Mark recently hit the 1 year anniversary with “Her Royal Highness” (That would be his Jeepster, not his wife). He’s been updating her throughout the year. Here he comments on his rear seat find.
Mark writes, “Halloween night marks the end of Year one for the 49 Jeepster I named “Her Royal Highness”. I’m a middle-age crazy rookie that knew very little about rebuilding an auto when I started (some strong arguments that I still don’t) [ed note: some days, I don’t feel to smart either!]. I decided to leave the aged patina Windsor green paint for now because there’s very little rust and it doesn’t look that bad. She’s a great runner and a fine Sunday truck.
I wanted to put in tan leather buckets to improve comfort and to be able to call her the original “King Ranch Willys”. A few days ago I saw an ad for 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse seats, ‘$20 bucks and wife wants them out of my garage’. So, I went over to check out the seats. I discovered the buckets were trash, but the back was practically new. I bought it and carted it home.
Wouldn’t you know, that back seat fit into the back of the Jeepster like it always belonged! A couple of cleats, some zip ties, a little leather remnant from the fabric store over some 3/8″ ply and here you go. The seat backs fit on the original back frame with a little ingenuity. Folded down it makes for a convenient map table. The front buckets are still in my cross hairs and they will be found eventually, but who knew that backseat would fit so nicely, 50 years later!”
Here’s a reminder of “Her Royal Highness”
Here’s what it looks like with no seat:
Here’s the seat installed:
Here’s the seat folded down:
Man, oh man… I’m ready to sell my cj2a’s! I think this is the VERY BEST looking Jeepster I have ever seen! “Her Royal Highness”…?
I’m thinking more like “Mac” or “Crusher” or something like that…
Truely a GREAT looking vehicle! I love the way that baby stands up in those shoes!
Best of luck with her! You are doing a great job so far!
All the best,
Kilroy