Anyone know what year the seats were changed and did they add the head rest at that time?
My car is a July 66 2+2. It has head rests and not the 3.8 style seats.a 4.2 car
My 67 fhc has 4.2 style seats with no headrests.
I’m surprised a 66 has them. I thought they were added to comply with the 68 DOT safety requirements. Best guess is that they’ve been changed. Not a bad idea. I’ve had a pair with headrests sitting in a box for years waiting to be trimmed and replace my 3.8 seats.
The major change to the seats took place when the 4.2s were introduced in 1965 (earliest ones built in late 1964). The 3.8 bucket-style seats were replaced with the more comfortable seats with the flip-forward backs with chrome hinges. For US Model Year 1968 cars Fedreral regulations outloawed the flip-forward backs, so they were replaced with reclining backs and the attractive chrome hinges were replaced by black painted covers for the recline mechanism. Headrests were not introduced until the Series 2 (Model Year 1969) and initially only supplied as standard to the US, with the option being available in other markets. @Mr_Phelps what type of hinge do your seats with the headrests have?
I believe headrests were in order for 1969 cars
Effective January 1, 1969, each passenger car manufactured on or after that date had to comply with the requirements of FMVSS No. 202 [9]. The standard required a head restraint for the driver position and right front seating position to reduce the frequency and severity of neck injury in rear-end and other collisions.
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https://one.nhtsa.gov › nhtsa › status9
Black painted hinges, a lever behind the seat is lifted to allow the tilt.
Probably the originals were removed as the car was in storage until 1980 and not driven since. the bonnet needed replaced.it had been “fixed” horribly so. Of course i did not see it in 1980 so just a mystery to me what all it has endured. its been sold to a restorer from Wisconsin , she will finally get a chance at life again. He noticed the seats were not correct for the year. They have the head rest and perforated leather.
Thank you
So mid 1969 onwards.
Exactly right.
The government always published new standards with sufficient lead time to allow manufacturers to incorporate the changes into their products well before the mandatory inclusion date. Domestic manufacturers thought model year to model year and typically for them the model year began with the introduction of new models in the showrooms the September of the year prior to the model year. In this case domestic 1969 cars would have been in U. S. showrooms and ready for sale in September and would incorporated the changes mandated to take effect on January 1, 1969. Foreign manufacturers typically practiced running changes, bringing changes to the models in production as appropriate or required. I also recall reading that some or all foreign manufacturers were sometimes given exemptions or delays on the implementation of some standards.
Both my January 1969 and February 1969 Build Series II had headrests and non-perforated seats.
My 69 S2 coupe, built August of 69 has both headrests and perforated seats.
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I believe cars made late 68 and early 69 had non perforated seats and the ‘donut’ style headrests. After that the headrests were a 3 panel design going forward. My early S11 had the donut style and the skins are still available!
Bru
I noticed today that the back seat is not the perforated leather. Guess thats what the front looked like before someone did a switch I have a good idea who that was. doesn’t matter now. Thanks for all that answered. I will miss the forum