Open for suggestions to what to use for a "period correct" seat for a chopped model A coupe. Working on a car for a collector friend who bought this car in a chicken coupe in Ohio. It has almost all the right old stuff other than the repro 32 grill shell and a seat out of a van. I have been told that often early hot rod builders used a seat from an old school bus as it was the right size and easy to mount on a flat floor. I would like to hear any suggestions Hambers would like to make. Owner wants the seat to look old! Thanks in advance!
At 77 years young and doing this Hot Rod stuff since I was a Pup I can say I don't ever remember anyone using old School Bus seats. More often it was MG buckets, VW buckets and once they came out with them, first Gen Mustang buckets. Before that we pretty much worked with the stock A seat.
its perfect..just upholster the seat from used salvation army leather coats in tuck and roll .don't change a thing
When my Model A coupe was first hot rodded in 1959, they used a school bus seat. The seat was long gone by the time I got the car in 1984. When I built my Model A pickup 20 years ago, I used one in it.... still has some hardened gum on the underside.
I could see where a bus seat could work. There’s many many sizes and shapes of bus seats. Where are you going to find the bus?
Hello, When my brother and I started our hot rod adventure, we wanted a Model A coupe. We already knew a centrifugal supercharged SBC motor was our main power and now we were both inside the stock seats trying to figure out what was next. similar find from our neighbor's back yard, as it had been sitting for a while. The first thing we noticed is that for two teenage kids, the seats were not as comfortable as we liked. Plus, we were around 5 feet 10 inches tall. So, the seats were pretty close to the steering wheel. We took off the seat and slid it back as far as it would go, after we got it running. As we went around the block, it felt a little better with the seat moved back. But, my brother said we need something else. Our friend happened to come over with his sporty MGA sporty car and talk about nice seats... With the measurements in place, we felt the seats would go into the Model A, farther back and give us more overall leg room. So, now we were on the hunt for small MGA or Triumph bucket seats. Jnaki When both of us were in the cab, regardless of what seats were in place, it was tight. So, by the time we were ready to get some sporty car bucket seats, my brother had sold the Model A to a friend. he also sold his 51 Ooldsmobile two door sedan to get enough money to park his new 58 Chevy 348/280 hp Impala in the driveway. With that move, he had an instantly, fast sedan for our adventures at the dragstrip, located a few miles away. So, since you are thinking bucket seats, check out those small sporty car seats. In our old neighborhood, there were plenty of the smaller seats available in the local junkyards. They are the smallest ones around and are so comfortable. If you cannot find a nice set of used bucket seats, there are companies that offer nice new bucket seats. Your chopped top will feel a little cramped, so the smaller seats moved back and the mounting brackets modified to lower your seats is mandatory. It will give you added room. A chopped top hot rod always feels cramped. But, that is what you have, so small bucket seats are necessary. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...g-bucket-seats-options.1329026/#post-15463252
An original bench seat covered in mohair or possibly leather would be best to retain the vintage ambi-an-say. Cover it in leather from a used couch to give it a lived in feel. But remember that a guy building a hot rod way back when would probably be looking for various ways to update the look, save weight, make more room, etc. And as the other fellas were saying, the '50s '60s sports car and similar bucket seats were often used.
Found these seats on Marketplace for $100. Problem is they are in Wisconsin, long drive for me. I like them because they are red and the condition is used, plus they are within a 1/2" of the measurements of the seat that is in the car now. But if car owner likes them that's all that matters.
check with your local County fair. most have a school bus demolition and find out which scrap yard gets the busses.
The shape matters. Remember that the old bodies get wider as you go up and the bench seats from that era did too. Same fore/aft, the bodies get narrower toward the front. Conversely, some seats get wider toward the front and narrower toward the top. A lot of school bus seats aren't quite wide enough and the seat backs get narrower toward the top.
I got to go for a ride in A roadster in the later sixties. As I remember, it had a 318 poly, 3 speed stick, welded spider gears in the rear end and a school bus seat, no seat belts. Like going 80 mph on a go cart. I don't know when they switched, but newer buses have taller seat backs and wouldn't look right. Gary
Thought about a school bus seat for the backseat in my 31 Tudor. The really cool thing about bus seats are they would be super easy/simple to cut down. It would be easy to cut the frame, the backs and bottoms and even use the same seat covers down to just about any size you want.. ....
I put a stock seat in my Model A coupe that is chopped and channeled. It sits on the floor and is tilted back some. Very comfortable for long legs
Here one of the wrecking yards seems to end up with most of the old need too much repair school buses that local districts auction off or sell off. I don't know what he does with the seats but the buses end up being low buck storage sheds for parts that are secure, dry and you can see what you are looking for in the day time. Don't even thin of getting into one to look unless one of the workers is with you though. I'd say to find the right older seats with the metal frame locally you would have to find out who in the area is building a "schoolie" camper conversion out of an old bus. Some of those folk will pretty well give you the seats for hauling them off. If it were me I'd probably have the van seat redone in proper material and upholstery design to match what you see in photos of seats in similar coupes in the era the car is from. That may take the trimmer reworking the foam a bit to make it look like what would have been a plain old seat with a "custom" cover on it.
Here’s a pic where you can kind of see the bus seat in my Model A. 20 years ago I got it and a few others from a salvage yard that specializes in large trucks. They were happy to get rid of them. Think I paid like $10 for it. I took a swatch of the green fabric down to my local upholstery supplier who has been in business for decades to find something close to use on the rest of the interior. The guy there said “that’s old school bus material, I think I have some way in back”. He proceeded to bring out a roll that had a tag on it saying the last time any was cut off it was in 1984. It was a perfect match. Made for a pretty cheap and easy interior.
I don't know...I'm sure bus seats will fit, and can be "of the era"...I just don't ever remember sitting in a bus seat and thinking to myself, man, this is comfortable! I could sit in this seat and drive 500 mile easily. Just saying.
The lack of leg/foot room is what makes mine hard to drive long distances. There's just not much room in there with 3 pedals. The seat actually isn't too bad. After 90 minutes or so, I'm ready to stretch my legs and top off the gas tank.
When I built my Tudor in 1960, I used buckets from a Morris Minor, they were everywhere or similar in other British sports cars. When I built another Tudor in 2012, I went looking for those British seats again but they were no way to be found unless you imported them and paid a king's ransom. I ended up using the Pro 90 seats because they fit and are incredibly comfortable. They are just not period correct, but they are still there. When I built my 1931 RPU, the original seat was too thick and my frame would not fit behind the wheel. I had a friend who gave me a school bus seat which I modified the frame and installed. It was better, but not comfortable and still not roomy enough. A problem you will not have with the coupe. I ended up installing bomber seats and find them comfortable and roomy. You can see I repurposed the leather. I am 80 years old, 6 foot and 240 lbs. I needed room and the small bombers provided it all. Warren
Thanks to all for the suggestions! The goal here as per the owner ...is to "keep the car looking like it was made in the 50s when a model A coupe could be bought for $300." In those days the interior was not even that important, what was important was going fast and looking cool. The car has no door panels and no headliner and the plan is to leave it like that. It is being made to run and drive but cosmetics are to be left alone. Re-upholstered, comfortable seats would not be in the plan. So far I think our best bet is to secure the red seats I found in Wisconsin.
Not having much luck with the bus seats plan as the only bus seats I can find are too new looking. I found a stock seat that still has old fabric and would work. Hoping someone here has experience with a stock seat in a chopped model A coupe. Is there enough head room? Any other issues I may run into? Thanks in advance!
A stock bench seat in a chopped model a is too tall. I've replaced the lower cushion with a seat out of a middle row Dodge caravan. That way, you still have the side frame of the model A seat and the curve of the back looks nice But it really depends on how tall and plump the person that's driving it is
If the fabric is viable on the stock seat you found; you could replace the springs with thinner foam cushions and then recover with the original fabric. That along with removing the package shelf and moving the seat further back might get you the appearance you desire.
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