37 Ford build--IE: old Header issues thread /37 Ford/5.0/GT40P heads

[IC2]

Randy - my skinny and aging butt would not appreciate 'bomber' seats

Don, thanks for the good information

Mike, my guess is that what you are looking at is from a newer Caravan - and they got somewhat 'bloated' vs the earlier versions

I've borrowed a set of BMW OEM Recaro's from my upholsterer to see if they would work. He had them in his '32 three window for a couple of years and the measurements across his at the doors is identical if not a bit narrower then my '31. If they fit, maybe!!!!! and his asking price is $80. They might be a bit tall but I'll know by Thursday evening. They're gray velour now, so they will still need recovering (more $$$$$)

[randyr]

Randy - my skinny and aging butt would not appreciate 'bomber' seats

Dave, I didn't mean the hard core bare metal kind....LOL! I meant a more comfortable upholstered kind that would feel like nice buckets but might look more appropriate for the look you want. Maybe along these lines http://www.tperformance.com/street_r..._bomber_seats/.

The BMW seats you mentioned might work too. What were your other seats from?

[IC2]

Dave, I didn't mean the hard core bare metal kind....LOL! I meant a more comfortable upholstered kind that would feel like nice buckets but might look more appropriate for the look you want. Maybe along these lines http://www.tperformance.com/street_r..._bomber_seats/.

The BMW seats you mentioned might work too. What were your other seats from?

Interesting that Speedy Bill is starting to expand the Total Performance line already!! I think they might be too restrictive for my 6'4" but are a lot better looking then the unupholstered versions

My seats are the 51/51/31 Glide Engineering seats along with their foam packs and of course, that nice new leather soft upholstery

The Beemer seats are "on approval" at this time for fit up only so far

[34_40]

Mike, my guess is that what you are looking at is from a newer Caravan - and they got somewhat 'bloated' vs the earlier versions

You're probably right! I hope the Beemer seat work out. Or at least fit the bill for now.

[IC2]

Well, I have the Beemer seats in the car just sitting on the floor right now. They look like they will fill the bill just right. Both my wife and I sat in the car with the seats and they are actually fairly comfortable with one exception - my right leg - it's about 6" too longand I'm going to have to make some mods to my fancy Gennie Shifter accelerator pedal. The seat position to the steering wheel seems to be perfect There are advantages to being tall, but owning and driving a Model A isn't one of them - but I think I knew that. Tomorrow I'll make up some floor brackets and negotiate with the upholsterer for recovering them with something besides gray velour or a Mexican blanket - I have 4 yards of the original material left so I might just have enough. I have to figure out how to do my 4 point seat belt/shoulder harness with these seats as well

[34_40]

Well, I have the Beemer seats in the car just sitting on the floor right now. They look like they will fill the bill just right. Both my wife and I sat in the car with the seats and they are actually fairly comfortable with one exception - my right leg - it's about 6" too longand I'm going to have to make some mods to my fancy Gennie Shifter accelerator pedal. The seat position to the steering wheel seems to be perfect There are advantages to being tall, but owning and driving a Model A isn't one of them - but I think I knew that. Tomorrow I'll make up some floor brackets and negotiate with the upholsterer for recovering them with something besides gray velour or a Mexican blanket - I have 4 yards of the original material left so I might just have enough. I have to figure out how to do my 4 point seat belt/shoulder harness with these seats as well

GREAT! Sounds like a winner! I figured you were going to say you're taking 6" off your right leg... Now I'm keeping my fingers crossed on the material being enough!

[IC2]

The extra 6" of leg length - that might hurt my straight line walking but if I was to walk across the side of a hillside.........

I measured up my upholstery material and have just over 4 square yards left plus a few more square feet of tag ends. I have no idea how much I need to do the seat fronts, but that's probably about enough.

Since I already have my outer seat mount studs installed as well as the bolt holes for the inners, I have a bunch of figuring, cutting and welding to do to make these Recaro's fit. To change these studs out, I would need to lift the body - and that ain't gonna happen!!! Too many hours were spent aligning doors. There will be no fore and aft adjusters nor much of any risers - I'm using 1" oak blocks and a steel framework more so the seat can be bolted in to the car then any any other reason. The seats will need to be all the way back for anyone over 5' tall anyhow

Now - since I have my steel and my oak, off to do my thing.

This almost makes me reconsider the van seat again - but I'm not quite ready to do that yet

[randyr]

Hey Dave, sounds like the Beemer seats might work out. Cool. I've considered Beemer seats for mine when I get to that stage. I want seats from the '02 & newer convertible because they have a built in shoulder harness but it's really inconspicuous, unlike the GM or Chrylser seats. But I have much to do before worrying too much about seats....LOL!

As for your right leg, maybe you could cut a hole in the floor and put a gas pedal directly on the carburetor. You could rest your heel on the valve cover. That should give you the 6" you need....

[IC2]

I just finished up building the dual framework to bolt the BMW seats down using the existing floor board bolt holes that were for the Glide seats. I guess that I can say that I did get some good practice fabbing angle iron and flat plate stock and a bunch of welding to get these to fit properly. What a PITA!! I have two pair of risers and the two sets of adjusters left over - thank goodness for evilBay. Now, to get the rest of the carpet and interior in and get this project running in forward again and at least make some suspicious black marks in front of the house

As far as post '02 Beemer convert seats for shoulder harnesses - only in my dreams up here in the normally frozen tundra of the Great Northeast. Until I get the seats reupholstered, the 4 point harness will have to come over the top - I'll probably have to install some sort of retainer on the top of the seat to hold it in place, but no big deal there (I say here with bated breath)