Hi,

I'm adding a fold down rear seat into my '68 coupe, I think the only piece I'm missing is the striker.

Can anyone measure/dimension theirs out so I can find something close that will work?

Also, to the folks that have already done this, did anyone remove the bracing between the trunk and seat to open up the space?

Thanks!

Gus68 has some really great pictures of all of this. Send him a PM.

Also, look through the "hall of fame" postings.

You can pretty much buy all the pieces you need.
http://www.firebirdcentral.com/FIREBIRD_FOLD_DOWN_SEAT_PARTS_s/222.htm

Here are some pics of mine when I removed it.
68 Fold down

NPD has the best prices on FD seat parts that I could find.

Thanks for the links.

Gus, I don't see the striker anywhere on that list of parts.

The rear seat doesn't use the same striker as the front seats, right? The striker I've seen in pics looks similar to the striker on the doors.

In this pic, lower left you can see the striker:

https://picasaweb.google.com/283falcon/FoldDownSeat#5575105070725712914

When I look at the metal brackets on my seat, I don't see a way for the striker to attach either. My old covers are on so maybe there is a hole in there that is covered up?

Ah! Sorry I spoke too soon, here is a better pic of the striker:

https://picasaweb.google.com/283falcon/FoldDownSeat#5575104184747535554

Is it a normal door striker? I don't yet have the latch (it's on order / on the way)

https://picasaweb.google.com/283falcon/FoldDownSeat#5575104184747535554

It goes thru the bracket and screws into the steel pan.
Steel pan where striker attaches to

I don't think they repop the striker. But you could probably just use a shoulder bolt. I don't think you even need the head on it because the seat can't move sideways.

I think the bolt is a bit smaller than the door striker stud. But I am not positive.

Thanks! I'll take a look at the latch when it gets here, I'm sure I can come up with something.

The bolt (screw side) is the same as a door striker but the contact area for the latch is longer.

Gus, thanks for the perfect pic!

Okay,

I think I've resolved the confusion over the (missing) striker.

Short answer: I have a '67 rear fold down seat, not a '68.

I need to get some pics up, but a quick way to tell is the following:

1. Chrome tabs on both sides of the seat. These go into the keepers for the seat back (67 did not have a latch).
2. The bolts that hold the hinges on the seat are not hex, they are philips head.

Gus, looking at your photos, on the passenger, latch side of the fold down portion, does the upper part really notch in a bit? My seat doesn't seem to do that.

It looks like Classic Industries uses the same part number for the 67 fold down rear seat as well as the 68, so I should be good there.

Does anyone have any links to pics of a 67, showing how the keepers mount?

Any opinions as to whether I should put the 67 seat in or start the long process of finding a '68 seat?

Any opinions as to what was better functionally, the 67 keepers or the 68 latch? I'm going for functionality over originality here.

Thanks!

Google wins again...

Here are some pics of a '67 seat:
pic1
pic2

As to which latching method works better:
"The clips in the upper corner are just tension grip and would let the seat flop forward on hard breaking. That's why the latch's were changed to be a positive hook."

BTW,

Here is a pic showing what the chrome tab on a 67' back looks like. It is the part that slides into the keeper:
chrometab

Unless you are putting together a 95 point show car, I'd stay with the '67 seat. If you don't need to install it soon, you may find someone with a '68 seat for their '67 and you could swap.

They are a pain in the butt to piece together for the correct year.

With a 67 seat you can drill and tap the required hole for the striker, you would have to install the latch first and then install the seat then mark where the striker would go. The frames for the 67-68 are the same it's just the striker hole is not present on the 67...

Do what you want but I also had a 67 that I considered installing in my 69. I decided not to for a couple of reasons. First I didn't want to have to explain it to anyone that noticed(only somebody that had one would know). Probably the killer for me was they didn't make the deluxe seat covers for the 67 style seat.
You could always install it for advertising puposes and offer it for sale or trade for the correct year. Meantime you get the use of it(if there is any).

Can anyone with a '68 fold down seat confirm/deny there is a notch of sorts on the upper portion of the passengers side, which makes room for the latch?

I don't think my '67 seat has this, so I'm not certain I can use it with the '68 latch/striker setup.

As for the extra hole for the striker, I think the striker just goes in the top most hole for the bracket on the side.

Can anyone confirm this?

PM Gus68. He has a lot of nice pictures of all of this.

I researched this quite a bit a few years back and I am almost certain the frames are the same. The only difference being the 68-9 frame had the taped hole on the passenger's side...

I've got mine folded down right now. When I go out tonight to install my intake I'll take a look. Maybe even snap a pic of the bracket on that side.

Well I tried to unfold it but the roll bar cross bar is in the way so this is the best I could do tonight striker side bracket

It appears the the striker bolt does screw into the upper part of the side bracket.