Roadster seat mod

Well I can chip in here.  I have had a 2004 IM just like yours and I had IM open the back seat area, remove the carpet, grind and smooth the area where the seat hits,  to allow the seat to go tilt and go further.  That presupposes that it's the seat and not your shoulder that needs to move  

If your legs also need more length then the seat has to go back you might have to remove or move the Seat belt retractable spool and even relocate the track. 

On my new IM 2014-15 I had him install Recaro seats and the spools are on top of the seat on the metal trim so  the rear seat which is removable was notched in accordance.  The new seat are great and support all the way up the back and have a real headrest.  I have driven 10-12 hours in total comfort down Hwy 1.

First, I have a pan-based CMC, nit an IM.

I have not notched my seatback, but what I did a while back was to make the non-speedster seat base narrower in order to fit into the narrow seat space of a pan-based car.  That process included making the seatback bottom narrower as well, but still maintaining the vertical lines of the stitching from seat base to back.  Takes a little figuring and patience about how to do it, but it's relatively easy.  The seats I modified are more like 356 Cabriolet seats and are wider than, say, a pair of Speedster seats by about 3 inches so that's how much I narrowed them.  The backs fit the space fine, but you can see below that the inside bolsters are almost touching.  No big deal for the passengers.

Having done that (and taken apart a pair of perfectly good seats to start with), I see no reason why you couldn't notch the seatback to fit. 

The only caveat I see is looks.  It might fit fine, but look a little lopsided, depending on how and where you do the notch.  Give it a lot of thought before making that first cut!

Here's the seat I started with, from a '92 Chrysler LeBaron GTS:

The seat back is made from a tubular hoop-frame with the foam bolsters glued to the frame (at least on mine).  The colored vinyl is simply a slip-cover pulled down over the top and stretched into place, and at the very bottom is a zipper to pull it together and neatly hold it in place.  The seat base is another slip-cover stretched over the glued-on bolsters and then hog-ringed to the bottom frame.  

If you need them, 1/2" to 3/4" hog rings and the special pliers are available on Amazon.

I don't have a full-front shot, but here is the finished seat shot.  As you can see, they're back as far as they can go but do not hit the body.  They run up against the roll bar instead.  I did all of the narrowing on the tunnel side of the base and seat back because the outer sides had all of the reclining mechanisms so I did't modify that.

The end result was that (a.) they fit, (b.) the gliders still work (but they tend to be grumpy) and (c.) all of the stitching lines up top to base.  

Oh, and (d.) they're wicked comfy!

Somewhere on here is a detailed thread about how I did the mods.  If I can find it with our robust search engine, I'll post the link.  gn

Found it:

https://www.speedsterowners.co...me-catching-up-to-do

Nice Job Gordo.

Excellent feedback! Thanks so much. I'll report back once I open the seat up and begin the mods. Fortunately I will just need to do the drivers seat, my lady is a foot shorter than me!

Hey "The Great Gordoone".  I just read that work up you did on your seat awesome crafting. 

It was pretty simple.  The hardest part for me was getting the welds right (and not melting the vinyl cover).  

Fortunately, once done the welds are out of sight!