I am recovering some buckets for my '68 and see that the seatbacks have holes in them for headrest shafts. How rare were these? Are the headrests interchangeable with any other years, or are they 1968 only items? I'd be interested if I could find some reasonably priced. BTW, I have never seen any on a '68 over the years. Thanks.

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"SSuper Dave" Palmer
A.C.E.S. #1483
Team Chevelle #32 Gold
1968 Chevelle
1991 Z/28
1970 El Camino

Dave,

The 68 headrests as you probably know were only an option. Cool thing is the headrest is the same as 69-72 which if i remember right Ground Up (http://ss396.com) has these available. A complete setup with the locks you probably run you under $200. I too have only seen one El Camino with headrests on 1968 seats. My car has 69 seats(GTO) that were recovered but the release button is in the back not on the side.I do have two other sets of buckets and I may try to modify them. If you are unsure of the new ones working send me the measurement of the hole diameter and distance between the holes and I will verify them on my seats for you.Good Luck.

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Jeff Angerstein
ACES#841 TCG#158
68 SS396(454)
68 L78 Project
87 MC SS
jeffa@chevelles.com
Me and My First (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/ace841d.jpg)
MY 68 SS396(454) (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/ace841b.jpg)
My 68SS396(454)(pic2) (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/ace841c.jpg)

Hey Super Dave, just recovered my seats and had all the same questions. I could never get a straight answer whether there is a bracket to mount inside the seat back frame. I believe there is. This would be in-addition to the locks that mount outside the seats around the headrest shafts. As mentioned in another post the headrests and shaft locks are available aftermarket which makes that part very easy, but if there are brackets required inside the seat it is a show stopper.

Anybody know if there is a bracket inside the seat back frame?

Joe
TC #413

To answer the question about headrest of 299,308 cars only 2,426 that less then 1%,
as for interchange all 68 GM cars on the list as long as they have bucket seats.
Hope this helps
Howie

Just got through tearing down my old seats to re-do. There is a plastic tube that mounts inside the seat back to accept the rods on the headrests. These screw to the seat back frame and then the locks go over them. Hope this helps, Scott.
Can't wait till the upholstery's done!!

Hey Gimme N SS,
This topic has come up several times but no responses, I suspect because of the rarity of 68 head rest seats. I've never seen a car with the head rests, not even at a show. Any chance you could post/email/fax/send pictures and a detail dimensional sketch of those brackets inside the seat. I have a buddy that is a very good machinist. My bet is he can fabricate these. This would help the 99% of us 68 owners who want the safety of head rests but can't because of these internal brackets. Do you know if these are the same brackets as a 69-72?
I really want those head rests, but obviously need the brackets!!!

Team Chevelle #413

From looking at my seatbacks, it appears that they were made to have headrests installed. I would only need the locks, which are available in repro, and the headrests and shafts themselves. My concern was with what the headrests actually looked like. Were they like the readily available '69 on ups? A one year only like LOTS of other '68 stuff? Does anyone have a picture to post? Thanx a lot.

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"SSuper Dave" Palmer
A.C.E.S. #1483
Team Chevelle #32 Gold
1968 Chevelle
1991 Z/28
1970 El Camino

I'll go take a pic of mine in the A.M. What I installed in my car is 69 GTO seats that were recovered with PUI 68 Chevelle pattern seat covers. The Madrid grain vinyl used to cover the seats matches the grain of the vinyl on the head rests. I doubt anyone could ever tell the 68 headrest from a 69+ because I(IMHO) think they were the same. Since you posted this I have been thinking about modifying my 2 extra sets of 68 buckets so they too could run headrests. I actually had been looking at modifying the lock mechanism when I first thought about doing the mod back in 93-94, before the repro headrests came out.Hope this will help.

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Jeff Angerstein
ACES#841 TCG#158
68 SS396(454)
68 L78 Project
87 MC SS
jeffa@chevelles.com
Me and My First (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/ace841d.jpg)
MY 68 SS396(454) (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/ace841b.jpg)
My 68SS396(454)(pic2) (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/ace841c.jpg)

In regards to the 68 headrest question, you can get knew headrests for them but the locking mechinism I beleive is different. In 69 it's a chrome plastic piece but in 68 it's a black plastic piece that rather than having the release button on the side it has a small opening on top that you need to insert something small in order to release the locking mechanism. I just bought a set of original 68 buckets with headrest that need to be completely redone but all the parts are there. Hope this helps.