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Easy seat fix for sag or height

5K views 17 replies 7 participants last post by  kappadude 
#1 · (Edited)
I have found a quick and easy solution for sagging leather seats or for people that want more height in their manual seat. It involves layering new foam between the bottom of the existing seat foam and the seat springs. You do NOT need to take the seat-back apart, or remove the seat covers, or remove the seat belt, and no sanding or glueing. See the photos several posts below.

I wanted to raise my seat about an inch and three/quarters. Take the nuts off the four bolts that hold the seat to the floor. Now pull out the seat belt as far as it will go (about 8 foot) and then clip or wedge it so that it does not retract. This will allow you to lift the seat out of the car and lay it nearby to work on, but it will not be necessary to unbolt the seatbelt from the car seat. You will have to unplug the electrical connection. Position the seat with the back on the ground and then look at the seat springs. Underneath, near the back, you will see where the springs "Hook" into the seat frame.

See first photo.

Unhooking them is a problem. If you are really strong you might be able to do it by hand or with pliers. There is a special tool made for this but it does work well because of where the hook is. The "perfect" tool was . . . . a dandylion digger. It looks like a screwdriver with a "V" notch in the blade. It was perfect catch and push on the spring hook end and push down and out/off the "ring" attached to the seat frame. Unhook the four springs.

See photo 2 and 3.

Next pull back the springs and insert sheets of closed-cell foam. Stair-step layer them to make a wedge - thin at the front of the seat and many sheets thick at the back (where your butt sits). No need to glue the sheets as the spring tension will keep them in place - and you may need to reposition them). I first layered three (13"x15" sheets) layers of quarter inch foam under the whole area and then added six more sheets, each shortened by about an inch and a half (like a stair-step), but all aligned with the rear. This put the thick part of the "wedge" directly under my butt.

See photos 4 and 5.

Add as many layers as you wish, but you will need to test them and adjust the thickness or position of your layers. I added a total of nine "stair-stepping" layers, and then added three more small (8", 6", 3") circular foam layers right under the concave spot of the seat that my leather was stretching into.*

See photo 6.

Hook everything back up and test it. Expect to test and redo it twice.

I used the quarter inch sculpting foam JPM suggests and it compresses about a sixteenth of an inch for each layer. I added nine layers, a total of about two and a quarter inches. Then I added three more circular and smaller layers in that concave spot - They themselves did not raise my seating height but only flattened out the "bowl" of my seat. The nine layers added about an inch and five eights height under my compression. That means that I can now see out a bit better but more importantly that I can now put my arm out the window comfortably.

Adding so much more foam does make the seat feel just a bit "harder" and flatter. Because the seat area has been brought "up", the side "bolsters" of the seat will not feel the same - they will feel a bit flat. But, you will have easily solved the height problem and the comfort level is acceptable.

see photo 7.

When measuring your before and after differences, do so from the top of your head to the roof rod. I still have over an inch and a half before my head touches the steel bar

*If you only want to fix the sagging leather then just add the circular foam pieces only. It will help, but a better fix can be found in a previous thread, "How to modify seat height ?", down in post ten, Rob the Elder suggested this posting thread, "Fix the saggy seat! some DIY from JPM".
 
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#6 ·
I got the foam from the shop linked in JPM's thread (where he talks about sculpting foam). I read his thread and had decided to do his repair - adding foam to the top of the seat. I ordered the special foam and then changed my mind about how to use it. ANY closed cell foam will work. "Closed-cell" means that "cells" or bubbles in the foam will not absorb water - each cell is like a tiny sealed baloon. That means that the foam is very dense and will not compress much (about 10% or less). Its not for comfort, its for a foundation of support. For comfortable padding, use "open-cell" foam. It can compress up to 80%.

So, ANY closed cell will work. You could find it in upholstry and fabric shops, and its also sold in camping stores for speeping pads. I used quarter inch thick to build stair-step shapes.
 
#8 ·
Posting pic's



I sent you and PM message last night while you were still on-line with my Email Address.
I would of posted your pictures, I have plenty of room now that I deleted tons of pictures from the other Kappa forum website that were on my Photo-Bucket account...
 
#13 ·
Thanks. I was wondering if there were websites I haven't found that are dedicated to selling custom items for the Solstice? - like Jeep has a couple of catalogs that appeared in my mailbox when I had a Jeep.

I'd like to trim the dash and door with leather.
 
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