How do you guy's with late 30's to 50's tudor sedans measure for a front seat and what seats are better than others? I have none in my 40 and wanted to get an idea on how to do the measuring and what you guy's have used. Thanks, later plmczy
Hey... No one has seat issues? Well.. my two cents Measure inside at narrow'st point of interior about where you think seat would go. Head to the bone yard with tape in hand. Stay away from swap meets , too x-pensive. As far as what to use ? I have a 31 coupe with good chop... Try'd stock seat... sucked Chevette buckets..... sucked another set of buckets... sucked ended up with a rear van bench seat (Caravan type), folds down and is a keeper.. My m'put "Pontiac Slim"
In the 39 coupe, I used a 95 Nissan 2x4 pickup seat. Real simple narrow seat with a fold down arm rest. Built a riser for it and its very comfortable. Set it up so that with the track at its 1/2 way point front to back, it seems comfortable. That way someone shorter can drive or I can move it back for long highway cruises. Worked for me.
Try this... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB1&Number=156219&Forum=UBB1&Words=seat%20width&Match=Entire%20Phrase&Searchpage=0&Limit=100&Old=1year&Main=131154&Search=true#Post156219
plum.. glasshole has early chevelle or nova seats in his coupe.. they are VERY comfy and look "right" in his coupe.. as for your sedan.. look at rear seats in foreign cars like saabs and volvos.. they seem to be close.. in my 40 ford i am using vw rabbit rear seats.. these seats would be a problem for you since your car is a 2 door though..
Hey guy's thanks for the tips. The rear seat should'nt be a problem to measure. I have the rear arm rests(the only 2 pieces of interior that came with the car)so I can get a decent measurement with those. I just wasn't sure what the minimal distance between the door and seat should be for the front. later plmczy
If you leave an inch between the seat bottom and the door panel that will work. Mock up 2 door panels with cardboard and get a width measurement with the doors closed and latched. Take that minus 2" and you have a rough max seat width. If you are having the seat recovered, the trim shop can shave down the foam sides of the seat bottom to clear if needed. Have fun.
[ QUOTE ] If you leave an inch between the seat bottom and the door panel that will work. Mock up 2 door panels with cardboard and get a width measurement with the doors closed and latched. Take that minus 2" and you have a rough max seat width. If you are having the seat recovered, the trim shop can shave down the foam sides of the seat bottom to clear if needed. Have fun. [/ QUOTE ] And don't forget that the body tapers and gets skinnier the further forward and down you go. Take the front of the seat measurement about even with and straight down from the steering wheel hub /horn button and it'll be about right.
My dodge had late model bucket seats in it but some short people can't see over the dash so I looked for a stock seat to replace it with.I got lucky and found one in Daytona this past year the cool thing about it is that you don't lost in the car any more and it has great leg suport and it matchs the style of the back one.Glasshole car does have some cool seats but if your not going to chop your car look for a big bench seat.
I used the front seat out of a Dodge Aries in my 48 Plymouth. Dennis http://community.webshots.com/s/image4/3/33/44/59733344TIgAFU_ph.jpg
lots of grand ams and fieros have given up their seats for hot rods/street rods. the grand ams were nice enough to have pretty comfortable seats in them and the seats are narrow enough to fit the cars you mentioned. fieros have the speakers if you're into that sort of thing. any of the modern sporty cars (furrin & domesticated) will have pretty comfortable but narrow seats.