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140 seat options

vwbusman66

Stößelstange über alles
Joined
Oct 12, 2016
Location
SE MI
After spending quite a bit of time in the cockpit of my 142, I'd like to upgrade the seats to something with more bolstering and thigh support.

Yes, budget matters, but I am open to all options at this point.
 
New seat foam in your current seat?
Always thought Volvo seats were some of the most comfortable. Never understood changing them to "racing" seats, unless you are racing.
Seriously, how many miles are on your car? Those babies are probably well worn!
I'd bet that you can rebuild your seats for lower cost that replacing them.
But, you'll end up putting something out of a late model BMW in there...…
Damn, I sound like Ken!!
Steve
 
Pull seats and inspect webbing. Those seats were supposedly of the comfiest in their day, according to car review mags from the 60s/70s. 48 years later, they're not gonna feel so nice. There's some NOS pirelli webbing on ebay right now.
 
300k car with the spring supports, I just had a local upholstery shop make me new foam for the bottom (kept the original seat back foam), put on new covers from VP, they feel like brand new seats.

if your seat back foam is solid and you want a little more "bolster, just glue an additional 1/2" thick strip of foam along the sides, the covers have enough room to accomodate a little more foam in this area...
 
In an older car there's something to be said for keeping it period correct, so maybe rebuilding the stock seats is a decent idea.

On the other hand if you're looking at a swap to something more modern, I can suggest 2 different options:

1) Volvo C30 front seats, which you can get in cloth / manual configuration, and still lean forward to allow rear seat access. They will be more supportive than 140 or 240 stock seats. Much firmer seat bottom foam. Small bolsters but enough shape to them.

2) VW MkV / MkVI Golf, GTI, or Jetta - the seats in my old 2010 Jetta wagon were a great compromise between support and comfort. Softer than the C30 seats for sure. Slightly taller bolsters but ingress & egress was still easy. All-day road trips with no discomfort after 8 or 10 hours of driving. Super comfy, mostly manual adjustment but easy to set up. GTI seats will likely have the plaid inserts but I think they're otherwise similar. Mk VII seats might be even better but those are still relatively new and I haven't sat in one to give any input.
 
The 2-door (3 door?) VW Golf seats will have the same tilt-forward function as the C30, I just realized. Those came with a cloth upholstery option too. The VW pleather is called V-Tex and is pretty good actually, maybe not as long lasting as MB-Tex but it was hard wearing and felt nice to the touch.
 
Here's the logic behind changing the seats:
The foam is good and the upholstery is decent. Both seats need new Pirelli straps.

I'm a big guy (6'0" and 275) and want to drive this car in anger without using the steering wheel as a grab handle.

I have a set of black manual s40/v50 seats and they were super comfortable and more supportive, but are the wrong color.
I may try and locate a pair of tan manual s40/v50 seats, or heed the suggestion of VAG or C30 seats.
 
Here's the logic behind changing the seats:
The foam is good and the upholstery is decent. Both seats need new Pirelli straps.

I'm a big guy (6'0" and 275) and want to drive this car in anger without using the steering wheel as a grab handle.

I have a set of black manual s40/v50 seats and they were super comfortable and more supportive, but are the wrong color.
I may try and locate a pair of tan manual s40/v50 seats, or heed the suggestion of VAG or C30 seats.

I call dibs on your old seat skins for 14.99
 
I find my setup provides all the support I could ask for...

IMG-3819.jpg
 
I really like the P2R seats I have in my 740, but that option is not friendly for back seat access in a 2 door

At the beginning of the build, I had plans of putting a pair of Gobi P2R seats in the car.

For the time being, I am going to re-web the seat bottoms and see how they feel. I ordered new webbing/Pirelli bands as well as the fastening clips and new wire clips to the frame. Both sides, on closer inspection, have no webbing left in the bottoms. That would explain why I hate them so much.
 
alfa 156 are an easy swap into my 164. im not sure if you could adapt something out of a 2 door 147 to possibly fit. the 156 seats are great they retain matching pattern with the door trim. basically look like it was made for the 164
 
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