Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/102924
Bloody Knuckles 14 in the rain. Yep, it was going to be a good day! Murphy, however, is quite a sneaky guy, and little did I suspect that he was lulling me into a false sense of security. I told the owner which seats I was interested in and was moseying out to Ol' Red to bring in the tool box. And then Murphy screwed up (or so I thought). The counterman said, "Hey, Old Timer, if you give an hour or so, I'll have my guy pull them for you. No extra charge." CHANGING LANES Some diligent online research on a couple of Jeep forums came up with a list of different seats from other brands of vehicles that use the same mounting points. I saw a couple of postings of a Jeep with Chevy Cavalier seats and decided to try this swap. Cavalier seats aren't as popular as those rescued from wrecked Corvettes, Mustangs, or Porsches, so I knew that they would be super cheap. After calling around to a few junk yards, I located one with a number of Cavaliers with seats for just $35 a piece. So I motored off to Eastside Auto Wrecking and soon located two seats that looked to be Normally I don't cotton much to being called "Old Timer." True, I have grey/white hair, but I am only in my mid-sixties and just don't think of myself as "that" old. This time, however, I kept my mouth shut over the insult and professed my thanks. Then I went out for a cup of coffee and a short stack. Meanwhile back at the ranch… (Well, actually it was back at my house, but I've been watching a lot of old Westerns lately.) I unloaded the Cavalier seats and took them into the garage. Although the junk yard had pulled the seats, before I could bolt them into place, I needed to remove the Chevrolet seat brackets from the bottom and shampoo some mold spots off of the upholstery. In addition, I had to pull the seats from Ol' Red. I decided to start with the driver's seat, as it was in dire need of replacement. That way if it started raining again, I'd at least have one new seat installed. The passenger side could wait; it was still in reasonable condition. As I sat at the counter in the local coffee shop, sipping at my hot cuppa Joe, I thought that for once things were going well. I had found a pair of cheap seats that should bolt right in. Best of all, I didn't have to pull them Removing the old seat took all of two minutes. This was going to be easy, but just to make sure I took it into the garage and placed it on the workbench next to the replacement seat to see how well the holes lined With breakfast under my belt, I drove back to the junk yard to pick up my seats. Sure enough, they were pulled and ready. The nice counterman even loaded them into the back of Ol' Red, with a friendly, "There you go Old Timer!" Again, I kept my mouth shut, thanked the young man with a smile and headed for home, all the while quietly bristling over being called "Old Timer" twice in one morning. JANUARY 2013 // WWW.CHANGINGLANESDIGITAL.COM