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 Post subject: Bucket Seat Upgrade
PostPosted: Sat Dec 29, 2018 10:29 pm 
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Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2018 9:01 pm
Posts: 13
This year the front buckets in my '84 Slant-nose King required replacement from serious degradation of the fabric and armrests. The originals were more of a posh affair than practical, and looking for replacements involved several factors. First was that folding armrests were on the original seats, and quite advisable to have on replacement buckets. The seat is separate from the six-way power seat mechanism with the seat bolted on top, so that only the bare seat needs changing and not the power mechanism. The control switch is remotely mounted into the side of the seat, where it can be easily mounted onto a new seat.

Best to source seats at a self-serve auto wrecker to allow searching for suitable types and colors (and to lower the cost). I found that the most suitable were rear seats of passenger mini-vans, pre-2006 Honda Odyssey second row seats in particular were my choice. I was able to remove the strap steel mounts from the old Revcon seat with an angle grinder, re-orient them side-to-side, then drill them to adapt the new seat to the power-seat mechanism. Spacers were originally used to angle the seat higher at the front, and were re-used for the same purpose.

Revcon front seat belts mount to the floor and will work okay with new buckets. Minivan seats come out easily, and the original heavy duty mount and seat belt mechanism then needs to be removed prior to installing. There are some Toyota mini-van rear seats with folding recliner leg support built in that are great, although they are from more recent models and more $$. These Odyssey seats cost me $40 each, are very comfortable, and quite attractive.


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 Post subject: Re: Bucket Seat Upgrade
PostPosted: Mon Dec 31, 2018 2:44 pm 
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Joined: Sat Sep 14, 2013 12:36 am
Posts: 160
Location: IL
Glad you found something that worked. RV surplus houses are pretty good too. I paid 200 bucks a piece for Ultra-leather Mastercraft seats. They were super soft, which normally doesn't work, however they had the support in the critical places. My new motorhome has Flexsteal. I long for my old seats.

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Dave

The Flying Fortress
'83 Revcon Prince 31' FWD
502 w/Howell/GM 16197427 ECM/Edelbrock MPFI,Thorley's & Magnaflows,
4L85E 4 speed, KoniFSD,
Yes it is SOLD

FMCA F298817


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 Post subject: Re: Bucket Seat Upgrade
PostPosted: Fri Jan 04, 2019 7:52 pm 
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Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2018 9:01 pm
Posts: 13
Since you mention it, what new motor home did you get Dave, and is it a "new to you" project or brand new?


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 Post subject: Re: Bucket Seat Upgrade
PostPosted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 2:56 pm 
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Joined: Sat Sep 14, 2013 12:36 am
Posts: 160
Location: IL
It is my Dad's 2004 AllegroBay 34XB. He bought it new. So I semi-inherited it. It was not supposed to be a project, they took very good care of it. BUT as we all know, it became one. The biggest problem is that it had several broken exhaust manifold bolts. I tried the old trick of welding a nut to the end of the bolt. That just turned off. I finally took it to a shop. They were able to get all but 2 out on one side, and 1 out on the other. Needless to say, the heads came off. $7000 later, I had Banks headers installed. They also had to replace all the lifters, as the lifters would not compress when assembling the heads. That cost also included a new AC pump. Then some of the more obvious expenses were tires. The shocks were well worn, so I put Koni FSD's on. I also installed trac bars front and rear. ( I told my Dad for years to install trac bars, they make a huge difference). The rear brake shoes were cracked, so new pads and 1 new rotor. Beyond that, it has mostly typical repairs, like a furnace switch that stuck, water heater switch that was bad. Oh, and one other big job, but not costly was the front windshield would not stay in place. I drove it down to the factory - 2 days driving from Chicago. They fixed the windshield for free. The hole was cut wrong, so it wanted to pop out. A bunch of cutting to the fiberglass and it seems to be fine now. I also paid them to replace a dual pane window that fogged up.
While camping has much more space, I just can't get used to how fragile things are. Its a cheap trailer camper with an engine. Everything is made of weak materials. You just have to be very careful not to break things. In many ways, it is built like a movie set - just to look good, but no structural function. One other issue I have is that there is no way to fix the lack of insulation in the floor. If it gets below about 23 degrees, all the water lines freeze. Its designed and built by people in the South, who just have no concept of how to stay warm. Their mind just does not comprehend the details necessary to make insulation work.
More than anything, I miss how the Revcon drives. The day I delivered it to the new owner, I broke the 100 mph barrier. I took a photo of the speedo with my cellphone. The crazy part was, later I was looking at the photos and realized, I had BOTH hands on the camera - you could see the reflection in the plexiglass. So that meant I was driving with 1 knee at 100 mph! The second thing is the brakes. When I did that, some guy in a pickup truck decided to pull in front of me. I had to drop from 100 to about 75 mph, in the distance of about 10 car lengths. The motorhome had no trouble dropping off that speed. No brake fade. In many ways, it reminded me of my Mini Cooper. Yes, a stock Revcon doesn't do that, but I converted to disc brakes in the rear several years ago. The difference in stopping power is huge.

_________________
Dave

The Flying Fortress
'83 Revcon Prince 31' FWD
502 w/Howell/GM 16197427 ECM/Edelbrock MPFI,Thorley's & Magnaflows,
4L85E 4 speed, KoniFSD,
Yes it is SOLD

FMCA F298817


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