Thread: Question about model A seat

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I am about to either mock up a seat or install a seat in the roadster pickup. I have 2 nice bucket seats with low backs and track mechanisms , however the roadster pickup is a bit short on cab length for legroom. I am thinking that rather than build a plywood and foam bench seat, I might try something a bit different. I may remove the backs from the bucket seats and install just the bases, which have good springs and padding. I would then build a seat back right into the rear upholstry panel, similar to what is done on a lot of T-buckets. This would give me an extra 2 or 3" of leg room, over what using the entire bucket seat would give, enough to dramatically increase the "comfort" level when driving. It would give me factory style seating under my butt, and the seat back would be about 2 1/2" of medium density foam between my back and the back of the cab. Any comments on this?

Brian,

That's hot rodding . . . Go for it.

The only tough part will be to make it look like a single unit. Are you going to make the seat bottoms unmovable?

Henry---I would put a spot of weld on the track/slide mechanisms and remove the adjuster handles. It would be goofy to adjust the seat part if the back stayed in one place. The only reason I am thinking of this is the fact that the 2 bucket seat bases do fit in the roadster pickup without any width modifications, (and I have them), and from what I gather there are no "junkyard" bench seat bases that would fit. If I build a plywood and webbing and foam seatbase (as I have with other rods), then they are not as comfortable as the factory buckets with proper springs and padding.

1980's Volkswagon cars are very narrow, My brothers last 2 ( 1984 Rabbit GTI hatch and his current, 1988 Fox GL hatch, both have/ had the same back seat ), maby you could modify 1 of these to work, I could get seat width measurement if you want.

Brian, sounds like a good plan to me. One seat I can think of that might be narrow enough would be one of the rear seats out of a minivan, not sure how wide they are but it could be close.

Dave---This narrow minivan seat thing has come up numerous times on the rodders forum, but I never yet have seen confirmation of this being used in a model A . I just went out to the garage and measured, and in my particular case a seat could not be greater than 43" long on the rear side, and 40 1/2 on the front side, if the seat was 16" front to back. Most modern seats that I have seen are wider at the front than at the rear, which is the opposite configuration to what I require. When you look at the attached photo, you will see the large gussets which I welded into the door openings to prevent the dreaded "pinch arm body flex" They really dont block the door upening anymore than the end of a seat will, once a seat is installed.

Here's a pic of a mid 90's Chrysler van middle seat in a 31 A coupe.
Looks like a good answer for a seat for my 31 roadster.

It's been sectioned 9", but the builder indicates it could have been sectioned a little less.
Not much I'd say, looking from here it looks about right.
His comment was that these little cars have small interiors and occupants can be somewhat crowded.

Not a problem if you're going somewhere with a pretty girl....

Here's a pic of the seat in re-assembled form.

The foam cushion was sectioned and glued back together.
The upholstery is bonded to the foam so it stays together.
Not quite the finished product, but a good base for a future upholstery job or the old favorite, a Mexican blanket over the seat.

This seat may or may not work in your roadster pickup (RPU) due to the seat back thickness.

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One point I want to make concerning RPU seat back cushions, don't set it too vertical.
A rod shop building friend of mine swapped a car for a 29 A RPU that was nicely finished.
The previous owner stuck in a vertical, flat, thin cushion on a piece of plywood for a back cushion.
(The seat bottom was done the same way, totally flat etc.)
The object was to gain leg room, but the car was a bitch to spend much time in.
Wasn't long until the seats were rebuilt into a more comfortable shape.

It's surprising how a potentially uncomfortable seat can be improved by a bit of leanback.
True for my pal's 29 roadster.
The seat is a bit beat-up, but with the backrest leaned back it works ok.
Good for a day of travel in fact . . . long as you get out and walk around every couple hours or so.

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I forgot to mention that the van seat in the A coupe tilts forward for access.

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Another seat that cuts down nicely is an S-10.
Saw one of these sectioned similar to the ChryCo seat above and it made for a nice fit in a 29 roadster.
The back tilts forward as well.
Not sure if the backrest was sectioned so as to lower the seat vertically - don't think so - but the backrest was the right height to go a little way back into the trunk area just under the cockpits rear rail when it was tilted to the driving position.
That's a little trick that gives additional legroom.
Brian's kinda stuck there with his RPU, but a thin backrest should work well.

I understand the Ranger bench seats work well when sectioned.
The backrest tilts on these from what I've been told.

The S10 seat I saw had no foam or upholstelry on it which made it easy to get a good idea of what was required.
The way the springs are oriented on the ChryCo van seat above makes for an easy section job.

Fwiw, you don't need a very thick backrest to make a comfortable seat.
As long as you have lumbar support, 3-4" is thick enough.

1974-75-76 mustang II buckets work fine,are below rear window and if you make a frame out of 1"flat band to bolt to. they work perfect in my 31 coupe and are very comfy

Brian,
I measured the bench seat that I am using for the rear of my Tudor which is the middles seat from a chrysler minivan. Widest is about 40 1/2, slightly narrower right at front as the corner is rounded, then straight edge back about 10 inches before it curves in to meet back upright cushion. Seat cushion is 18 inches front to back seating area. Because my original plan was tight I didn't like the amount of rear tilt with the base so I unbolded it from the base and made my own. I bolted angle iron to the original holes in the bottom of the frame and mounted these to 2 pieces of rectangular steel sitting on the side subrails. Since the pic shows a flat floor can I ask if you have installed crossmembers under it to bolt the seats to?

The floor is made from a sheet of 3/16" plate , welded all around to give some stability to the body. There is a crossmember that spans from side to side, made of 2" x 6" oak, to act as a rear body mount to the frame, and the rear bolts on both seats are thru the crossmember, but that was purely coincedental.(actually I drilled and tapped the plate for the 5/16" seat bolts)

Just reviving an old thread. Today I had the top down on my '98 Sunfire and noticed the back seat so I go out the tape measure. The width across the top is 43" and across the base seat is 48". Anybody out there try the rear seat of a Sunfire for a Model A?

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Well Brian has solved his seat problem very nicely, but I am still working on it. Now that I have committed to a rumble seat in my 'glass '29 roadster body I am inclined to use a gas tank under the front seat. The 1" tubing reinforcement around the back seat is 5" above the flat floor and I figure if I use a flat rectangular tank 18"x36"x5" it will hold slightly over 14 gallons. I have measured the back seat in my sunfire again and it is actually too wide for the A body, although it could be sectioned as shown above and late model Cavaliers seem to have the same rear seat so they ought to be plentiful in junk yards. Still with the riser of the Sunfire seat or a similar back seat from a late model Jeep the seat will be too high with the tank underneath. Thus I am inclined to use a foam padded plywood seat cut out to rest on the reinforcing shell 5" above the floor in the back and about 12" above the floor in the front. There is no way to enlarge the tank in the front for more volume if the fill tube is in the back because all that space would be just a big air bubble unless the fill tube would come through the seat to the front of the tank but a fill tube between the passengers seems awkward to me and anyway 14 gallons is probably enough for me and I could carry a 2 gallon spare tank in the rumble area if need be. In the picture I am attaching you can just see the back edge of the 1" square tubing that could be used to support the back edge of the plywood seat. I am writing this to ask if anyone remembers a site where details are given to fit a plywood base for a seat? I remember seeing (maybe in Street Rodder) a picture of a plywood seat with two "potty holes" covered with plastic seat webbing before the foam block was added and then covered with naugahyde. Any body else have pictures, comments or site references to this kind of roadster seat? On the Sunfire seat the front edge of the front bucket seats is about 4" above the back edge and the width is about 18" so I figure if the plywood is 5" above the floor at the back on top of the gas tank and the front is 12-13" above the floor it should be comfortable but I wonder about the "potty holes" and the need for them and the webbing. Any body out there done this type of seat or sat in one to comment on relative comfort/discomfort using 4" of foam padding over webbed "potty holes"?


Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Don----in regards to your "potty holes"----I have built seats using this technique, and it really helps with the comfort factor in a car with home-made seats. My first 2 rods that I built were either chopped, channeled, or both. In a coupe, to avoid the "bent neck syndrome" and in a roadster to avoid the "head sticking above windshield" syndrome, I has to make the seat bases extremely low, using high density foam and 3/4" plywood, which sat right flat on the floor. If you just use foam and plywood, after the first 10 miles of riding the high density foam "solids out", that is to say there is no farther compressibility in it. Every road shock is then transmitted directly through the plywood to the end of your spine, and it gets uncomfortable darn fast. To use your so aptly named "potty hole method", an area roughly the size of your fundament is cut out of the plywood frame, and some woven, flat, non-stretch material is "woven" across the hole in 2 directions, then heavily glued and stapled to the plywood perimeter. That way, the compressed high density foam gives a uniformly distributed load on the woven material, the woven material "soaks up" the road shock (your butt is for all intents and purposes suspended in a "hanging basket", and it saves the road shock on the end of your spine. It really works very well.
Brian Rupnow