Seats

Hush, Danny!!!!

Dude, you know better then to let facts get in the way of a good story  - or a good thread drift.

I would tell the anti-fiberglass seat guy that Porsche 914 seats all had a Fiberglass shell , ……….

@imperial posted:

I would tell the anti-fiberglass seat guy that Porsche 914 seats all had a Fiberglass shell , ……….

... but did they have authentic canvas racing seat covers?

No , but I think the bottom seat pad had “horse hair”

So the question turns to “what is horse hair”. And did Germany have a lot of naked horses

Took my Speedster with its POS fiberglass racing seats which were repaired by an upholsterer who dislikes replica Speedsters (and I suspect the people who own them) and took a 120 mile road trip today out 66, down the Skyline Parkway, back via Rt 1 and home. Glorious. What a car. My butt hurts, though.

my 63 VW cabriolets top had a bunch of horsehair in it for insulation

A popular story in the South when tourists ask about all of the pretty Spanish Moss hanging from the trees,

Is that Henry Ford tried using it as filler in Model T seats.  It had great bulk and cushioning qualities, was wicked cheap and easily harvested.

It worked great, right up until passengers started getting mite bites from all of the mites that came along for the ride in the Spanish Moss.

That Spanish Moss story is true.
I went to LSU and my wife and I were so captivated by the moss she made some throw pillows for the sofa stuffed with sun-dried moss. Big mistake.

@Marshall posted:

That Spanish Moss story is true.
I went to LSU and my wife and I were so captivated by the moss she made some throw pillows for the sofa stuffed with sun-dried moss. Big mistake.

That just gives me the chiggers!  Insect vampires.

The Chiggers killed Wolfgang!

@Marshall posted:

Took my Speedster with its POS fiberglass racing seats which were repaired by an upholsterer who dislikes replica Speedsters (and I suspect the people who own them) and took a 120 mile road trip today out 66, down the Skyline Parkway, back via Rt 1 and home. Glorious. What a car. My butt hurts, though.

@Marshall can you expound on your POS fiberglass seats. I had my car built in 2016 and have driven it to Carlisle PA twice, roughly ~1500 miles roundtrip twice. While it is not the same as cruising in a modern car I wouldn't say it was terribly uncomfortable. Oh and the second time my co-pilot was @Stan Galat and we made it with only gas stops that were less than 15 mins.  

As far as I know this is the basic design of most speedster seats.

I read a Fortune Cookie recently " Confucius's say: "Na'ting wong wit speedsta seat.... baa da azz dat sit in dem" 

There isn't any cell phone reception within a mile of that pole barn and a high pitched constant hum can be heard from it 24 hours a day.

It doesn't appear on Google maps.

@Joe Fortino My seats from Vintage are constructed the same way. They are comfortable for long distance as well. In weather from 40 something to 90 something. Longest trip to Washington DC area, 280 miles. Gas stops only...

Anyone have a phone number for VMC I sent an email last week and left a VM earlier this week with no response.  Wondering if I have bad contact info.

Erik.

I generally email Anna Kilgore <anna@vintagemotorcarsinc.com> at Vintage Motorcars and she's pretty good at getting back to me.

Erik,

I think my seats are like many others. Large humps to left and right designed to hold a driver’s hips snugly.  They might work well with a slim hipped person but not someone more full-bodied.

My comfort solution has been a narrow 2” foam cushion that fits between and holds your tush above those humps.  

I think that many of the seats available are like mine. They look sexy and might be authentic looking for a Speedster but are uncomfortable. If you go that route, keep the cushion idea in mind.

@Marshall posted:

Erik,

I think my seats are like many others. Large humps to left and right designed to hold a driver’s hips snugly.  They might work well with a slim hipped person but not someone more full-bodied.

My comfort solution has been a narrow 2” foam cushion that fits between and holds your tush above those humps.  

I think that many of the seats available are like mine. They look sexy and might be authentic looking for a Speedster but are uncomfortable. If you go that route, keep the cushion idea in mind.

I can't agree at all that those seats are uncomfortable. Many miles at a time on my Speedster trips, Wife included on every trip. Sacramento to Carlisle....Boise, Idaho to Ottawa, Canada and many trips from Canada to Key West and back. You either want to drive a car like this or maybe not.

@David Stroud IM Roadster D posted:

I can't agree at all that those seats are uncomfortable. Many miles at a time on my Speedster trips, Wife included on every trip. Sacramento to Carlisle....Boise, Idaho to Ottawa, Canada and many trips from Canada to Key West and back. You either want to drive a car like this or maybe not.

Agreed. They're not all created equally, but a good set of Speedster seats can be as comfortable as anything else.

I could never get comfortable in the (very high quality) Speedster seats that came with my IM, but I was instantly comfortable with the Fibersteel shells that replaced them.

Erik,

I took some measurements of my seats this morning.  The overall seat is a little wider than recommended by, I think, Wolfgang.  It rubs slightly on the carpeting.  But that's not the rub.

Hopefully you can read the measurements.  The cushion is not as proud of those side bumps.  The seat portion is quite narrow and jams you up onto those lumps which are much firmer.  Look for seats that give you a wider seat and less pronounced bumps or better aren't so pronounced.  You'll be a lot more comfortable.

Good luck,

Marshall

Ph

I found the seats (JPS) to be very comfortable after I got used to the ride position.  The wife and I rode all day last fall and no complaints.  The position would be perfect for a 24 hr lemans.

914 seats with the headrest removed would look similar to the Speedster seats.

Erik,

If you have a say with your upholsterer on the thickness and firmness of the seat cushion, I’d opt for thicker and firmer. My issue is that I sink down and get wedged between those hard, too pronounced humps because my seats aren’t pronounced enough.
Also, if you have a say consider cutting down or, better yet,  getting rid of those humps and trying to maximize the narrow area available.  

Not the classic look, I know and not as supportive in a tight corner, but who drives that fast anyway?  Right?

Hope this is helpful.

Marshall.

Agreed.  Actually, the thicker the better when it comes to Speedster seats.  The seats in my IM are quite thick, and we have never had any discomfort from driving long distances.  You can see how thick they are from these shots.  They are also quite firm, but comfortable as heck.

While they look similar, various Speedster seats differ a bit.  In my CMC I used JPS seats because the cushion is wider in the back than my CMC seats.  Since installing, my butt has also gotten narrower, so the fit is even better.

When I had my JPS built in 2002 (sold in 2004) the seats were by far the best part about the car.

I humbly disagree with my friend Bob regarding more being more - at least in the case of seat padding. More padding just puts you up higher in the car. For me, there is nothing worse than feeling like I'm sitting "on" a car, rather than "in" it. Speedster seats with thick padding put me up enough that I feel like I'm on a mechanical bull.

In my experience, the passengers in a speedster have to fit behind the windshield to be comfortable. Nothing is more important, except how the seats themselves feel when sitting in them. Do they invite you to rack up miles, or do they make you want to get out for a bit? Almost everybody has bad seats.

Everything starts the width of the shell itself, and how it's padded. The Fibersteel seats I rave about came (at least when I bought them) in a choice of 3 different shells, and two different vacuum-formed pads. The shells came in VW pan width, standard (original) speedster width, and "big boy" width. I got the original width, because they fit in my tube-framed car.

His two different pads both used very dense, but vacuum-formed foam, allowing the seat to be shaped so that they were very comfortable, with only an inch or so of padding under my butt (I got "Spyder" padding). Those seats (pitched back and mounted directly to the floor) allowed me to get way down in the car, so that I sat behind the windshield. They were delightful.

I had the old Kirk and Mary "comfort" seats that were 914 copies with the headrest removed on my first speedster. They were the worst thing I ever sat on. I went from those to the JPS speedster seats in my second car, which were surprisingly nice. I had the lovely and super-nice IM speedster seats in my present car... which I liked less than the JPS seats, but more than the "comfort" seats.

I took out the IM seats and put in the Fibersteel seats I keep referring to within a couple of years of getting the car. I loved them. L O V E D them.

_{Did I mention how much I liked them? I think I did. I liked them a lot.}

However, Jeanie was never able to get comfortable for long distances in those seats and she looked like a preschool child sitting so low in the car (her head barely peeked above the dash), and all she could see when we went out was the sky and the interior of the car. So I got a single EMPI VW Beetle passenger seat (in all it's vinyl glory), which I bolted in as a temporary for a tour de smo. This is how the car looked in that spec.

She liked the new seat enough that I was forbidden to take it out. I did, but only to have it reupholstered in leather and have seat heaters installed. I bought a driver's side seat to match, and completely cut it apart to radically lower the bottom frame and pad (I recessed the seat tracks into the seat - that's how low I got it), then had it upholstered to match the passenger side (complete with seat heater). It turned out "OK" - I like the seats, but the local upholsterer was not up to Intermeccanica spec. This is where we are now:

What I did to that driver's seat took an entire winter, but the results are transformative - they feel as good as the Fibersteels, and match the seat that my wife loves. Seats make more difference than anything else you can do to your car. More than the right gearing (and I'm a fanatic about this). More even than a big engine (and I'm also a fanatic about that). The places where you touch the car form your connection to it. Are you fighting against it, or is it an extension of your body? That will greatly inform how you feel about the car.

I'm not an Eastern Religion guy at all, but there's a lot of Feng Shui in making a car "right". I'm fanatical about it.

Don't just live with seats you hate. Get what you want.

I was just going to post about too much padding, then I read Stan's reply.

I like feeling like I'm IN the car. It makes the car feel like an extension of oneself.

Touchpoints. Ergonomics. It's a thing.

Well, to argue against Stan and Danny, those seats are just perfect for Mary and for me.  The padding - while it may seem over the top - is just so comfortable, and because I'm not the size of a hairy ape (not necessarily you, Stan, but it might be...), I fit quite nicely under the windshield.  :-)

Henry's speedster seats are also a little wider than most, and that means you fit comfortably between the side bolsters.  Corner as much as you want, you just don't ever feel unsecure.  You sit in the seats, not on them.

Add to that the three level seat heaters, and they do provide a nice ride.  When we go to the Outer Banks, we drive two solid days, and we never experience any form of discomfort.

The seats are deceptive in terms of comfort, and they mimic the original shape and material, which is important to me.  And the Spinneybeck leather is soft and supple, being Italian (where's Marty?).

I'm very happy with the seats.  To each his own.

... which is to the point of what I'm trying to say, which is this: find the seats that fit you, or make them.

Bob likes a lot of padding and can fit behind the windshield with it. Danny and I don't. There is no one-size-fits-all here - but there is a butt for every seat.

Find yours.

-EDIT FOR CLARITY- _{(don't post while eating falafels)}

There is no one-size-fits-all here - but there is a seat for every butt.

Find yours

Find your butt?  You may want to say there is a seat for every butt.  Then you can say find yours.

@Michael McKelvey posted:

Find your butt?  You may want to say there is a seat for every butt.  Then you can say find yours.

Maybe I can't find my butt with both hands?

https://www.speedsterowners.co...1#706147550268140431

Hi Stan

I see that your speedster had the wind screen installed behind the seats.  How well did that work for keeping the wind at bay on the freeways?

OK. I’m likely going to order some new seats probably next year. Sounds like ALL of you have been there and got seats that fit. I assumed you just ordered a set from Beck or VC, etc and settled for what you got, hoping they were better fitting than what you have.  
how does this work? Can you order a seat and try it out? Or do you work with an actual Upholsterer who tries different levels of padding until he’s created what you want?

I don't know about Stan's behind-the-head windscreen, but I installed a window in the roll bar of my CMC as a windscreen and I think it works great.  Reduces the buffeting behind your head by 80% or so.   I used the type of channel used in modern cars for side windows and bought it at a glass window place.  It is very easily bent and/or cut to fit the space and the glass.  The "glass" is a piece of 1/4" thick plexiglass so it doesn't flex.  It just disappears into the roll bar.

@Gordon Nichols posted:

I don't know about Stan's behind-the-head windscreen, but I installed a window in the roll bar of my CMC as a windscreen and I think it works great.  Reduces the buffeting behind your head by 80% or so.   I used the type of channel used in modern cars for side windows and bought it at a glass window place.  It is very easily bent and/or cut to fit the space and the glass.  The "glass" is a piece of 1/4" thick plexiglass so it doesn't flex.  It just disappears into the roll bar.

That's a pretty nice mod, thanks for sharing it.  It blends right in and since is a solid piece, I would think it would buffet the wind better.   I had the factory Plexiglas wind screen added to my Boxster years ago and it made a huge difference.

@Gordon Nichols posted:

I don't know about Stan's behind-the-head windscreen, but I installed a window in the roll bar of my CMC as a windscreen and I think it works great.

I love mine - it's a frame with pet-screen. Works fantastically.

@Stan Galat, can you provide more information about how your screen is built and mounted?  Do you have a roll bar?

@Michael McKelvey posted:

@Stan Galat, can you provide more information about how your screen is built and mounted?  Do you have a roll bar?

It would be way easier to show you how it's mounted, although it's probably not relevant to your situation, as I welded some stuff on my scissor frame for the top.

I bought a screen from Henry, then modified it, then tore the screen a couple of years later on one of the west coast trips. As the apparatus cost an obscene amount, I lived with the tear for a couple of years. T

hen I saw the dog screen at Ace hardware and just took them the wind deflector. They put the screen in using the factory binding. for something like $20.

If I were doing this again, I'd just bend up a piece of 1/2 or 3/4" conduit using a bender, then rivet the dog-screen to the conduit using washers. It'd be 95% as good and cost bupkis compared to this arrangement.