Vaguely remember reading about using 2nd row mini-van seats in a Model A truck,too big a stack of magazines to try to find 1 paragraph.Anyone have any insights on which ones are good to use,the right width, comfy? Truck is a '31, channeled 3" over frame.Any advice appreciated,Thanks, Jim
I used a seat out of a 1990 Plymouth Voyager in my '33 Ford cab. Fits great and it's comfy. i built new mounts to lower it and change the angle a bit to get more leg room. Sorry. no pics handy.
Used the second row seat from a 2006 Chrysler Mini van. Fits pretty good and will recline, tip forward as well. I was also able to use the risers out of the seat to mount to the Model A floor as well. I needed to chop out about an inch and a half off the bottom. Other years will also work but like the tilt/recline function as it allows access to some space behind the seat. Pete
I have a second row seat out of a 1980's dodge van that I'll be using in my future Closed-Cab build. Fits the Seat-riser almost to a T. No idea what exact year, it was a junkyard find...
Seems like just about any second row mini van seat will work,generally Chrysler are the seats of choice. HRP
There's a bunch of threads on here-Caravan mini van seat #2 is the hot item.Fits an "A" perfect.I've used them in 2 coupes, 2 roadsters and a Tudor, so a PU would probably work too.Comes out easy too- no tools needed; unlatch and go!
For my truck (30/31 closed cab, full fendered and unchopped) I originally tried to run the stock set up(riser, back and bottom) but It took up too much room.. I ditched the stock back and bottom(kept the riser) I wound up using some plywood.. I cut the bottom not much bigger than the riser... And for the back The seat attaches to the cab via the stock mounting brackets.. Again cutting the plywood to be proportional to the seat bottom .. Once everything was properly fit, I took the plywood to the upholstery shop... 3" foam on the bottom and 2" for the back.... And upholstered with some marine grade vinyl ... It came out great! My reasoning for the direction that I chose to go with for simply for maximum space... Even with my truck being unchopped and channeled its a tight fit, plenty of let room, but the posture isn't the best, kinda upright.. Using a mini van seat would but me way too close to the steering wheel... And I'm pretty slim.. There just ain't that much room too work with! The stock seat riser serves a dual purpose.... My battery, and electrical system is mounted inside the riser.. I can take pictures is ya want... Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Posted this before, a pair of Bestop Jeep seats. I replaced these seats with highback Jeep seats with bolsters
Please do! I'd like a picture of your truck like your avatar too so I can put it in my Model "A" inspiration file. I too have found that in a lot of cases the mini truck seats just take uip more room than they are really worth. In a coupe or sedan they are awesome, in something as tight as a pickup cab, building what you described is a far better bet. Did you do any webbing in your seat base?
No webbing, i used 3/4" plywood- I framed out the underside so it indexes into the riser.. Here are some pictures... Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I didn't like the fact that min van seats were a little narrow. They fit but had to be quite a bit narrower than the cab in order to allow for the taper of the cab on my pickup. So I bought a seat from a mini-truck (Mazda) that had a nice tube frame and then cut the frame section in the center of the seat bottom to "pinch" it to fit the cab taper. I ended up with a seat that was more like a stock seat in terms of the shape and also ended up with the seat back that tilted forward for access behind the seat and still have the seat track for adjustment. - EM
I did something similar to mullskull. Piece of plywood for the back. I'm using an original type bottom spring, but am going to change that to just webbing and foam. I eliminated the wood cab reinforcement on the back of cab and bent up a piece of 1/8" strapping in place of it.
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