Utility bucket to Sport bucket conversion

[IronCanine]

There are several threads about conversion from a bench to buckets in trucks, but I have found few specifics with regard to conversion from Utility Buckets to Sport Buckets in Blazers. Because there are obvious differences in the seat mounts and mounting points, I would assume there would be underfloor support differences. Is it correct to assume that one would follow the same sequence as a bench conversion and need to come up with the same under floor reinforcements?

Can anyone comment on this?

Thanks

Brad

[DeadheadNM]

Curious myself. I figured the bracket mounts would be the same but maybe I'm wrong. Anyone know?

[lopemaxx]

The front holes are the same of Utility vs Sport. The rear mounts of the utility seats are further back. When I put the utility seats in my 72 it already had the mounts on the bottom for both styles all I had to do was drill new holes through the floor pan that lined up with the extra mounts.

[IronCanine]

Thanks lopemaxx. That is encouraging…though there seem to be a lot of stories about differing floor pan scenarios in trucks…some having dimples and some not. I'll find out soon enough. I wanted to get in line for RogerKoop's brackets while they lasted on the parts board if the likelihood was that I needed them.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=557195

…but I'll just wait and take my lumps when the body comes off in the next month based on your experience.

[Blazerowner]

I did this about 8 years ago on a 71 I had. Basically made it a CST with trim and all. It wasn't hard to adapt all the parts and it looked pretty good.

[IronCanine]

Did you find all the support bracketry you needed already in place under floor? What you did is exactly what I plan to do... Go from base to CST.

[Blazerowner]

No if I remember right only the front holes fit and I had to re drill the rear as lopemaxx mentioned. I just drilled new holes and used some thick gauge metal as a large washer for support. No one would know with carpet down and unless they climb underneath you can't see the new holes.

[smbrouss70]

Brad, I know this is an old thread, but I was wondering how your sport bucket conversion went. I am getting ready to tackle this myself on my Blazer and was just wondering if you had any helpful tidbits of info on the subject.

[IronCanine]

Nothing special...when you get into it, it'll be self explanatory. I did not have duplicate bracketry like some report...only what was needed for the original utilities. I'm sure you've seen Roger Koop usually has bucket brackets for sale. We just made our own, there's not much to them. We started with the outside front hole on both sides, and that seemed to give us the right positioning. We mocked up the console at the same time...and even pulled a center line to check alignment. All the other holes had to be drilled and existing holes filled.

[harrisoncole4]

Bit of an old thread, but does anyone have a bit more info on this subject? Can the brackets from the Utility seats be configured to work with the sport seats, or are they completely different?

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by harrisoncole4

Bit of an old thread, but does anyone have a bit more info on this subject? Can the brackets from the Utility seats be configured to work with the sport seats, or are they completely different?

The seat mounting brackets (the assembly that connects the seat to the Blazer floor) are not interchangeable from the utility buckets to the sport buckets. If you are converting from utility to sport buckets, you may or may not have the underfloor reinforcements (which I often referred to as brackets or bracketry in this thread as well)... which you can either make or can be found for sale here on the board.

I see people on this board do amazing things everyday...so the question of whether utility bucket mounting brackets can be configured to fit sport buckets is probably moot, if you want to make something work bad enough--you probably can.

If you want sport buckets, but don't have the correct Blazer mounting brackets for them...my advice would be to follow the classifieds closely as they often come up for sale.

Best of luck regardless of whether you're looking for parts or making parts (or both).

[jaros44sr]

Well, they are not completely different, that is the brackets, but the angles are set at a different height. My truck is not in my shop right now, or else I could give you demensions.

But, the most obvious difference is the lenght of the seat bracket. I'm sure you could drill out the rivets, and massage them to work, but I have not done it

As iron canine says the brackets can be had, but they seem to be very pricey these days

[1rippen6]

Here is a picture of the plate that the catch bolts to on the passenger side. This was a sport bucket blazer but you can see provisions farther back for the utility buckets. Holes but no square nuts attached. The drivers side is a different animal as IronCanine has mentioned some have come with both I've included some pictures with dimensions but I have only personally seen 2 and heard of 2 more.