Jred Posted April 23, 2021 Report Share Posted April 23, 2021 The front seats on my 1970 could use some replacing. Any suggestions? It would be nice to replace with NOS(unlikely) or repops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunslinger Posted April 23, 2021 Report Share Posted April 23, 2021 Do you want new seats or new upholstery coverings for the existing seats? You could have an upholstery shop rebuild your current seats with new foam and coverings...or you can buy aftermarket seats. If you buy used seats they will likely need rebuilding anyway. In the '70 I owned the original seats really sucked...not much support and tiring over a longer drive. I eventually found some Recaro seats from a later Avanti and had them recovered and were the best automotive seats I ever sat in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jred Posted April 23, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2021 Thanks @Gunslinger I do like the look of the original low back seats but I do also want to road trip this car. It’s absolutely one of the funnest cars I have driven. I’ll keep an eye out for some used Recaro seats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1inxs Posted April 24, 2021 Report Share Posted April 24, 2021 On 4/22/2021 at 7:57 PM, Jred said: The front seats on my 1970 could use some replacing. Any suggestions? It would be nice to replace with NOS(unlikely) or repops. Your 1970 Avanti is one of five that were built with the original low back buckets from Studebaker. I recommend having a local shop do new foam and upholstery on your seats. I have one of the other five and have only seen one other that has popped up. Keep it original and be very unique. Good Luck and enjoy! Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jred Posted April 24, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2021 37 minutes ago, 1inxs said: Your 1970 Avanti is one of five that were built with the original low back buckets from Studebaker. I recommend having a local shop do new foam and upholstery on your seats. I have one of the other five and have only seen one other that has popped up. Keep it original and be very unique. Good Luck and enjoy! Robert Interesting, thanks for that information. Might go both routes. Drove around all day today and loved the openness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avanti83 Posted April 24, 2021 Report Share Posted April 24, 2021 If you have trouble finding seats about any late model mid or full size car seats will fit. That will give you more adjustment and heat if so desired. I used 2007 Pontiac G6 leather seats in my 74 Avanti and 07 Acura seats in my 54 Studebaker. They are both much better seats than the ones in my 1983 Avanti if you don't mind non-stock. Personally in today traffic, I want the high backs well anchored to the frame for support if I get rearended. Someday I'll get the GTP removed by the same upholster that did my dash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kodjo Posted August 8, 2021 Report Share Posted August 8, 2021 Oh man, yuu have to let go of all beauty for extra safety. Pontiac is no match for the original low back buckets. I would repair the old ones! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Posted August 15, 2021 Report Share Posted August 15, 2021 Hello all, Somewhat similar issue. I have 63 Avanti. The car has been sitting outside and covered for the last 15 years. Just started working through the fuel system. When I pulled my rear seats to access the fuel tank and I noted the framing on the rear seats were rusted pretty bad. Should the rear seats be rebuilt and reupholstery or do I need to source replacement seats? Can they be found? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunslinger Posted August 15, 2021 Report Share Posted August 15, 2021 There's no direct replacement other than an Avanti rear seat base. I'm thinking rebuilding them would be tedious and expensive...I could be wrong as maybe cleaning the rust off and giving them a coat of a rust resistant finish could suffice. You can contact Jon Myer of Myer's Studebaker or Dan Booth at Nostalgic and see what they each might have. When I was at Myer's Studebaker some time ago he had a number of Avanti parts cars. Otherwise you need to keep an eye on Studebaker swap meets (few as they are) and maybe source seats. That's how I found a complete set of Avanti seats for the '70 I used to own. If you can locate a rear seat from an Avanti II from after the '71-'72 era they were made with "pneumocel" (sp?) which doesn't use springs but looks like spaghetti noodles formed to make the seat support. Avanti Motors switched to that when they started installing sun roofs and needed a lower seat due to the loss of some headroom due to the sun roof installation. Standard coil spring seats would bottom out when the seats were made lower...the pneumocel seats didn't allow for much compression. They did make for a superior seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Posted August 28, 2021 Report Share Posted August 28, 2021 Thanks Gunslinger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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