Jim O

I pulled my seats and carpet and was surprised to find a 2 x 2' (approx) aluminimum looking insulation pad that it stuck to the floor. The carpeting is original and didn't expect to find that. I thought they didn't put much insulation on w30 cars? Both sides had one. Would this be original from the factory? (think not) It is very thin, probably 1/8"
Jim O.

70Post

It's original....an aluminum colored plastic sheet bonded to thin, compressed jute type material. Down in the front footwell areas. Doesn't weigh anything so no risk there.

It also serves as a great water trap (on the P side) if the heater core leaks.....soaks up the fluid, plastic top sheet keeps the fluid trapped and slows evaporation and WALA!!!....floorboard rust.

Jim O

Jim O

Thanks 60POST.
One more question. The bucket seats are sitting VERY low. I have them out and am having them redone for me using Legendary Springs , cushion, covers etc. Has anyone ever put some sort of riser under the seat between the Track to get the seat up higher. My wife isn't tall and she cant see over the dash board. I was thinking about a 1" metal spacer of sorts?

Fun71

Interesting. Most folks have the opposite issue with the seat being too high after installing new seat foam. There is one brand (can't remember the name) that is thicker than both the other brand and the originals which results in about a 1" gain in seat height. That happened in my car and it has taken me about 10 years to get accustomed to it.

70Post

You better be REAL CAREFUL!! Why??

The new/repro bucket seat springs are a disaster. I've dealt with a couple sets and they both sit TOO HIGH. Will never use or recommend them again.

BUT...in your case, they MIGHT achieve what you are looking for. Try installing the seats with the repro springs "as is" (ie - without any sort of fabricated risers). You may find that the "too tall" characteristic of the repro seat springs does the job.

No, IMO the repro springs won't settle down much, if any over time. In two cars (both '72 converts - a Cutlass and a 442) you would sit in the seats and it was obvious the springs were too tall/high. MUCH higher vs. the stock seating position.

As far as new seat foams it depends on whose foams you are using. The "best" foams are the ACI brand (American Cushion Industries) and Legendary does sell these. Legendary also used to offer a cheaper foam and that is the version that was made way too thick and dense. Almost impossible to get seat covers on over them and most of the time you had to cut them down to a shorter height to get the covers on.

I don't know if Legendary still offers an alternative/cheaper foam....hopefully not. Even the ACI foams are a bit taller than originals but they fill out the Legendary covers nicely and don't have much of the "overstuffed couch" look that you see with the cheaper/too tall brands. I'm getting ready to swap out covers and foams on a '70 442 convert here along with other interior work. Car has PUI interior and whatever replacement seat foams are in there now are RIDICULOUSLY overstuffed looking. I'll try to get some pics just for grins as it's obvious from just looking at them that the foams were made wrong.

RAMBOW

X2 on everything Patton said in his post.

Before you think about spacers or anything else to raise the seat(s), see how the seats feel in the car after they have been rebuilt. With those repop springs likely you won't need anything else to gain height.

The repop spring assemblies are so stiff most people are forced to buy seat extenders to move the seat back or cut and reweld their tracks JUST SO THEY CAN FIT BEHIND THE WHEEL!

But in your situation maybe thats a good thing and will give you the added height your wife needs?
Anyway, test their fit in the car before you modify anything else.

if you WANT to buy stiff foams in addition to the repop springs, the PUI buns fit "OK" as far as shape (don't need to be carved or look overstuffed) but are stiff as hell.

The ACI ones are the gold standard.

Jim O

I do Thank you guys for the heads up on that. I already have the whole interior parts all from Legendary. Because the seats are gold they don't stock them and there was the 12 week delivery, so I ordered everything a while back. (July) . The seat foam is ACI and Legendary does offer PUI foam as well. My interior guy told me NOT to get the cheaper foam from PUI. I will forget about the risers / spacer idea. I have talked to other 70 owners and everyone agrees with you about the height. Then I let them sit in the seats and they agree they feel to LOW. The tracks ARE original and have not been messed with. Only thing I can come up with is there was some REALLY Large person who drove the car. I sit on a folded mesh seat cover which gives me about 1 1/2" lift. We are guessing we would need about 2" more (from how it is now) to be comfortable with both of us driving it. I sure would hate to put the repro seat springs in and have the seat sit to high. although the car does have tilt wheel which helps a lot. I guess I have to ponder the installation of the springs some more.
Jim O.