Hi all, just curious if anyone has put front seats from other vehicles in their Cougars. Wondering if there is a near direct fit of another, more modern, updated seat for a 69 Cougar.
I like BMW coupe sets. They have a flat mounting surface
I’d always thought that the early version ( Mustang / Fox body ) Recaro seats from the late 70’s into the early 90’s would be a good alternative in my 1969 Cougar, but I decided to go concours. But I have seen Recaro in white leather, and the stitching and pleating would have complemented nicely a first generation Cougar. Have a look at some of these images :
https://mustangforums.com/forum/classic-mustangs-tech/549627-my-recaros-and-back-seat-done-in-leather.html This post to the Mustang Forums even addresses the issue of the mounting brackets !
https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/83440-Recaro-Resource-Guide This link to Pro-Touring even has a Recaro guide for seat types as well as a lot of images for the different styles that were available in many models of cars, as well a schematics for installation.
My recommendation would be to obtain a set of used / early Fox body Recaro buckets, and get them recovered in a fabric or leather that you determine suites your vehicle. I’m sure that this style of Recaro is easily found via eBay or your local Mustang clubs or even the auto recyclers ( aka "the wrecking yard " ).
With any luck the mounting will only require a couple of the stock Cougar mounting holes to be modified or relocated.
Hope this helps you.
I have a pair of Recaros that came from an 80 Mustang that I used in my Cougar for several years. I used Recaro mounting brackets for a 69 Mustang to mount the seats in my Cougar. They used the factory holes without modification.
I haven’t used the seats for several years and am willing to part with them if anyone wants them for a reasonable price. They are upholstered to match my Saddle interior with vinyl sides and back and matching tweed cloth inserts. Headrests and mounting brackets included. I have matching fabric that covered the back seat to go with the Recaros.
Fox body seats or 3 series bmw seats are a nice swap, if you can buy them for cheap. I searched for a while looking for them in decent shape but never found anything that didn’t look like it sat outside in the sun for 20 years prior. By the time I bought a used set and had them upholstered I was at the cost of a new replacement seat.
Take a look at new options from TMI https://www.tmiproducts.com/ or Procar https://procarbyscat.com/. They are universal but very easy to mount being a flat base like the factory seats. For my tmi seats I simply added a couple holes to the factory seat tracks to bolt to the new seats and they fit great.