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I am currently working on my 47 olds.
It has a terrible '70s red vinyl interior that has to come out.
Unfortunately since I am based in Europe finding an original seat is impossible.
Therefor I found a similair front bench seat without headrests.
Currently the Seats that are installed are raised on a metal box to compensate for the low based seatrails.
However I want to get the new bench in the original right height.
So the question is if anybody with an original olds and seat could measure the height of the seat from floor to top of seat cushion (the part you sit on not the backrest).
However I want to get the new bench in the original right height......
Thank you very much!
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I had the same problem with my 47 60 Series convertible. Front seat was beyond salvation and no decent seats to be found after years of looking. I would bet that all original front seats won't be any good for factory height measurements as they have all been well used and 'flattened'
I got a seat from a Chevy El Camino about 1967 vintage (bench with split back and no head rests) that fit between the doors but like yours was too low. I made 'stands' and mounted the seat to them after a number of trials of fitting for height and forward/backward adjustment room.
At the highest point of the seat cushion it is 15 inches off the carpeted floor or about 16 inches from metal floorboard. I hope this is helpful to you. If you are going to use the original Olds steering column and wheel I'd go up to 16 or 17 inches as its a larger diameter steering wheel than our later seats were made to work with.
Jerry
thanks for your reply. Im using a 67 chevelle seat without headrests .
i guess it's the same as yours.
im also using a new steering column with a simular steering wheel as you.
so your photo is really gonna be usefull. THANKS
if you maybe could send me the measurments of your risers and positions that would be of great help.
have you got photos of when you installed them?
thanks for your reply. Im using a 67 chevelle seat without headrests .
i guess it's the same as yours.
im also using a new steering column with a simular steering wheel as you.
so your photo is really gonna be usefull. THANKS
if you maybe could send me the measurments of your risers and positions that would be of great help.
have you got photos of when you installed them?
thanks a lot
joey
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Joey, Sorry no photos of seat placement. I've documented a lot of this build but didn't do that part.
The risers are made of 2.5 in. square tubing with fairly thick walls and are 3 inches height. They are capped with .1875 in. plate welded to the tubing and having a 3/8 hole and 3/8 nut welded on the underside.
The placement of the towers relative to each other is dictated by the mounting holes on the seat frame and the width of the area between the doors. I did some trial and error placement to get front to rear placement. In the final version the rear mount is 12 inches forward of the b pillar to the center of the mount. I highly recommend tack welding the seat mounts, mount seat and run it back and forth to make sure there is sufficient front to rear travel. When I was satisfied I made some 90 degree tabs of 1/8 inch steel and welded to the tower and the floor.
I hope this is helpful.
Jerry
Joey, Sorry no photos of seat placement. I've documented a lot of this build but didn't do that part.
The risers are made of 2.5 in. square tubing with fairly thick walls and are 3 inches height. They are capped with .1875 in. plate welded to the tubing and having a 3/8 hole and 3/8 nut welded on the underside.
The placement of the towers relative to each other is dictated by the mounting holes on the seat frame and the width of the area between the doors. I did some trial and error placement to get front to rear placement. In the final version the rear mount is 12 inches forward of the b pillar to the center of the mount. I highly recommend tack welding the seat mounts, mount seat and run it back and forth to make sure there is sufficient front to rear travel. When I was satisfied I made some 90 degree tabs of 1/8 inch steel and welded to the tower and the floor.
I hope this is helpful.
Jerry
thank you so much jerry, Very usefull.
i will post a photo when i'm done
thank you so much jerry, Very usefull.
i will post a photo when i'm done
joey
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If you are using a GM column you may wind up shortening it to get the proper relationship of pedals, seat and steering. I used an early 70s Pontiac column. The photo shows the original placement as done by the previous owner. It put the steering wheel about four inches too far out. Notice the shift lever is about 5 inches from edge of dash. I had no way of knowing it wasn't right until I had the replacement seat located. I had to pull it and have it shortened 4 inches. That put everything in the proper relationship and the shift lever still has sufficient distance from the dash.
Jerry
So I kept in contact with Jerry who helped me a great bunch in making this non oldsmobile bench fit easily in the car.
I kinda copied his advice and that way it took me just a few minutes to install the bench.
Like Jerry I made towers of square tubing big enough to support the feet of the bench.
I made them 7 cm's tall which is about 6,5 inch i think.
We put the bench in, bolted the towers underneath and were able move it around till we felt it was good.
The adjustment of the bench was in the middle so we kept the possibility to move forward and backward.
Here some photos of the welding.
Hopefully it can be helpfull for somebody in the future.
Nicely done! I see you had similar rust problems in the floor as I did. Did you have to repair the floor supports too? Mine were rotted at the ends and needed to be rebuilt. It was a real pain!
I used the floor brace ends form Chevs of the 40's. I thought they would be the same as the Olds, but they are for Chevies only and I had to modify them to fit. Took me a while to get them to where I was happy with the fit!
I am currently working on my 47 olds.
It has a terrible '70s red vinyl interior that has to come out.
Unfortunately since I am based in Europe finding an original seat is impossible.
Therefor I found a similair front bench seat without headrests.
Currently the Seats that are installed are raised on a metal box to compensate for the low based seatrails.
However I want to get the new bench in the original right height.
So the question is if anybody with an original olds and seat could measure the height of the seat from floor to top of seat cushion (the part you sit on not the backrest).
Thank you very much!
I have the original seats for my 1946 2 door 98. The floor on this my model does not have any raised posts like in your picture, just 2 bolt holes at each corner of the movable bench. I can measure the height of the bench seat height for you if you would like.
Have you checked out the video posted last week? One thing that they stated that the seats were too high for the slant back design and that they reconstucted the bench for better forward sight. I'm still doing bodywork on mine so the interior is out. But I did place them in the car and they did take up alot of the 127"wheelbase. The ads of the time stated the rear seat was as wide as the front bench, they are like a couple of living room sofas.
Joey, Great job on the seat mounts plus repair of the floor. Sort of unfortunate that good work will get covered up by seat, padding and carpet.and not be appreciated the way it should be by anyone who casually looks at the inside and only sees the finished pieces.
Joey, Great job on the seat mounts plus repair of the floor. Sort of unfortunate that good work will get covered up by seat, padding and carpet.and not be appreciated the way it should be by anyone who casually looks at the inside and only sees the finished pieces.
Jerry
actually a little bit, here in holland we need to pass a technical control in order to get a license plate.
So they will check all my welds and see how the work is done.
So the work will be seen before I can put my carpet on. But indeed afterwards its just covered.
Nothing like a build quality inspection in the USA that I'm aware of. There used to be inspections for emissions and safety equipment in a couple of the States where I lived but they were meant for cars already being driven on the road. I suspect there would be a major protest from customizers, restorers and hot rodders if such a thing were proposed by the Federal or State governments in the US. Some states are doing away with emissions inspections since almost all cars on the roads have been passing the tests and cars made before emissions controls were required are exempt. I don't think you will have any issues passing their exam given the good quality of your work.
Jerry
February 9th, 2017, 11:13 AM
