SpeedracerX
Still on this side of the dirt member
After reading.... It sounds like the choice is pretty clear... You just are over thinking the pros and cons of each so much that it's making it to easy for you not to know the clear choice. Sounds like your a fan of buckets, sounds like your a fan of floor shifting, sounds like you have the buckets already and sounds like your wife might be disappointed if you don't get to use the present she got you lil. All that said... I'm going to say... Go buckets!.
Yes your looking at getting the buckets redone... BUT you can always sell the bench seat to recoupe some cash ( I sold the bench out of my duster a few years ago here on fabo. I think the guy gave me $650 bucks for it.... Cost me $100.00 to ship it across country but still had a good chunk left over). I only paid $500 for my duster when I originally got it... So the seat alone paid for my car and then some lol.
From personal experience I will say that you can beat the comfy old springy feel of a bench seat and being able to have your lady under your arm. But when I switched to buckets the interior feel of the car changed drastically. Now it feels tight and firm and sporty (the seat/shifter combo that is haha).
Up to you but I'm thinking buckets is the way to go!
Well.. I have been know to over think things before (just back up about 10 pages and review the passenger side fender dilema.. LMAO ..or the debate to put a 71 front clip on the buggy.. To be honest, I wanted the quarter stick, she just surprised me with it.. bench or buckets, im using that puppy.. Just havent decided.. and your absolutely right, I am just trying to go over all the pros and cons either way.. and there are good arguments to be made for either direction.. Like I said, this decision will take some time for me to decide.. but just like the front clip and fender decisions, once I make up my mind I will go full tilt for which ever way I choose.. I agree the buckets would give the buggy a more sporty feel, but there are some cool things about the bench as well.. I have been spending some time this evening searching for pics of the aftermarket shifter/bench combos on this site.. not as many pics as I would've expected.. lol... I appreciate the input my friend...