1965 Chevy Sportvan seats.

I recently picked up a '65 Chevy sportvan.

The front seats have been replaced but the passenger side has no frame except for a frame made from 2X4's without even the minimum of Hillbilly skill..
Basically the van has seats for appearance only and are barely functional and far from safe.

I'm hoping to find a stock set of seats with the brackets and all to start over from scratch.

Are the seat brackets the same from 1st to 2nd gen? Or do I have to get one from 64-66?

some vans did not come with any passenger seat at all. Some came with the fold-up jumpseat, and some got the fixed seat on the passenger side. On the 1st gen sportvans that did come with a fixed seat, they utilized two 90 degree brackets that were spotwelded to the side of the doghouse to mount the inboard side of the seat.

2nd gen seats will fit in a 1st gen. The brackets are pretty much the same. On a 2nd gen, the inboard side of the seat bolts to the top of the doghouse. The 2nd gen brackets are spaced about 1/2 inch wider apart than the 1st gen, but with a little tweaking, you can make 2nd gen seats work in a first gen no problem.

Another popular option is to adapt fiero seats to your van.

Awesome, thanks.

I'd like to get it back as close to stock as I can..

Right now the seats are so high the shifter hits me in the kneecap.

I'd like to keep everything late 60's to mid 70's, trying to keep it in the "it was used as an auto parts delivery van" vibe as an excuse not to have the bodywork or paint perfect..lol I like cruising more than cleaning.

My son is going to do Ed Roth and Von Dutch style murals on the inside this summer.

Nice van, looks sweet. I dig those wheels. Are they buick rallys?

If you can find some 2nd gen seats, those sit nice and low when installed in a 1st gen.. almost too low. 1st gen seats are obviously the best fit. Both are somewhat rare, so if you can find either of them in any condition, consider it a blessing. Figure on having anything you find recovered with new foams. The passenger side seat is narrower than the driver's side because the doghouse is moved over towards the pass. side.

I do have a factory 1st gen folding jumpseat set-up that I might be willing to sell. It will need recovering.

Another cool old school looking option is boat seats ordered from the walmart website (no kidding).

If you sell the jump seat let me know, I'd be interested.

I may look into the 2nd Gen seats to as I think lower would be good as I'm 6'1" and these put my head in the ceiling..lol

They are Buick Rallyes... I got them from the pull-a-part yard as it had the 80's style aluminum wheels on it and I wanted something a bit more understated.

Welcome!!! Funny thing back then pass. seats were a option

That van looks cool, I can see why you want to leave it as is. But I think it says hi back bucket seats. They are much safer, and you already have kind of a custom vs stock look going on. You just need someone to help you mount the existing seats properly. Maybe they are too wide and you should look to get some fiero or miata seats. I saw some pre 1994 S10 blazers at the junk yard and those looked like good seat options too.

My van has the original seats with nice coverings and it looks great, but I often consider going to seats with head rests for safety. I just have lap belts and would like to upgrade to three point at some time.

Well, nothing about the current setup is safe.

Ideally i'd like something along the lines of the 70's camaro buckets

Something that doesn't look too out of place. But the main thing right now is an actual seat bracket...

Well, progress is being made. Got rid of the 30 year old cherry bomb for a single flowmaster 40, sounds good.

Put a few 100 miles on it last weekend, checked out the early birds to the Pigeon Forge rod runs and the van got quite a bit of attention.

Still not decided on seats.. The drivers side will be an easy fit.. The passenger side is what I can't wrap my head around. Anybody have any pictures of their seat bracket setup?

Some of the members here put Pontiac Fiero seats in their vans. A few members put Mazda Miata seats in theirs.

Just remember the lower seat profile,the better.No wider than 19" wide.The passenger side has the lesser clearance from d/h lid.

Awesome, THANKS.

The pictures should help me get some made.
I think i'm going to go to pull a part and find a set of seats and get some frames specifically made to fit the seats.

Those look sweet Don. Nice work

hey check into boat seats, some cool low backs

If you are still interested I have original seats from my 65 van. I replaced them with Fiero seats. Send me a PM with a phone number and I will give you a call.