Seat modification

[MikeB]

I didn't have stock seats in my M38 when I brought it, so I put in some smittybilt CJ5 low back seats, they look great and are comfortable.

However.....!

I'm 6' 4". The seats have a 5" thick foam seat bottom, which puts my head above the windshield frame.

I've lowered the seats as far as I can, the only way for me to drive the jeep is with the windshield down as I can't see otherwise. And my head touches the roll bar, not a safe way to drive.

Other than getting thinner seats, I was thinking I could remove 2 - 3" of foam from the seat pan. Before I send them off to a upholstery stry shop, has anyone done this?

Will removing the foam work?� Can I do it myself?� Is there a write up somewhere on how to do it?

[aboyandhisdog]

Just my 2 cents...I would take them to an upholstery shop and let them do exactly what you want.  The result will look good and they could even put new canvas back on for a period look.  I know if I tried to do it myself, the result would be sub-par and I'd be regretting it every time I looked at them.  But if you have a knack for stuff like this, go for it!

[MikeB]

Well, it's my day off so I figured I'd take a look at the seats.

3 hours later I'd cut down 3" from both seats. I like the look of the skinny seats now. And I can see out of the windscreen.

Before and after shots.

[aboyandhisdog]

That looks great, nice work!

[Mytwojeeps2020]

Mike,

I read your post of years ago: What you did in lowering your cushion is what I need to do - but I’m no upholsterer.

Did you find it easy to do?

Smittybilt seats look a good alternative to spending $800+ at a professional upholstery shop, considering my CJ5 is not a restoration project.

[Mark W.]

When I had my stock seats done (well the wife had them done for Christmas in 2013) I had the guy put 3" of Marine grade foam on the bottom and 2" on the backs. Since in stock seats you sit so upright I knew from thousands of miles driving my Willys in high school the only part of the seat that mattered was the bottom. It worked out well for me. The seats give a little more room then they did when dad had them done in the 60's (4" foam back and bottom) and I had the guy add some Orange pipping around the edges.