Things to do before the 2017 Okteenerfest.

I want OEM seats, but the foam just ain't cuttin' it. 6 hours to and from Banner Elk was not comfortable at all. Even with a food break at 3 hours.

IIRC the foam I currently have had 1985 stamped on it when I re-did the hardy board under the seat, so it is not original. But it is still old.

Ideas?

I bought super dense foam on eBay. You can use an electric meat carving knife to cut the foam. Videos on YouTube.

So look for "super dense"?

Search for "High Density Foam"

One modification I made to my drivers seat, since I am tall, is to raise the front edge of the seat about an inch and a half. This gives my legs much better thigh support and reduces leg fatigue. I need the seat all the way back, so tilting the seat back to raise the front edge is not an option. I fastened a piece of vinyl covered wood to the fiberglass bucket, across and under the front edge of the cushion. Then I used a picture hanger hook attached to the top of the wood lift to act as the hook for the seat cushion's front tab, to hold the cushion in place. I also added some dense vinyl covered foam behind the riser block to support the center of the seat. Here's a couple of pics to give you the idea.
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I just took the original driver side seat to a local shop and had some new padding added above the old. Worked well for the trip to Okteenerfest, about a 6 hr. drive from home. My butt thanked me for the job when I arrived in Banner Elk!!

This isn't my seat, but I bought an inflatable Lumbar Support to insert under the upholstery for my low back. You can "tune" it to your best position before rebuilding the seat. No electrics needed as it uses the blood-pressure style bulb-pump.

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Funny. My 914 is the only vehicle I own that can be driven for 8 hours and not cause me back pain. I guess we are all built different.

Stock 914 seats are among the most comfortable road-trip seats I've ever sat in....and my much shorter father felt the same way about them after 10-hour drives.

I've always loved the seats. Now and 40 years earlier. Try losing weight ? Are you too tall ?

Some cars I don't fit in. I usually sell them and try a different car.

I guess it is my ass and my tail bone. This is the only car that I have to take my wallet out of my back pocket on these long trips.

I can feel the shell on my backbone after a while too.

Maybe it does have something to do with the fact that the PO put new, non-OEM foam in at some point.

Malcolm2, I agree with you. 5+ hours last year from Okteenerfest home did my back in for several days so this year, I slipped an air bladder in behind the back pad and that amount of lumbar support did help.

But I'm still looking for options.

Have you investigated the optional seats at classiccarseats.com yet? I almost bought a driver side seat, but that would not be in keeping with my original car theme, so the extra padding did the trick, and for less money.

Anyone ever try anything like wrestling mat shaped to fit for all of the best support areas? I remember that being VERY supportive when my face was ground into it in high school...

Taking your wallet out of your back pocket is always a good idea on long trips. It reduces back fatigue and gives you less leg fatigue and numbness when you finally get out of the car.
On trips over 2 hours, even a 5 minute stop and stretch can make a big difference.

Betting it is the foam. Even 30+ years old factory foam was still super comfy. If you can feel the frame, then it's baaaaaaad foam.

pete

914 Rubber has high density foam already cut to fit.

But I would still recommend not having the wallet in your back pocket if you have lots of stuff in it. my drive was around 5 hours and even with the thicker cushion after about 3 hours you can use a short break.

I don't have a problem with 914 seats. They seem to be just fine for me.

But I would suggest that you stop every time you reach a half tank of gas. We refueled at that point, but you don't have to. It is good to get up and move around outside the car.

its a long drive in a 914 but my seats are very comfortable regarding lumbar support because when I rebuilt them I added extra padding in the lumbar area and the whole back part uder the tartan. on the passenger seat I put all new high density foam and wrapped it with a couple layers of fiberfill type stuff from upholstery shop. My passenger said it was great- we had a 400 mile- 6 hour drive as well. Unfortunately I used the original foam on the drivers seat so that is going to get pulled out and re-done when the car goes to paint- but- it wasn't too bad, just needs abit of extra padding - mark Whitesell has high density foam at 914 rubber you can get as well. I have a chunck of it and might use it along with some memory foam - I have to say I do miss my 911 seats I had in the car they were very comfortable, I would probably like more side bolster support, and would consider Renegade or GTS seats in the future for better overall support when driving the mountain roads.

It has everything to do with this!
My stock seats were just fine on a 10 hour trip from Atlanta to the DC area when I bought my car. I'm tall and skinny and my dad is tall and not-as-skinny and we were both comfy the whole way.

Get some new foam from 914rubber and you should be good.

http://www.usafoam.com/seat&cushion/se...mp;cushion.html

These guys have some specs on foam....

LUX HQ sounds good to me..

Lux Foam - High Quality
Firm foam for regular or heavy use. Lux Foam - HQ is a high quality foam suggested for seats, chairs, cushions, benches, and mattresses. Foam has a typical life of 16 years. (Lux-HQ foam is a 2.8 lb/ft3 density with a 50lb ILD)

vs

Lux Foam - Regular
Firm foam for regular use. Lux Foam - R is suggested for seats, chairs, cushions, benches, and mattresses. Foam has a typical life of 7 years. (Lux-R foam is a 1.8 lb/ft3 density with a 50lb ILD)

They have another similar to LUX that is call HD-36 with the only diff being it has 35LB ILD.... need to find out what ILD is. I am gonna assume I should just max out all the specs, years of life, density and ILD. Might be like sitting on a brick tho.

I assume 2 seat btms would be 6" thick, maybe 24" x 60" for less than $70!

They have another similar to LUX that is call HD-36 with the only diff being it has 35LB ILD.... need to find out what ILD is.

I just checked online how to explain what ild is: (not my wisdom)

What does the ILD rating of a memory foam mattress mean?

ILD stands for Indentation Load Deflection. In simple terms it is a measurement of how hard or soft a foam is. In more accurate terms it's the number of pounds of pressure required to indent 4" of foam by 25% using a 50 square inch indentation. You may also see it referred to as the 25% ILD rating.

For example, this means that a 15lb ILD rating would mean that the foam needed 15lbs of pressure to indent it by 25%, and a 25lb ILD rating would mean it needs 25lbs to indent by 25%, so basically this means that the higher the ILD, the firmer the foam.

You can use the ILD rating together with the foam's density to gain a good idea of the overall make up and quality of the foam.

It is worth noting that due to the batch production process of memory foam, the measured ILD and density ratings can change from batch to batch. It is not unusual for a foam that rates at 10lb ILD to vary between 8lb and 12lb.

This can also vary depending on the temperature and environment the foam has been conditioned in prior to testing.

OK, that is a measurement for sure. Shouldn't they measure how much a 200LB butt will depress?

I am going with "bigger is better".

Your upholstery shop should know how to build a layered seat cushion using a harder foam as a base with memory foam on top. This is how beds are engineered. The memory foam conforms to your butt and the harder foam keeps you from feeling the plywood base.

Now if you really want to have a nice seat the top layer can be made out of cushion filled with processed corn husks. It will hold its shape when your not sitting on it and it feels great to sit on. The stuff is $$$ and not many upholstery shops know how to work with it.

Are the husks dried and cut into small pieces? I remember some physical therapy on my hand where i put my hand in corn husks warmed with hot air. Man that was the ticket.

I found the biggest problem for me was not having enough support under my thighs. Slide the seat forward, tilt it back as far as it will go, then slide it back to were it is comfortable. My seat is tilted back all the way and in my case it is also slid all the way back. Tilting the seat back can be the easiest, simplest and cheapest way to improve seat comfort.

Bumping this thread to see if anyone has additional wisdom to add. My big Black Friday purchase was a pair of seat kits and new seat bottom foam from 914rubber, so one of my winter projects will be recovering the seats. I never had any complaints with 914 seats but it has been 30+ years since my ass spent any serious time in one. I'm wondering what I might do "while I'm in there" to improve comfort. Three items in particular I'm thinking about.

1. Replace the seat back foam just because it is old.
2. Add inflatable lumbar cushions under the fabric.
3. Add a 1/2" of memory foam.

All of these have been discussed in this thread so just looking for an update on current thinking. I'm especially interested in hearing experiences from people who have done any of these. Any mods will have to be stealth and not alter the stock appearance.

Oh, and even though I live in the frigid north, I'm not a fan of heated seats. We have a car with them that I never use. I can just pee my pants if I want my butt to feel like that.

Yes, but I started using it for my cut-x runs, I used to just sit on the fiberglass shell, needed the room for my helmet. It works well to take the edge off. But I never ran it under the stock cushion. I pull the mat, and then drop in the stock cushion for the road trip.

Never had an issue with the 914 seats on trips, I even put a set in a CJ-5, made that Jeep much better than the stock seats.

How hard would it be to make the bolsters a little bigger so you had more support?

read the seat cushion, over the years the padding collapses