Bench Seat, Headrests &  Latches.

Comparison of 1967, 68-70 A-body Seats and components.

Seat Construction
Latch Mechanisms
Headrests & Seat Back Assemblies

Background:
This comparison stems from a project to modify the original seat to be safer.  The intent was to provide some level of lateral support, slightly lower seat position to better clear helmet to headliner, add headrests.  Because the workmanship (and as we discovered the materials) done the first time at Union County Seating was so poor, little problems became bigger problems.  The loss of the seat back stops caused other problems and led to a desire to install latches.

Seat Construction
The '67 Barracuda bench seat came with a center armrest.  Headrests were a rare option, and it appears that latches to keep the seats from moving forward were not an option.  Cloth seat covers were also not an option. The '70 came out of a base model Dart Swinger, and had no center armrest brackets.  The '68 seat came out of a two door Dart.

The seat frames appear to be almost identical.  Primary difference is instead of removable bump stops for the seat back, the rod that the latch catches on also acts as the stop.  However the seat backs are not the same.  The '70 frame is made of heavier steel than the '67.    The '68 seat predates the mandatory headrests, but we did not remove the upholstery to examine the frame.  The '68 latches are very simple.  The '70 latches are similar to the '68 but insteas of a release knob, a cable leads up to a seperate release lever on the side of the seat back.   The arm the latch attaches to is shaped slightly differently than the '67 arm without a latch.  Finally, unlike the '67 seat back without the headrests, an extra horizontal rail is incorporated in the '70 for retaining hardware. 

1970 Bench Seat for Two Door A-body.
 67  Bench Seat  with  Arm Rest.
Fabric is from previous reupholstery job - just barely enough for the new job.
Base frame is same as '70 except for latch stud.
Underneath '70 Seat (below) . 1967  Seat showing poor reupholstery work.

LATCH MECHANISM

1970 Latch mechanism details.


1968 Latch Mechanism from a two door Dart does not have a seperate release.


Headrests & Seat Backs

From Clair Davis, here is a picture of a 1967 Headrest from a bench seat.  It has a sewn cover whereas the '69-'70 headrests were molded.   On the right is a close up showing the 68-70 headrest hardware in-situ.

Comparison of the seat back frame from 1970 with headrest and 1967 without headrest.
Notice that adding a headrest to the '67 frame requires modification and additional frame work.  Whether the 67 cars that came with headrests had different frames is unknown, but appears likely.