So what do we do for seating these days??

[mikec4193]

I found this old oval track

racing bucket seat from a kid I use to work with...it fits like a glove....so nice a fit that I go out to the garage and sit in it and just think about stuff...

I think the seat with the cover he wanted $150.00 for it...this was in 2022....

So what are all you other rat rod guys using for comfy seat in your rides???

I see stuff in the Rat Rod Magazine and it makes me cringe...little aluminum bomber seats and some of them even have wood seats and I have even seen like old Willys CJ2A Jeep seats...

I often wonder how these guys feel after driving their creations with that kind of seating arrangement.

 

[Old Iron]

The left rib protector on race seats, most of the time, make it hard to get in and out of a vehicle. If you remove about half or two thirds of that are, they work great.

 

[smallfoot]

In a cramped cab 31 A I went with a bench seat for some comfort and a place for my 83 lb mutt

 

[dmw56]

Caravan third row seat in 31 Model A Pickup

 

[dmw56]

1984 Caprice. Just like my mom's living room.

 

[redidbull]

I have had a few seat setup in my Samurai. The plastic seats with their 1" foam pads are OK for around town but on a road trip not so good. I have a set of junkyard seats which are probably a foreign car seat on homemade mounts and are much more comfy. I know what a lot of guys do is measure your project's interior and go to the junk yard with a tape measure. dmw56 mentioned Caravan seats and a Suzuki vendor make a set up for the Samurai to mount the 3rd row captain seats. I hear they are very comfortable. Neon seats are used alot too. Jim

 

[gene49]

2nd row Chrysler mini van bucket seats. I do like the stow & go seats! Cheap, usually in great shape, most have removable arm rests and removable head rest, and many have the seat belt mounting brackets in the pedestal. Cut the bottom of for the height off the floor you need them and weld on some angle iron to bolt to the floor pan, then add a pair of seat adjusters from Speedway between the pedestal and the seat.

This pair in the last pic are what is in my 49. I took off the headrests and the fold down arm rests. The backs fold forward when you pull the lever giving you access to the area behind the seat.

 

[MercuryMac]

I used Fox Body Mustang seats with the backs cut down in my '36.

 

[lowbudget50]

I have used lots of different things. Plywood bottoms covered in 2" foam with WW2 backpack frames for the backside. Recovered seats from a people for people bus, factory bench seats reupholster with added blustering. I have driven all of them in long road trips. No complaints

 

[MaseRATi58]

I currently have a pair of low-back bucket seats from I would imagine came out of something from the 60's bolted to the floor of my MaseRATi that came with the car. But being an old guy with an artificial hip and a bad back, it's a real chore to get in and out of it because it sits so low along with the widened running boards which are no fun when the days are hot and I'm wearing shorts. So my plan is to find a nice set of bar stools with a few inches of back and maybe some side support that swivel so that it will make it a little easier to get in and out. I was going to look into some other high-back bucket seats or maybe some 'glass drag seats but with my chopped top most of the ones I was looking at would've been too tall to work because they were going to restrict access behind them, where my battery and coolant recovery tank as well as anything else I might want to stash back there because my "trunk" is full of my radiator. My son is wanting me to go with bomber seats, which would be nice but he's not the one that has to pay for them, which is a lot more than I want to pay. I'll probably be able to pick up a pair of bar stools for $50-$100 or less and then once I bolt the swivel bases to the floor, it will give me the flexibility to simply unbolt the seats and replace them with something else in the future if I want to change things up.

 

[gene49]

I currently have a pair of low-back bucket seats from I would imagine came out of something from the 60's bolted to the floor of my MaseRATi that came with the car. But being an old guy with an artificial hip and a bad back, it's a real chore to get in and out of it because it sits so low along with the widened running boards which are no fun when the days are hot and I'm wearing shorts. So my plan is to find a nice set of bar stools with a few inches of back and maybe some side support that swivel so that it will make it a little easier to get in and out. I was going to look into some other high-back bucket seats or maybe some 'glass drag seats but with my chopped top most of the ones I was looking at would've been too tall to work because they were going to restrict access behind them, where my battery and coolant recovery tank as well as anything else I might want to stash back there because my "trunk" is full of my radiator. My son is wanting me to go with bomber seats, which would be nice but he's not the one that has to pay for them, which is a lot more than I want to pay. I'll probably be able to pick up a pair of bar stools for $50-$100 or less and then once I bolt the swivel bases to the floor, it will give me the flexibility to simply unbolt the seats and replace them with something else in the future if I want to change things up.

Might want to look into fishing boat seats. Some have a swivel base and are pretty small, and cheap.

 

[Fat-Man]

Might want to look into fishing boat seats. Some have a swivel base and are pretty small, and cheap.

That's just what I'm gonna use. These swivel seats were snagged from a roached out late 50s boat. I just gotta wack a foot from the pedestal height and recover them, they'll work out just fine.

 

[mikec4193]

I have used lots of different things. Plywood bottoms covered in 2" foam with WW2 backpack frames for the backside. Recovered seats from a people for people bus, factory bench seats reupholster with added blustering. I have driven all of them in long road trips. No complaints


View attachment 183157

Those homebuilt seats look just like seat that came stock in my last Willys jeep I owned...looks cool from here...

 

[orbitup]

MRAP seats I got for $40.

 

[BillM]

In my Thriftmaster I used the middle row from a mid 2000's Cadilac SRX. I removed the head rests, it has a middle console/cup holder that hides into the seat, and the passenger side folds and flips, allowing easy access to the rear and underside of the seat.
I just installed Caravan seats (front and mid) in the panel truck I just finished.
I'm about to start a Model A, and am thinking I'll use mid row buckets from a Ford Flex/Freestyle. They fold and flip, and are very compact so I think they will be ideal for a small car like a model A.