I am hoping that someone with a stock front seat can get me a measurement from the floor to the top of the seat cushion. I used the wrong seats and they are too high with no way to cut the frame down to lower them. Big PITA but what else to do when your under house arrest!
So I push a yardstick down on the carpet, I get approximately 11" on 58 Ranchero, Mark
Quote from: Frankenstein57 on 2020-04-02 09:04
So I push a yardstick down on the carpet, I get approximately 11" on 58 Ranchero, Mark
Thanks Mark......That's about where I am with my buckets, but they feel way too high. I had my 5' 5" daughter in the car and she looked, and said she felt, like she was about 2 inches too high. I don't get it! I know it will be major surgery to start messing with welded in risers in a completed car. Guess I'll go out and stare at it for a few more hours.
Doug.....I was curious, so I went out and measured my buckets, and they are at 9" at the front, but slope downwards a few more inches, and feel about right to me. I've also got the late model smaller steering wheel with tilt...........if yours is a stock wheel, or stock size, yes, I would think the seats at 11" would seem too high, and if I remember correctly, you're about my height (5'8"), or a little shorter? Now I'm wondering why 11" seems tall if that's where Mark's stock seats are at. Maybe we just sat higher in the old cars, and are now use to sitting lower in the modern cars?
When I installed my buckets, I used uni-strut (also called Super Strut) for the risers/attachment. They are bolted in and gives tons of adjustment with little work. The Unistrut I used is about 2" tall. I can get you some pics and details on that if you need.
Rich
My seat is pretty much stock as far as padding and upholstery, it measures about 10" at the front edge and slopes down towards the back cushion.
I'm around 10.5 and probably closer to 11 without the carpet / underlay.
Quote from: 57imposter on 2020-04-01 17:57
I am hoping that someone with a stock front seat can get me a measurement from the floor to the top of the seat cushion. ...
I posted these pix almost 8 years ago for someone else on here.
Afternoon,
I have a stock bench that was reupholstered in the late 70s early 80s from the looks of it. The padding is a good bit tired and measures aprox 10" in the front and 7" in the back. With good padding that would probably put it in line with the previous posts at 11" in front and 8" at the back. Mine feels a little low.
Hard to be KOOL when you have to duck your head to see out the windshield.....just sayin.....
yes, exactly. Even with my apparently lower seats, and being a short guy, I still have problems seeing traffic lights.
Doug?? where'd ya go?
For old, fat man reasons, I relocate my seat to the rear by a couple of inches. Being the first one to a stop light adds a new responsibility to monitor the light that you can't see. I have learned that if I have this responsibility to look out the side window if there is a light over the opposing lane, check for a light across the intersection, or watch the change on the pedestrian crossing light. I had a prism but got too many false green signals from Christmas lights or store signage.
Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2020-04-04 07:40
yes, exactly. Even with my apparently lower seats, and being a short guy, I still have problems seeing traffic lights.
Doug?? where'd ya go?
Haven't gone anywhere but have been kinda tied up with Motorcycle stuff. I am just now addressing 4or 5 interior issues that should have been done when I was finishing the car. Went ahead and gutted most of the interior out today and installed rear seat belts that had been in the box for about ten years. Still need to fix rear deck speaker wires and install my 3rd brake light. Then it will be on to the major surgery part which is lowering the seats. I am just a bit over 11 inches, you said you liked about 9 inches. I can drop the front 1 5/8 with some pretty simple bracket mods. I am not sure what kind of problems the rear mounts are going to give me but they will be way more than the fronts. I also want to raise my console but that won't be hard once I figure out how much in relation to the new seat height. Thats about it from here, fortunately, with the way I work, anymore, I will probably need most of our shutdown month to get back on the road.
Quote from: 57imposter on 2020-04-04 21:13Haven't gone anywhere but have been kinda tied up with Motorcycle stuff.
Motorcycle stuff? Are you on the Adventure Rider, (ADV), site?
https://advrider.com/f/
My favorite two out of my six+ bikes.
Ah Motorcycles! All car guys need at least one.
Both my son and I are between bikes. He recently sold his Africa Twin adventure bike, and I sold my Concours 14 sport touring.
Looks like a Maltese fire department emblem on red frame bike.
Quote from: Tom S on 2020-04-05 08:51
Motorcycle stuff? Are you on the Adventure Rider, (ADV), site?
https://advrider.com/f/
My favorite two out of my six+ bikes.
Road rider and I have a 79 Yahama XS650 project bike that I got after it became apparent I did not have another car build left in me. I have been picking away on the Yamaha for about three years so its fairly obvious that is just here for me to mess with when I feel like it. I don't really care if it ever gets finished.
Quote from: fdlrc on 2020-04-05 13:54
Looks like a Maltese fire department emblem on red frame bike.
That's for a good friend that died of cancer. He was a heavy machinery mech in the fire department.
Quote from: 57imposter on 2020-04-06 12:50
Road rider and I have a 79 Yahama XS650 project bike that I got after it became apparent I did not have another car build left in me. ...
I've always liked Yamahas & still have some. For a while I was looking for an older model XS650, the ones with wire spoke wheels. It's just as well that I didn't find one.
After being in pretty heavy into cars & hotrods for decades I got mostly back into bikes for the past 20 plus years. I've got
way too many vehicles!
Quote from: Tom S on 2020-04-08 08:31
After being in pretty heavy into cars & hotrods for decades I got mostly back into bikes for the past 20 plus years. I've got way too many vehicles!
Tom
I know what you are talking about. We need days with more hours.
Jay
Quote from: Ecode70D on 2020-04-08 12:11Tom
I know what you are talking about. We need days with more hours.
Jay
Jay, instead of more hours in the day what I really need is the energy & the ambition that I used to have to get on to the dozens of unfinished car & motorcycle projects & repairs. I've collected a lot more vehicles & junk than any 75 year old & now long single man can handle.
Tom
:hurricane:I have 4 more years on you and I know what you are saying, But we should always have a project to keep our
minds active.
Jay
Quote from: Tom S on 2020-04-03 13:23
I posted these pix almost 8 years ago for someone else on here.
I found your post, just now. Thanks! Thats very close to where my buckets sit. For some reason, they have never felt right and have never been happy with them. I am dropping them 1 1/2 inches. I hope that will correct my issues but win, lose or draw this is it. there is no way to go lower without replacing the seats and that isn't going to happen.
I managed to finish my seat lowering project this afternoon. It was a real PITA gutting out the seats and carpet, shielding upholstery panels so I could cut grind and weld on the floor without destroying and other upholstery. Turns out I was able to get 1 1/2" of height by cutting out the old and making new seat mounts. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to tell the difference but the change is dramatic. I was running my tilt column in the top position and was able to drop it two notches. Kinda irritating that I didn't take the time to correct the seats when I was building the car. I went from 11 inches at the front of the seat to 9 1/2.
:burnout:
Did you get to drive it with the new height?
I've been meaning to ask....I know you just changed from Rack and pinion to a Borgenson box......talk about the difference in handling and turning radius please! Are you glad you made the change? BTW, checking the rack bolts is something I do occasionally now.
I just finished repairing my seat tracks. My car since I have it had has had a seat that would not adjust. It was in a good driving position for me where it happened to be so this project was put on hold. I fixed a couple of other issues with the seat and it works now like "buttah",but I have a question... my seat had spacers on the front of the seat between the tracks and the seat frame. Looked factory but now I am wondering. Are they supposed to be there?
Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2020-04-18 08:40
:burnout:
Did you get to drive it with the new height?
I've been meaning to ask....I know you just changed from Rack and pinion to a Borgenson box......talk about the difference in handling and turning radius please! Are you glad you made the change? BTW, checking the rack bolts is something I do occasionally now.
Yes I did drive it. Really happy with the way the seats sit now and life is good. As far as the rack goes, it was a little quicker than I liked. If I drove the car regularly, it was not noticeable. I had a rack kit from Wurth-It Design's. That kit rotates the rack so the tie rod adapter bolts are pointed straight down. The bolts were torqued, locktighted and safety wired. One of those bolts broke and the only thing that kept it from falling out, going 60 MPH down the highway, was the safety wire. The steering still went wonky and scared the hell out of me. I got it off the road and called a Roll Back to get it home. When I got it up on the hoist, I could hardly believe what I was seeing and thought, I will never be able to trust this setup so that began the process of converting to the box.
As for the Borgeson box. It was a bit of a job putting it in since you need a stock manual Pitman arm and I had to adapt a GM power steering pump into my Ford serpentine belt setup. The plus side is that it eliminated the double jointed steering driveline as the column mounts directly to the box with a single U-Joint right at the firewall audit drives exactly like a modern car.
I may have to stop in Kennewick some time in the future on one of my trips back and forth to Branson...and eyeball that, if you don't mind. I have my Courier all torn down to frame off right now, so would be the time to think about making any changes.
I have never heard of any bolts breaking before in a steering set-up. That is weird. Wonder if it was a bad bolt? Or do you think it is a bad design that out too much stress on the bolts?
Quote from: mustang6984 on 2020-04-18 10:22
I may have to stop in Kennewick some time in the future on one of my trips back and forth to Branson...and eyeball that, if you don't mind. I have my Courier all torn down to frame off right now, so would be the time to think about making any changes.
I have never heard of any bolts breaking before in a steering set-up. That is weird. Wonder if it was a bad bolt? Or do you think it is a bad design that out too much stress on the bolts?
I would almost have to think it was a bad bolt. I have been around mechanical stuff my whole life and have never encountered anything like it. I just tend to be very critical about brakes and steering so making the swap to the box eliminated any issues for me.
You would be welcome to stop by, any time as I am almost always around. Just give me a shout when you are headed this way.
best contact would be dougm58@yahoo.com
I agree. I once broke a headbolt on a 235 I/L 6 when I was a high school senior. The shop teacher was amazed and impressed! LOL!!! Now that nearly 50 years have passed since then...I am also impressed. Had to be a bad bolt.
I will let you know. My buddy Bob lives over in Richland. Thanks! :006:
I installed the same rack setup in a 50 Chevy for a friend. Used the kit supplied adapter, tie rod ends and bolts. Used lock tight and lock washers on the bolts and tie rod ends per the instructions. The adapter refused to stay tightened up. It only took 1500 to 2000 miles for the steering to feel funny. Never did figure it out, he did not trust the car and sold it. Been a huge fan of Borgeson ever since!
Quote from: Ford Blue blood on 2020-04-19 07:25
I installed the same rack setup in a 50 Chevy for a friend. Used the kit supplied adapter, tie rod ends and bolts. Used lock tight and lock washers on the bolts and tie rod ends per the instructions. The adapter refused to stay tightened up. It only took 1500 to 2000 miles for the steering to feel funny. Never did figure it out, he did not trust the car and sold it. Been a huge fan of Borgeson ever since!
Agreed! I couldn't be happier with the box and as a company they are as good as they come. The box I used had been sitting on a repair shop shelf for 10 years. It was defective. I sent it to Borgeson for repair and specifically told them it was not a warranty request. I was not the original purchaser and had no paperwork and the thing was 10 years old and an obsolete model. They called and said the box had been mis-machined and that they were going to send me a new current box at no charge. They even paid the shipping to get it to me. I would have been astounded if they had made me any kind of a deal on the replacement but they went way beyond that. You'll never hear a bad word about Borgeson, from me.