. It's mint!
09-15-10, 12:10 PM
#20
I don't think pulling the motor out and making a permanent convertible is considered a "successful" conversion. There appears to be no hope for a simple, clean 2+2 convertible swap.
+1 on the slooowwwwness of the N/A auto verts. My '71 Ford pickup could probably beat the Rex in a race. But it's sexy, so it's got that going for it. And I've never seen a 20 year old car in better mechanical and body condition. It's mint!
+1 on the slooowwwwness of the N/A auto verts. My '71 Ford pickup could probably beat the Rex in a race. But it's sexy, so it's got that going for it. And I've never seen a 20 year old car in better mechanical and body condition. It's mint!
well yes, i successfully converted a 2 seater convertible to a 4 seater roaster( you know cars that never have a top). as i set out to do.... you guys are all hell bent on standing by what you said, or nay-saying that you dig so deep into technicalitys, but still miss the point, " will back seats fit? what needs to be done to make them fit, i provided an explination how i did it, you could of cource.. fashion your own seats outta some plywood...
i could still use the car as a 2 seater vert, buy folding down the seater and re attachtching the top, then take the top back off for 4 seater goodness, you also missed this was the car i was "working" on a hard top for...
09-15-10, 01:16 PM
#21
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TECHNICALLY, you could (Hell, you could put a jet-engin in an FC, just YouTube "jet engine volkswagen" or "VW Jet Car").
ANYTHING can be done given time and money.... Mostly the latter.
But given the breadth and scope of what we're talking about..... No.
My 90 vert has a 'shelf' that is 1/2 way up from the floor to the back deck. Even TRYING to put a back seat in would make the rear passengers feel like a Homecoming queen, sitting nearly 3' above the windshield...
NTM how much a PITA it would be, for them, when the top's down.
The BODY may be the same, but the CHASSIS isn't. Look at how low the inside of the chassis is on a coupe, then compare it to the vert.
ANYTHING can be done given time and money.... Mostly the latter.
But given the breadth and scope of what we're talking about..... No.
My 90 vert has a 'shelf' that is 1/2 way up from the floor to the back deck. Even TRYING to put a back seat in would make the rear passengers feel like a Homecoming queen, sitting nearly 3' above the windshield...
NTM how much a PITA it would be, for them, when the top's down.
The BODY may be the same, but the CHASSIS isn't. Look at how low the inside of the chassis is on a coupe, then compare it to the vert.
09-15-10, 04:10 PM
#22
TECHNICALLY, you could (Hell, you could put a jet-engin in an FC, just YouTube "jet engine volkswagen" or "VW Jet Car").
ANYTHING can be done given time and money.... Mostly the latter.
But given the breadth and scope of what we're talking about..... No.
My 90 vert has a 'shelf' that is 1/2 way up from the floor to the back deck. Even TRYING to put a back seat in would make the rear passengers feel like a Homecoming queen, sitting nearly 3' above the windshield...
NTM how much a PITA it would be, for them, when the top's down.
The BODY may be the same, but the CHASSIS isn't. Look at how low the inside of the chassis is on a coupe, then compare it to the vert.
ANYTHING can be done given time and money.... Mostly the latter.
But given the breadth and scope of what we're talking about..... No.
My 90 vert has a 'shelf' that is 1/2 way up from the floor to the back deck. Even TRYING to put a back seat in would make the rear passengers feel like a Homecoming queen, sitting nearly 3' above the windshield...
NTM how much a PITA it would be, for them, when the top's down.
The BODY may be the same, but the CHASSIS isn't. Look at how low the inside of the chassis is on a coupe, then compare it to the vert.
Take a Coupe, chop the top, and weld twice as much metal( by weight) to the following places: under the front fenders, over the backseat/bin metals. directly behind the drivers seat, underneither the car, and the obvious places you can see. now you have a vert.
it is really my option that the vert was made out of a coupe. see above.
09-15-10, 04:22 PM
#23
they were built on their own assembly line, and one of the reasons it was such a good convertible is it was designed that way from the start, a lot of convertibles of the day were actually modified coupes, but not in this case.
It can be said that of course it is a modified coupe because of design, but it is actually its own vehicle
It can be said that of course it is a modified coupe because of design, but it is actually its own vehicle
09-15-10, 11:34 PM
#24
I'll sound off with the common response, bad idea, non-functional top or the only people who would comfortably fit in the rear seats would be garden gnomes or smurfs. Oh and it would look absolutely ghetto. Oh...and would be unsafe. BUT the rear passengers would get a healthy diet of bugs in their teeth.
I read our vert was the first convertible with the folded down top which receded into the body of the car. Can anyone verify that one?
I read our vert was the first convertible with the folded down top which receded into the body of the car. Can anyone verify that one?
09-18-10, 01:33 PM
#25
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^ I don't believe that's the case. The vert wasn't produced until about 88 and I just sold an 87 Mercedes convertible and it did the same...
I HAVE read, however that the vert was the first of it's kind to restrict the amount of turbulence in the cockpit (a standard by which all convertibles are designed, today).
I remember seeing an ad back in, and from, the 80s that showed a woman riding along, comfortably, and not having her hair all ****-ed-ded up.
I HAVE read, however that the vert was the first of it's kind to restrict the amount of turbulence in the cockpit (a standard by which all convertibles are designed, today).
I remember seeing an ad back in, and from, the 80s that showed a woman riding along, comfortably, and not having her hair all ****-ed-ded up.