Seat modifications

[jcsb]

I have a 1960 AH 3000 mk1 2 seater that I would like to modify the seat position on. First I'm 6'1" tall and the seat has me sitting straight up in it. My eyes are about even with the top of the windshield. Second I'm too close to the windshield and steering wheel. I bought a 15" steering wheel hoping to gain a little room between the bottom of the wheel to my legs, but wonder what I can do to get back a little further and drop the seating height? I saw where someone used a taper mount to set the seat at an angle. Approx. 1" in the front and nothing at the back of the mounts. Wouldn't this just make my legs closer to the wheel? Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated. John

 

[Coastalman]

Check with Allen Hendrix at Hendrix Wire Wheels. He has a kit with raised pivot pins that lets the seat back recline about 2 inches more than it is normally. I have back problems and this modification has really helped me. Like you , I went with the 15 inch steering wheel to give me more leg room. I like the conversion so much that I did the same conversion to my 1959 Bugeye seats. Give him a call. I don't know if the kit is listed on his web site or not, but he will be glad to talk to you about it.
Charlie

 

[CanberraBJ8]

I've been playing around with my seat recently. I lifted the pivot for the seat back about an inch - as per the Hendrix kit. I also cut nearly 2" out of the seat base foam to drop my butt lower (I'm only 5'9'' but I was looking out through the top 1/3rd of the windscreen) and also added about an 1'' of foam the the lumbar area of the seat back (didnt have to totally remove the seat trim - just opened up the bottom and slipped the foam in with a little spray on contact adhesive.)

They are MUCH more comfortable now. However I have quite a bit of flex in the seat back - from side to side. I think this is partly because the new bolts I used to replace the pivots are still too long and the nuts dont snug onto the seat back 'ears' at the pivot point. Also tipping the seat back rearwards means that the bottom edge that used to touch the seat base frame all the way around, now just hits the two 'tabs' on the seat base frame.

I've yet to decide how I'll solve that. Could make a catch that locks the seat back in place, but that seems a lot of work...

Pictures here; https://s1349.photobucket.com/user/356fair/slideshow/Healey pics/Healey re-trim/Seats

 

[jcsb]

Thanks guys. Just the kind of info I need. I will try some of the mods and report back.
John

 

[GregoryW]

I welded longer pivot tabs onto my BN7 a couple of weeks ago. I only raised the bolts about 1/2 inch, perhaps 5/8. The seat is much more comfortable than it was, but after trying it out, I wish I had gone a little higher. The base frame I used was an ebay purchase, and the tabs at the back were missing. After welding on a new center tab, I checked my alignment, and found that I must have moved the new pivot tabs back slightly, causing the seat back to completely miss the middle tab. Rather than start over, I welded the next 2 tabs facing outwards. and they lined up well. I took the car for a drive, and noticed the same twisting action that CanberraBJ8 mentioned. I welded 2 more tabs at the back corners, and this seems to have reduced the flexing.

 

[CanberraBJ8]

I think I'll be following suit Gregory. Fortunately I hadnt re-covered the bases yet.

 

[hubosity]

I recently struggled with the same thing on my BN6. I put on new foam cushions and new wooden seat bottom frames. It looked great, but felt like I was sitting on a chair rather than nestled snugly into the car like my old worn out seat. I started out removing a bunch of foam. Instead of just making it shorter, I kept the original height and removed a bunch of cylindrical cores out of the solid foam replacement cushion (using a ~1.5" hole saw, just the bit, not a drill) until it looked more like the waffle pattern of the original. I also used a jigsaw to cut out the bottom of the seat frame, basically to the edge of the metal frame, which allowed the cushion and my butt to drop down all the way to the carpet. Instead of going with the smaller diameter steering wheel, I decided to remove the angled portion of the wood frame that supports the front edge of the cushion. This may seem a bit drastic, but it lets my thighs drop down a couple inches. To me the position is more secure as my right thigh now gets a good bit of lateral support from the transmission tunnel.

Anyway, seats are subjective, and being comfortable trumps originality in a driver (IMO). Good luck

 

[jcsb]

Well I've installed the new steering wheel and it looks great and has given me some more room. I am still investigating other methods and certainly changing the pivot up on the back, along with removing some foam sounds like the simplest so far. I've been emailing the manufacturer of the seat shown about a custom order to fit the interior color. I would get more room with these and still keep the original seats.
John

 

[Bob McElwee]

I bought the Hendrix kit, grandson did the welding, and am very please with the results. Haven't done a lot of driving yet but so far i think it is going to make the long trips much more pleasant on the back.

 

[andrewss]

John,

Have a look at this site.. The guy is very good and gained extra leg room..

https://www.astraldimensions.com/healey/index.html

Regards,

Andrew