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MikeB
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Seats and frames?
09/04/14 at 15:38:00
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So my M38 came with Frankenstein seats, Toyota seats welded to parts of the stock seats. Not a safe or pretty combination.

I want to replace the seats, is there a decent ie: comfortable aftermarket seat that will fit in a 3a/m38 without any major mods?

What seats are you guys running? I'm 6'5" so a high back seat would be preferable, one of the reasons I'm shying away from a stock set-up.

Did a search and could find nothing, but I might have done the forum search wrong so if this question has been asked and answered before, my apologies but could you point a guy in the right direction? Wink
  
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macrisel
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Re: Seats and frames?
Reply #1 - 09/05/14 at 15:10:33
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I am 6'4" and feel your pain.  Unfortunately, your options are going to be limited to what you define as "major modifications".......  Even if you find some appropriate seats you are still going to be limited in your leg room and the stock steering wheel hampering you getting in and out.

When I first bought my jeep, it had a similar setup to yours with stock cj7 seats bolted/welded on to the base of the 3a seats.  While it gave me a tall back seat, it didn't look "correct" and it was next to impossible to get to the toolbox without taking the passenger seat completely out.  It also was not that much more comfortable than my stock seats as they still had a very sharp angle on the back.

The real issue is the wheel wells.  One modification I have seen several people do is take a chunk out of the wheel wells and move the seats back 2" or so.  To do this, you are looking at some decent sheet metal/body work.  You can't go too much or you might get into the tire some when the suspension flexes.  Then you can put in a tilt steering column, relocate the gas tank, find some nice racing seats, add a roll cage..........................see where I'm heading? 

At some point you have to accept the fact it is a vehicle that was designed and built in the 40's and 50's.  In that day and age, it was a marvel that you could travel somewhere in some form besides horseback.  The definition of "comfort" was much different than it is now.

In the end, I went with stock seats with thinner 2a style seat cushins.  I still have my knees in the dash and the steering wheel in my stomach.  However, at 45 mph with no top, manual brakes and manual steering I am ready to stop and take a break after a 40 minute drive anyway! Wink

Good luck and post photos of what you come up with!
  
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MikeB
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Re: Seats and frames?
Reply #2 - 09/05/14 at 16:30:47
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Thanks Mark, not sure if I'm lucky or not in the fact the guy I brought my M38 from was as tall as I. And had already put in a tilt steering column and trimmed 2" of the drivers side wheel arch.

Stock seats would look nicer than frankenseats but a set of new stock seats with cushions in Canada is around $1000 when you throw in shipping and tax.  But since I'm a few months away from needing seats the frankenseats I have I'll do for the time being.
  
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