Technical How Do You Lower a Model A Seat After a Chop??

Hey guys. I tried searching this topic, but there doesn't seem to be anything specific to Model A's. I'm 6'2 & would like to know how to create more head room before actually doing a chop.
Thanks.


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Stock seats---just remove your springs and add dense foam. Anything from a newer style car would work.

 

Are you keeping the stock seat?


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Just swap out the seat for a lower profile one. If you want a bench, lots of guys use a third row seat from a mini van. If you want buckets, try a little sports car like an MG or Triumph.

 

If you can chop a top.you can surely figure how to lower a seat

 

I kept my stock seats like stanlow69 suggested still workng on them but they will work just fine.

 

Take the riser down some. Isn't there a sheet metal riser under the stock seat? This also seems a good time to express why radical chops aren't always best, especially for us lanky bastids. The foam seat gig has merit too. Good dense base foam, normal padding on top. With that you also get to sculpt it to fit and offer support. An old electric carving knife is king for that job. See your local garage sale...

 

Unless your body is unusually configured, head room is not your only problem. Leg room is also at a premium in Model A's. The only way to truly solve this situation is to remove the stock seat, riser and floor boards. Then fabricate a new floor from either metal or wood and use a seat like this one from Bengels ( http://www.hotrodseats.com/standard-frames/ ). The van seats are still high and do not lend themselves to a traditional interior theme. The Bengels seat can be mounted directly to the floor or can use low-profile sliders for adjustment. Good luck!

 

@Metaltwister here on the Hamb makes a very nice seat frame. http://www.hotrodseatframes.com/
(This is the Bengals seat mentioned above)

Or reduce the riser as Highlander mentioned.

Always try to keep springs instead of thick foam if possible.

 

Use a pair of glass race buckets and bolt 'em to the floor. I am using these in my Crosley, not chop but channeled. No head room and I am no where near 6'. LOL

 

Remove your seat frame and buy/build a low profile seat. My seat has a metal frame and dense foam. Very comfortable.


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Second row seat from a old Mopar mini-van and Speedway seat sliders make a good combo. Hit up the You Pull It yard; the older version of the seats look less modern and do not have the fabric bonded to contoured foam, makes them easier to recover too.

 

on my '30 sport coupe, i replaced the springs with 3/4" plywood & a couple layers of foam [ 1 hard,1 soft] & took out the package tray. works great!

 

Pretty basic actually... If its a Coupe loose the package tray and scoot back, Loose hardware ie. Sliders, do spark surgery on the frame, or replace the frame with one with the proper dimensions for your application. Im sure you know which one we would suggest! Keep in mind a 28/29 under visor vision is less than a 30/31... Just an FYI. Give me a call and we can talk you through this! We deal with this every day several times a day... Easy fixes. Ask for Bob

 

Thanks guys. Lots of great ideas here. I really appreciate everyone's input.


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We used a plain vanilla S10 bench seat in our 32. Another freebee............

Had to section out about 6" in the middle to get the right width. It's a tube frame with formed foam that can also be sectioned with an electric knife. The legs can be shortened for another couple inches. And the seat back tilts forward for trunk access. Works great and I'll do it again in the next project..............

 

I chopped my top 4" and found I could hardly even get in the car with the stock seat. I bought the middle seat out of a Dodge Caravan for 35 bucks. It's the perfect width. I cut the stock Caravan seat riser down to a height that is comfortable for me, and welded mounting feet on so I could bolt it securely in place. Had the seat re-upholstered in a more appropriate material and pattern, and it not only looks good, it's comfortable too. It even folds down for access behind the seat and it has a cupholder underneath out of sight. I sold my stock Model A seat, complete with riser to another hot rodder for quite a few bucks.

 

How tall are you?

 

mine has a Suzuki Samuri seat, fits nice, and low too. thank Chuck Emory for that.

 

The only word of caution that I can give you was about a car that was around our area a while back. Severely chopped Model A that had what we called "boat cushions" on the floor for seats. They were only about two inches thick. Well trying to push in the clutch and brake pedals was almost impossible because of the leg angle. It gets old real quick if it's a pain to drive your car.

 

Brandon McCall, I do not know if my question posted in the post above this one. Is your seat a custom one that you completely fabricated, or is it from a donor vehicle, and modified to fit. I really like the looks of that seat. It also looks comfortable. any information you could share would be appreciated, Thank You. -----Jim

 

I'm 5'6" tall, but before you write my solution off, I have to add that a friend of mine who is 6'4" tall can sit comfortably in my car. I didn't cut the package shelf behind the seat out of my car, but doing so would allow you to move the seat back far enough to accomodate even the tallest drivers.

 

Hi Jim,

The seat came with the truck when I purchased it so unfortunately I don't know much about it. However, I came across this seat on eBay (link below) and it appears to be identical to the one that I have. I am assuming this is the same person that built my seat. It is expensive, but it fits perfectly and is extremely comfortable.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/272973370456






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Brandon, thanks for the link. the seats do appear to be made by the same person. The price is a little expensive, but not to bad really. The problem I would have is the cost of freight to get it here in Alaska. I would probably cost as much, if not more than the sale price to get it here. Thank You. ---Jim

 

HOW DO YOU LOWER A MODEL A SEAT AFTER A CHOP??

Gain weight?

 

Ummmmmmm. Too late.


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Who makes this bucket?

 

I’ve been working on repairing the seat on a chopped 29 we have in our house now. See in the picture how unusual the seat base is. The seat is all foam and it was ripped and the plywood base was cracked and sagging. I made a new base that I thought was better, but when seating in the car, I realized it would be too high. I the. Realized that the ‘sagging’ in the original plywood base was actually that they steam bent the plywood to curve to clear the electric cables but then go as low as possible where your bum is. I don’t have a picture of the original base right now. So I guess just contributing another idea.


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Incidentally, how wide of a bench seat can I put in a '30-'31 Model A? And would it be the same for roadster, coupe, pickup, etc?

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