A while back i said i was thinking of putting c5 seats in my mako.Well they should be going in in the next week or two.I will try to take pictures and keep notes in case someone elce want to go this route.

Fathom427

Can't wait to see the pics.

A while back i said i was thinking of putting c5 seats in my mako.Well they should be going in in the next week or two.I will try to take pictures and keep notes in case someone elce want to go this route.

Fathom427

That would be great! Try to document your efforts. I know there is info spread across other forums, but it sure would be nice if you could make notes as you go...kind of a how-to to go along with the pictures. I have been looking at doing that same conversion on my '69, but am just too tight to spend the big bucks to buy a set of C-5 seats, then spend more $ to re-cover them.

Looking forward to seeing pictures!

A word of caution.If you have to weld new seat mounts,PLEASE remember there are fuel lines under the floor.This happened on the TR4 I'm working on and Mac was burned pretty bad.I love this hobby,but it only takes one mistake to change everything.Be safe, Craig.

Iwill have to weld plates to bolt them down.I really thought this was going to be trickey.Ends up fairly easy. the seats fit fine.The only problem was that the front bracket makes theseat tilt back a bit much.We solved this by bending the bracket back and under itself.Iwill take pics as soon as i can.

Fathom427

Max was welding seat mounts in the Triumph and welded into the fuel line.Be careful.Sometimes we can get carried away and forget safety.

The seats are in and they work great.We ended up cutting around one and a half inches off the front bracket.Then rewelded it so as to maintane a mounting hole. when dropping the front of the seat this much the air pump comes into play. Or should i say in the way.You can take the mounting screws out and flip the pump over this will give you the clearence needed.These c5 seats do sit a little higher because of the padding but i am a short guy.I did have a few other guys try them out both around the 6 foot mark and they did not have any proublems with head room. These seats are so much nicer than the c3s.and in the end it really only cost about 300 more than recovering the old c3 seats.

Fathom 427

Did you ever come up with pics on the seat project

Great job Jim!! Now for those long sought after pictures...

If anyone has a set of C-5 seats for $200 or less, let me know...heh, heh, heh. It seems that every pair I find are going for $800-1000 and then I have to recover them...so for now I'll just throw a set of those cheap flannel covers on the stock seats ...they look good don't they?

Jim...glad to see that you are making some progress...

BTW Carl...nice find!! They will make great seats for your project.

I got '82 CE seats for mine (one even has power, or at least the stuff for it. Haven't checked to see if it works yet). They have bolsters, were cheap, and bolt right in.

Thanks Keith...I've seen late C3 and C4 seats in the earlier C3's, and agree that they will install with little to no problems. I may have to go with something like that to get started...but I think Jim has the right idea by going with the C5's, which I like the looks and feel of. Eventually, and maybe by the time I get to it, the price will come down. I have put over 3000 miles on the '75 since July and I can tell you that the stock seats suck when it come to comfort on a long trip!! :D

Marv, I had a '74 vert and agree about the stock seats. P/C and newer seats were a huge advance in comfort and grip. A buddy has C5 seats in his mid year and loves them. The shoulder room in a C3 is tighter than a mid year however making C4, 5 and 6 seat fitment tricky at best. Plus, the fewer holes you have to drill into the floorpan, the better.

I will take some pics on monday when i get to the shop.The seats are in and look and work great.Now the rest of the interior is still a mess so focus on the seats.The seats were not a hard fit they had a couple of mods on the mounting bracket and turning the air pump upside down.Run your wires for the power and your now you can ride in comfort.

Fathom427