Parental guidance needed- seats

I'm finishing up an 88 CMC and would like to upgrade the seats to a newer and more ergonomic seat. The width is approx 18" at the base. The pan has a '68 VW rail in it but I can easily remove it if needed. Maybe some of you could tell me what has worked well for you and I'll know what to head towards. I don't want to reinvent the wheel if I can avoid it. Thanks ahead of time. My wife and I areaverage build. Mike.

A SEARCH here on FORUM will show some pictures of Miata and Porsche 914 seats which fit without modification.

Yeah, and that's about ALL that'll fit without modifications. If you go back and measure carefully from the inside of the sill to the tunnel on your CMC, it's more like 15.5 inches wide, not the 18 you posted. Only 914 and Miata seats are narrow enough.

If you have the coiage, check out www.classiccarseats.com and look at their 'Solitude' seat. It's a modern remake of the Speedster seat, and looks comfortable to me.

"coiage" Looks like someone stole the 'n' from the middle there. Should be "coinage".

I thought 'Coiage' referred to a 'fish-like' characteristic... :-)

Ah yes - the age of a well-known Japanese pond inhabitant.

Lane,

I lust after that Solitude seat w/headrest. Did you ever see if it would fit in a pan or tube frame?

I do have a pair of Miata seats that I am going to swap out for my 914 seats. I would suggest not using the 914 seats.

Dave

I haven't contacted them yet, but I'm thinking about it. I'm sure they would fit my car, but the Beck floor is kinda big compared to most others. It's flat from door to door, except for the low tunnel.

Look for a set of seats from a 2006 or newer Chevy Cobalt. I believe the base dimension is 14.5" or 15" wide. The SS seats are nice but almost impossible to find.

Suggestion-Try a search in TheSamba web-site in the classified section (allows a choice of item/ vehicle application; suggest Ghia, 914, 356, VW convertible as vehicle search). A good upholsterer could sew new life into an older seat frame, especially one that is already close in size to the 356 configuration.
Samba site: www.thesamba.com/vw/

Also must see this site for color combo visualization:
http: www.katzkin.com (Scroll down on home page to lower left where it says "seat selector" - once you get the hang of how to select, it's really a great visualization tool.)

Northern Cal Craigslist link for Miata seats etc:
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/pts/1013412592.html
(today 2-3-09)

FYI, Car and Driver magazine has been putting out the word that the Chevy Cobalt SS is one fast vehicle, perhaps the fastest for it's price. That said, I predict that Chevy Cobalt seats will be coming to a junkyard near you in the near future. Don't ya just luv it when a plan comes together?