i need new seats! I can only spend an hour in my seats (Thunder Ranch Speedster) before I am uncomfortable beyond belief. Any recommendations? Don't care what kind of car they might be from but they have to fit and be comfortable.
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Is TR tube chassis? If so you have a wider range than with a VW pan based. Post photo of those in there now - are they the Speedster buckets with the cut outs in the back section?
Here's VS comfort seat - reasonably priced. They are for pan based vehicle - they will fit but you could go with wider ones. Might check to see what Beck/SE uses in their tube chassis cars - nearby in Bremen IN.
I'm going to be building a set of late 356 roadster/ coupe seats for my "hopefully" future Beck. I've read they are pretty comfortable.
"The Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) is a butt augmentation with your own fat to get bigger, perky buttocks. 2017 Total cost are: $10,300 with 2 areas of lipo, $12,900 for ..."
I wonder if this would help
It might help since my butt moved to my belly somehow. A bit more pricey than I was hoping for.
WOLFGANG posted:Here's VS comfort seat - reasonably priced. They are for pan based vehicle - they will fit but you could go with wider ones. Might check to see what Beck/SE uses in their tube chassis cars - nearby in Bremen IN.
Just a "heads up"-- depending on the width of your pelvis, the "comfort seats" from Vintage may be the least comfortable option available. I had a set on my first car, and the side bolsters were narrower than my hips, which meant that my hip sockets rested squarely on them. It was about as comfortable as it sounds.
I'l bet a pair of 914 seats would be great in your car!
Miata seats are low, narrow (but sit wide), and comfortable.
I've got a set of cloth seats from a '90 in the stash. If you're close to Illinois, I'd let them go cheaply.
Miata seats are nice but too firm for me. My dad has one and I love driving it but couldn't go more than 20 miles in it.
The 1990-1995 Mazda Miata M series had nice seats with removeable head rests so they look Speedster period correct. Others had integral head rests (with speakers even) that look out of place and would require tonneau mods. I have a '16 Miata (now preferred to be called an MX-5). Even with a 37" waist they are comfortable - mine are black leather with red stitching - with the high seat backs, heated and head rest speakers. Here's the M series seats/covers.
Just call a Miata a Eunos and see how people respond.
I just sat in a Mini Cooper my daughter drives and they were really comfortable. Measured them and they should fit fine. They do have a headrest which can be removed if I wanted. Next question is how do you locate used seats? I live in an area with few junk yards. Is there some kind of locating service for parts?
Ebay for $500 a pair. Won't they sit too high though?
Any wrecking yard should have access to an online system of used parts and location of parts in and around your area of even in another state. You just have to call them to find out, Who, what where, colour, and how much
I never thought about how high they will sit. Guess I need to check on that. Haven't spent much time in wrecking yards for a long time. Guess now is a good time to start.
That actually is the hard part, unless you want your head sticking over the windshield by 6" or so.
IMO, if your torso is rather long like mine a good pair of recaro seats are just what you need.
Be wary of online junkyard stuff. They'll show you a pic of the seats they pulled but just put them back in the wrecked car, usually piling crap all over them an exposing them to the elements. Been looking for months for a good ford explorer passenger seat with dismal ends.
Jeff
Regardless-- the seats are a big deal (at least to me). If all you want to do is look cool, anything will do. If you want to drive-- you'll need seats you like.
Miata fits but you'll have high backs and need to be sure to get them as close to the floor as possible. You can have your seats re-foamed to your liking....the simple fix.
As it happens, the car parked next to my Speedster in the garage is a 2009 Mini.
So, curious, I just took some rough measurements.
The seat rails are about 17.5" wide (outer edges) so they'd fit. The seat's 'hardware' extends two inches beyond that on the outside and an inch on the inside, so they still might fit, but only just.
The front seat edge is, surprisingly, only about an inch higher than the Speedster's off the floor (standard VS buckets).
And the tops of the seat backs are - drum roll please - uh, 31 inches off the floor, even not counting the removable headrests - about 10 inches higher than the Speedster's. So, your head would be sticking up over the windshield, you'd be picking bugs out of your teeth, and you'd probably look like a clown in your clown car - not that there's anything wrong with that.
Can we get a cigar for the guy from Nowhere, USA?
The top of the seat back is not the issue. The high point of the back of the bottom cushion is what would determine how high your head is. The seat back height just determines how high up the back support goes.
Guess I will have to rethink the mini seats. I measured width and depth but not height.
What about American vehicles? I think a lot of local hot riders use some smaller Pontiac seats
Yeah, technically you're right, Lane. My shoulders are above the seat back top in the Speedster, not in the Mini, although the angle of the seat back comes into play, too, in determining where your head ends up.
Leaving the Mini seat back adjusted to what feels comfortable to me, my head is still maybe five or six inches higher off the floor than in the Speedster. It just feels much more like sitting in a chair than the Speedster seat does.
The seat backs would still stick up out of the car quite a bit, though, adding to the 'clown car' effect. I think one of the cool things about the Speedster is that, from the side, the seat backs aren't visible and don't break the flow of the car's lines.
I do remember in our first gen Miata, in order to get the (tall) seat under the (flat) tonneau cover, I had to slide it all the way forward on its track and recline the seat back all the way back.
17" is the max width at the seat base, the seat can extend outward toward the top of the base cushion, it needs to not rub the center tunnel or inboard rocker.
Mitch - He has a tube frame based Thunder Ranch so he doesn't have the high center tunnel or side rails to worry about. His is more like a Beck with larger flat floor so he isn't restricted to an 18" base. A photo would confirm. Here's new TR interior - roomier than VW pan based (but not as much as I thought)?
American cars? Gordon has modified Chrysler Cordoba leather seats. Recall someone else narrowed Honda seats (Oggwarty?). A lot of VWs (and BMWs) came with Recarro seats but many have extra bolsters that better fit a race inspired car. Early 912/911 or 356 seats would most likely fit but they are costly and for sure would require full rebuild as they used horse hair in seat cushions.
These are stock 11-14 Jetta seats $325 on ebay - headrest could be easily pulled.
Didn't Gordon modify the seats from Jon Voight's old LeBaron?
rpeter12 posted:I just sat in a Mini Cooper my daughter drives and they were really comfortable. Measured them and they should fit fine. They do have a headrest which can be removed if I wanted. Next question is how do you locate used seats? I live in an area with few junk yards. Is there some kind of locating service for parts?
Do you have a "Pull-A-Part" site in the area where you. Their prices are dirt cheap and most of their locations have a section for foreign cars but you have to remove the parts yourself.
https://www.pullapart.com/inventory/
There is a set of Miata seats listed on eBay for $250, plus $50 to ship. . . but they will have to be recovered.
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Alright, Mitch, GET OUT OF THE CAR!
914 is the way to go! Or, cut some plywood to shape and place it under the seat cushion to get your butt up a little higher. The VS wide seat is very confy as Jim posted above.
Scat makes the pro 90 with and without headrests and another model that might work.
Jeff
Zzzzzz......buz......snort.....Wha? Somebody wake me up?
OK, Speedstah seats 101:
Most of the "Speedster Seats" delivered in these cars from builders won't fit a slightly "mature" American male frame (read that.....Big Butt) and almost all of them aren't especially comfortable after 30 minutes or so (sound familiar?).
If the car is pan-based, you are limited to precisely 17" of seat-well space to fit the seat into. On the VW pan, there is a depression beneath the seat and the rails sit on a shelf on each side of the depression. If you have a Beck or Intermeccanica (and, to some extent, a "Thunder Ranch) you might have 18" to play with, but that's it. The space also tapers slightly inward as you go rearward, making it just that much more difficult.
So what's a tender-butt to do? Well, here are the alternatives that have come up on here over the years:
1. Chuck the bottom cushion on the seats you have and replace them with the thicker cushion from Vintage Speedsters or get a Porsche 914 bottom cushion. All you'll replace is the cushion, al la Jack Crosby. Instant comfort upgrade from 30 mins to about 1-1/2 to 2 hours. If color is an issue, you can get the new pad re-upholstered locally for short money.
2. Chuck the seats you have and replace them with Porsche 914 seats and make sure you get the glider/recliner seat base to go with them (they are left and right). They are designed to fit a VW pan so they fit right in. Instant comfort upgrade from 30 mins to about 1-1/2 to 2 hours. The only color options available in these seats probably won't match what you have in the car interior, to you'll either have to cover them or get them re-upholstered. Plan on $400 per seat for that, depending on your local shops.
3. Replace your seats with those from a Mazda Miata. They, too, will fit right in, although the head rest will top out at around 34" above the deck. Same issues apply to color options, but Mazda has a much wider choice, depending on your local salvage yard or eBay.
4. Replace your seats with a totally different make/model from 'Murica. This is the toughest, as most American seats are 19" wide at the base, so you'll have to modify the seat base structure (cutting and welding) to taper the base structure to fit, and then do some magic tapering to the inboard mount of seatback to seat base. Very do-able, not especially easy.
YES! My seats came from a '92 Chrysler LeBaron GT (the little sporty car, not the boxy "K-Car" body), were a PERFECT color match right in the junk yard and had to be modified as in #4 to fit the space. Took a couple of days per seat, but I already had the welder, decent fabricating skills and infinite patience. They are 27" to the top of the seatback from the floor, and 34" to the top of the headrests. They fit the 'Murican male tush very well, provide decent side bolster support but seem just a tad too wide for my 5'6" 150 pound body. (Gives me room to move my wallet out of the way a bit.) They are good for 2 - 3 hours at a whack on the road but the mods are not for everyone. They were "Road Approved" by my Junior Pit Crew.
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I'll be heading to the basement to measure my porsche seats now...
Jeff
Gordon those seats look prettymuch like P seats
Has anyone tried GTS Classics seats? classiccarseats.com
They have various models of seats, with the 'Monte Carlo' and 'Solitude' model seats looking interesting. Of course width and height fitment is unknown.
I am looking at seats for a possible future coupe. IMO the passenger needs a headrest to nod off on the way home after a long day outing... And on a coupe its not as important to keep the seat back height as low. Just the overall seating position.
The Monte Carlo and Solitude seats are nice looking. Expensive as hell, but nice looking.
Jeff
Another thing, if you end up prowling junkyards for Miata seats -
They changed the seats from the first generation (NA, 90-98) to the second (NB, 99-05). The later seats are a little taller and more pointy.
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The MAZDA MIATA M edition seats are the ones without the integral head rests. The head rest is on posts that slides into the seats - so easily removed. Inexpensive recover kits are readily available for them too. The high back are safer in preventing neck injuries but to me that isn't a concern in a plastic car. Here's example of a 1995 M edition seat. Covers are from Leatherseat.com or Katzkin - they seem to be about $600.
A few years back I chronicled the mods to my cabriolet seats, and it can be found here:
https://www.speedsterowners.com...6#429002478259791936
Beware, that I can say less with more words than most other people this side of Samuel Clemens so it might be a long slog of a read, but it is pretty detailed (and funny, at times) if you wish to tackle that sort of thing.
Here are a couple of the more common seats I see in these cars...
And here is what I would like to have (two pics).
And what GTS Classics has to offer (Solitude).
Just throwing out ideas as I'm a newbie around here.
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rpeter12 posted:i need new seats! I can only spend an hour in my seats (Thunder Ranch Speedster) before I am uncomfortable beyond belief. Any recommendations? Don't care what kind of car they might be from but they have to fit and be comfortable.
My seats are out of a Triumph TR3 & very comfortable!
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My hope would be for my interior to look like this...
With these seats in the proper color. For me headrests would be proper.
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MaxMartens posted:
I have the COUPE above seats, in BORDEAUX/Burgundy leather...and they HURT MY TUSH...not comfy, ALTHOUGH they look GOOD. Ordered custom THICK sheepskin in same color for COOL effect with sun AND some cushioning down "BELOW".
That's a good looking seat. $1400 in leather, 13.5" between the bolsters at your butt.
Unless you weigh under a buck-eighty, it might be a tight squeeze.
I am 170 lbs & the wife is considerably less (did you expect me to say her weight lol?). I can understand good looking seats does not necessarily equal comfort. Ya and the price .....studying up!
Is GTS the closest Recaro type knock off?
Stan Galat posted:That's a good looking seat. $1400 in leather, 13.5" between the bolsters at your butt.
Unless you weigh under a buck-eighty, it might be a tight squeeze.
6'1" 190 pounds, boney ASS needs some cushioning.....
MaxMartens posted:I am 170 lbs & the wife is considerably less (did you expect me to say her weight lol?). I can understand good looking seats does not necessarily equal comfort. Ya and the price .....studying up!
Is GTS the closest Recaro type knock off?
lol not if you value your life
I'm 5' 10" and around 205. Regular speedster seats don't work for me either. Going with the roadster seats seems like the best direction for me and my wife.
JiI (Jeff in Illinois) posted:I'm 5' 10" and around 205. Regular speedster seats don't work for me either. Going with the roadster seats seems like the best direction for me and my wife.
I'm 5'10" &170 (wife is 5'9") and I hope for the 356 to fit decent.
Are these the roadster seats? These seats make the most sense for comfort, although they don't have the aggressive styling like the two slit lowbacks.
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MaxMartens posted:JiI (Jeff in Illinois) posted:I'm 5' 10" and around 205. Regular speedster seats don't work for me either. Going with the roadster seats seems like the best direction for me and my wife.
I'm 5'10" &170 and I hope for the 356 to fit decent.
Are these the roadster seats? These seats make the most sense for comfort, although they don't have the aggressive styling like the two slit lowbacks.
YES..these are ROADSTER seats but you CAN get them without headrests for a lower look....but if you are 205, the buckets are going to be a "pain in the ass" unless you get them EXTRA STUFFED....
In my opinion you need to try them out at first because some people have different body shapes and longer torso etc etc so trying is the best before dying.
Those seats are IM roadster... check out Recaro's some models are very thin but have great cushion durometer and I can sit in mine for 12 hours without an issue.
IaM-Ray posted:In my opinion you need to try them out at first because some people have different body shapes and longer torso etc etc so trying it the best before dying.
GREAT IDEA......ABSOLUTELY the way to go!
Not easy to try out different seats. There are none around here to sit in, and nor are there any 356's real or otherwise around here, other than Barts, who's car I sat in (I liked his seats).
Good thought in theory but hard to apply. Now here in orchard country, there are plenty of different tractors to sit on LOL. My Kubota seat rules.
Here is what I'm used to.
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I have it on "first-butt" experience that original Porsche 356 Roadster/Coupe seats are good for all day. 8-12 hour driving days will leave your tired, but not Butt-Dead. Much like the higher-end Recaro touring seats, segments of 2-4 hours are easy and pleasant.
Speedster seats and many "Recaro-Style" seats, however, simply miss the mark and make you stiff after 1-2 hours in the saddle. Real Recarros, OTOH, get it right and are like a dream. Several friends who do the National Hot Rod Show circuit have Racarro Touring seats and regularly do 10-12 hour days.
That's my opinion which, with a couple of added bucks, will get you coffee at Dunkin Donuts.
Nice IAM. Are those Recaros from Recaro themselves or take outs from another vehicle?
What color is your car? Looks very nice, in and out.
I have always been impressed, whenever I have taken the family to Walt Disney World and had to sit up towards the front of the Disney inter-attraction bus late at night returning to our hotel from the Fireworks extravaganza when, gazing around and wishing those 7 or 9 kids screaming back there in the back of the bus because they are way over-tired weren't there, I happen to look at the bus driver's dash board (not exactly awe-inspiring) and then swing my gaze to the bus-driver's seat - a perfectly proportioned, air-ride Recarro.
Look, next time you're at Disney. Complement the driver on a great choice of seat. He or she will appreciate your interest..........trust me.
Those Recarro folks just KNOW seats (and Tushes, too!)
I'm never sure what to make of Gordon's man-crush on Walt Disney, but I always smile when he works a Disney reference in there somewhere.
Regarding seats: there are very, very few seats that are universally liked by everybody who sits in them. Being able to "test sit" seats is unlikely, unless you are at a show where many different types are available to park your keester in.
So, you're left with what LOOKS like it'll work. I personally knew a couple of things about myself and what I wanted. I've got a long torso, and hate not being behind the windshield of my car. This means two things- I'm going to need to sit as close as possible to the floor of the car, and I'm going to need to be tipped back as much as is comfortable to keep my head down. Fortunately for me, I find speedster-style seats to be comfortable, and able to be pitched back like I like. I got the widest seats that would fit in my pan (Fibersteel original-shape shells), and built my own mounts (I got carried away, but you don't have to). The look butch, and I love 'em.
My wife, however, can (mostly) tolerate them, but only for about 2- 4 hrs (on a good day). I've put her there for 8+hrs, and it's not good for our marriage.
I'm shopping for a seat for her. She'd like a headrest, and some real cushioning. She'd like to be able to see over the dashboard. I'm looking at options, and the best thing I can find are OE 356 coupe seats, IM's roadster seats, and Recarros. All are prohibitively expensive at this point in my life.
I'm looking at these. The price is certainly right. If she likes it, I'll rig up a quick-change set-up so that I can tell myself that my pride-n-joy won't be saddled with mismatched seats forever (when I in fact know that they will).
@Stan Galat you should really try mine they are REAL Recaro's that were bought by Henry and recovered in my chosen leather colour for my car, I have a taupe interior with a grey coloured exterior. . The seats are mounted REALLY low in the car on adjustable tracks and have a headrest and you can sit in them all day. The seat works really well for me an over 6 foot guy with a very long torso and I am sure the creator at IM can get some made for you too ... By the way the creator at IM nearly needs a cushion to see over the dash ... for me it allows my head to be below the top of the windshield of my roadster. ... just saying...
Walt before Mickey @Gordon Nichols is a great movie and so is their business model.
Is this thread getting mickey mouse?
I'm 100% happy with my (ridiculously overpriced) Fibersteel seats, but I need an alternative for my 5'4" wife. We're planning on driving to Asheville, and what I've got will only aggravate her. The choice is to fly her out and back or buy a better (for her) seat and stay in a hotel there and back.
Stan...Local shop and have removable memory foam cushion(s) made.
Well for me gentlemen, I am shopping a replica 356 coupe. I am not trying to reinvent the seat. And hopefully I will make a sensible and cost effective decision (other than the madness of buying one of these cars to start with ).
It will be one of these three for me.
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Max,
I suggest that you try out all the seats you are considering. Don't just sit then get back up, unless you can tell quickly that it won't work for you. Sit in it a while, and, as Stan suggested above, if you have a right-seater you want to travel with, have her sit in one also. That feeling of inclusion will pay dividends down the road.
Like buying a mattress. You have to lay on one for a bit to see if it works. Unfortunately, NOBODY makes a quality mattress these days.
MaxMartens posted:
Max,
You may not want to reinvent the seat, but option 1 and 3 are going to set you back at least $3000 for a pair. Option 2 is considerably less money if you can find something you like from one of the builders. If not, Fibersteel stands ready to lighten you by $2500 or so.
You may just want to think about this a bit.
Revisiting Seats!!!
I was studying up seats two years ago lol. Two years before receipt of my car. Crazy.
So... our seats turn out to be not bad! We have done longs days, 200 mile days, which is long from breakfast to lunch, touring & then heading back home.
But(t)!... I/we want more. A head rest. For safety and when your tired and want to lay your head back.
I think I will revisit the GTS/Classiccarseats.com seats. Expensive yes. ...In a cheap-ish replica car I will still be thousands ahead of a real 356, which I could not swap seats out anyway. The roadster seat to me IMO, are like bench seats or big old pillow seats, not representing a 'sport car', more resembling a 'touring car' if you follow. Probably comfy though. Also, I like low, as the current seats put us. Keeping an outlaw or wannabe race car look.
The Monte Carlo & Solitude seats will be studied carefully. If I remember correctly (when does that happen lol), they can do custom widths. Anyway, back to looking over seats, for sometime next year.
Any more advice??
What I have now and working fairly well (we are slender).
Solitude?
Monte Carlo?
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There are some models that provide a lot more lateral support but make eggress and ingress a lot more difficult I feel these are a good compromise. Now if I was in a 904 or spyder maybe a more bolstered seat would be required.
GTS classic seats are doing my seats, door cards and transmission tunnel. They are making me custom seats based on the Monte Carlo seat. They will be in flying buttress style for my Alfa Giulia GT. Max do you want the seats that recline? Or just more comfortable fixed seats?
Recaros are awesome if you can get a high-quality upholstery shop to redo them like Ray's IM.
IM's guy in Vancouver might be able to be found and commissioned to do it. I mean the US $ is so good it might be advantageous IMO.
Marty Grzynkowicz posted:GTS classic seats are doing my seats, door cards and transmission tunnel. They are making me custom seats based on the Monte Carlo seat. They will be in flying buttress style for my Alfa Giulia GT. Max do you want the seats that recline? Or just more comfortable fixed seats?
Reclining is my preference, probably the Monte Carlo. I am glad to hear, Marty, that you are using GTS. First first hand experience I have ever run into. I will be glad to hear of your experience. Friendly chap as I remember.
My hopeful build style will be similar to my current seats, pictured above. Smooth leather edges, perforated leather centers (horizontally pleated) & dark blue piping. Not sure on headrest shape yet (probably the round/oval ones). I hope to have the seats the same height as my current ones, before the headrest. The goal being, the headrests barely, or not at all, showing above the window line. Don't know how custom they go on builds.
The wife has given the OK!
I would not rule out any seats, without doing some research and sitting in some to try out the fit to your body. Just saying.
Max, I have a deposit in but my project not with GTS has not even started yet. I've heard pretty good things from many of the Porsche guys. I'll keep you posted when it's actually get moving
@Marty Grzynkowicz posted:Max, I have a deposit in but my project not with GTS has not even started yet. I've heard pretty good things from many of the Porsche guys. I'll keep you posted when it's actually get moving
@Marty Grzynkowicz, how are your GTS custom Monte Carlo seats coming along?
It may be time for me to re-visit seats. The ones I have are decent, but I would like headrests... in a outlaw style.
Pictures? Thank you
MaxMartens
Max, the frames are made and I'm just waiting for the phone to be installed and some mock vinyl material. if it all looks good I'll approve for vinyl upholstery I think I'm about a month out and then I can give you more feedback.
Marty
Phone? You have a phone in your seats???
Did you mean Foam instead of Phone? LoL
Sounds good Marty. Glad to hear they are underway.
Si foam not seafoam
@Marty Grzynkowicz posted:Si foam not seafoam
Damn! I thought you were really on to something.