55 T bird seats

[frahms_4]

Good afternoon. I would like to get some guidance on seat assemblies for a 55 TBird. A while back I posted a thread about helping a friend get a 55 T Bird up and running. He hopes to have the car in his garage soon. He was just told that the seat was not original. It has a split type seat not a bench. I have been unable to find hardly any info on what seat was supposed to be in the car. Mainly seat covers and the like. Can any one tell me how to find out what the car was equiped with originally and suppliers who have original parts?

 

[gbhrps]

frahms_4,
55 through 57 TBirds all came with bench seats, some manual, some two way powered. There are all kinds of sources for seat covers in original colours and patterns for each year (each year was different) and can be had online, such as National Parts Depot. They priced out about $250 in 2004. They have new preformed foam under cushions available as well, about the same price as I recall.

As for the metal frame and mounting rails, there was a used set on eBay just yesterday, but I don't recall the price. They show up from time to time. Be aware that none of the parts for these cars are cheap, but just about everything can be purchased for their restoration from NPD or similar sites (search Google for 55-57 Thunderbird parts), or can be found on eBay as used. You might be able to find a complete seat that just needs a new cover. Good Luck!

Gene

 

[frahms_4]

Seats

Thank you very much gbhrps for the reply. I will check further on the internet. I felt the parts would be out there somewhere, at what ever price. I'll try to update when I find somthing. Thank you again.

 

[2birdman]

are the seat frames the same for all of the little birds? my 56 has 57 style seat cover and i want to correct it at some point.

 

[gbhrps]

The seat frame is the same for all 3 years, however, the seat foam is different for each year (NPD asks for the year when ordering the foam), as is the vinyl seat covering. Curiously, all 55's came with power seats, while the other two years had a manual seat option as well.

 

[edmlynek]

More On Seat Frames 55 T057

no, seat frames '55 to'57 are all sort of 'all the same' but the manual seat frame ('56 & '57' is 'different') ---you can't put 4 way power seat stuff on it-- so you have two seat frames ---one manual only and the other one - for 4 way power....then there is the very late '57 memory seat frame--but this is really a 4 way power seat frame with the 4 way stuff 'took off' and the 'seat-o- matic' memory stuff bolted in the same places...yes..all '55 birds came factory stock with 4 way power seats...then in '56 & '57 , a manual seat was stock and you had to pay extra for the 4 way power one ('56) ...4 way power or memory power seat ('57)......ed mlynek (memory seat in a '55 bird)