We've gone on and on before about the huge improvement in driving dynamics, control, and just plain comfort and confidence that a good seat can provide- but we know that many of you hesitate because of the perceived complexity of the swap or the expense. If you know where to shop, though, getting some supportive buckets is far cheaper and easier than you might realize.
For our EcoNova project, we wanted something that walked the line between healthy sport side bolsters, and good long drive comfort. And we weren't willing to spend a great deal. On top of that, we really wanted bolt-in simplicity vs. having to alter or fab up some mounting brackets with tracks. Sounds like that would impossible to find, especially for a 4th-gen Nova.
That's where Corbeau comes in. While they may be most known for their line of high-quality sport seats, it's not as widely known that they also boast one of the biggest catalog of retrofit mounting brackets on the market. With hundreds of part numbers, they have almost every popular vintage domestic (and even import) car and truck handled. And yes, they do have a bracket specifically for 4th-gen Novas.
How easy is the upgrade? It's a couple hours at best. Yeah, that's it. Check out how we did it one recent Saturday morning.
Corbeau has several great options for muscle and pro touring cars, our choice was the understated A4 is a slim design that left plenty of room for our Year One '69 Camaro console. The standard A4 will fit up to a 34-36 inch waist, but a wider version is available is needed.
Corbeau has an unbelievable large and inclusive assortment of custom brackets for their sliding tracks to make the bucket swap easy. If you can name it, they probably have a bracket that will work. They even carried brackets specifically for 4th-gen X-bodies like our EcoNova.
Our '77 Nova was original a bench seat car, so it lacks 2 of the four holes necessary for the mounting bracket. However, all we have to do is bolt the two outer sides of the bracket into the original holes and it provides a template for the inner two. All we have to do is drill two holes now. You will likely need to make a slice in the carpet and padding to prevent it from winding up in the drill bit.
Depending upon where the bolt holes come out, you may need longer than stock bolts to secure the mounts. Corbeau doesn't provide these due to large number for differing needs.
Once the bracket is fitted, four Allen screws are removed from the bottom of the seats to attach the track.
You may need to slide the seat tracks forward or back to reach all of the screws, but it should look like this when finished.
After that, the seats can be dropped into place and bolted down.
Not only will they be much more pleasant to sit in, we love the classy, but purposeful look of the A4 seats. Plus, we have holes for a harness to be added down the line.
