Front seat replacement options

[owent2005]

Afternoon all,

I’ve finally decided to replace the original front two seats in my 71 plate van with something a little more modern.
I’m after something that fits in with minimal fuss that gives a bit more support than the original!
What seats do people go for? Is there a selection of standard seats that people use?
Thanks,
Owen

 

[mike202]

Just replaced my stock seats with Newton Commercial Suffolk seats. They are so comfy!

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[mattp]

Porsche seats
MX5
Smart seats

I've seen all these install successfully

Or just replace broken springs / buy new padding and recover the original ones -I did

 

[Elibomrod68]

We’ve got Saab 900 turbo seats but I’d say they were annoyingly high, even on lowest settings, so wouldn’t advise.
Friend has Mx5 and they are great

 

[fallingoffalot]

There's loads of MX-5 seats on ebay in the £100-200 range. I'm thinking of getting some myself. Only problem is that my current OG front seats are re-covered to match the rest of my interior and I doubt I'm going to find a pair of mx5 seats in red & white. Also, I imagine the high backs will make the inside feel a little smaller.

 

[sparkywig]

The best seats are refurbished originals.

 

[ozziedog]

The best seats are refurbished originals.

Not sure about the best ^^^ but they can be made more comfy by adding a tiny bit of foam scrim, and a few mods. I’ve redone mine a couple of years back with a layer of roofing membrane in contact with the springs then a layer of foam scrim about twenty mill in contact with the hairy coir, but the best mod was adding to the hog rings coupling the springs together at each and every point possibly. I used cable ties as hog rings and doubling them around but not pulling them tight to misalign the spring orientation, they become tight once a bottom parks on them. This forces all the springs to act in unison and increases comfort considerably. Gotta say those Newton Commercial seats look a bit bottom pleasing and I’ve never tried them hence my comment ^^^ :roll: This mod made a big big difference to mine . I tried the MX5 but didn’t like the look, and would say they weren’t as comfy as mine with this mod. Possibly if you were a little less well endowed in the butt bit they might be ok

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,Maybe I should diet,,,, get real :mrgreen: :lol: :mrgreen:

 

[fallingoffalot]

Ah yes, thanks, that's what mine need, some foam scrim. Where's the best place to get it?

I've also done the hog ring thing, maybe I need to revisit this and add some more.

My preference would be to get the current seats comfortable.

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[tmcg]

Vote for Porsche from me, bus had Saab ones in it when we got it but they fitted horribly, and if you’re over 6ft really no room under steering wheel.

 

[Davydomes]

We have Jaguar XJ40 seats in ours and they are very comfortable.

 

[Rubus]

I have a spring that's gone on the driver's seat on my '71. Does anyone have any leads on who fixes them? It's come through the fabric into my arse! It's not something I can take on myself as my hands are disabled and I can't do fiddly work. I'd appreciate any leads on people who either fabricate or stock replacements. Both front seats needs reupholstering and recovering eventually but I need to get the spring sorted beforehand.

Much obliged.

 

[ozziedog]

Not sure on new ones apart from second hand parts but even seat frames go for good money nowadays. Avoid bodge though to save your rear portions from continual spearing is a large electrical chocolate block style. I’ve even seen these in brass / copper in larger installations. Getting a friend or family member to fit one of these should be a simple enough process because the seats pop out easily enough to turn them over. Another bodge I’ve seen, is to cut out one of the horseshoe bends and stretch the spring a tad then put a tight piece of pipe over the two straight bits and secure, even gaffer tape will hold it. :mrgreen:

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,good atbodges me,,,, nuffink else though :mrgreen: :mrgreen: