Tudor front seat crunch time

[M2M]

As soon as I purchased my restored late 31 Tudor the first thing that went on the list of things to do was the front seats as they are unusable; and I mean unusable not uncomfortable. With two fingers not pushing with full strength you can fully collapse the sides making it like sitting on a damn yogaball. The centre part of the seat is no better. You'd have to weigh under 100 pounds not to sink deep; it's like sitting in a beanbag chair.

Here is what is in the passenger seat. To my eye, things don't line up as you would expect if they were professionally made new springs...note various gap sizes between springs, and springs of various heights and/or states of compression. Do I have restored original springs? Amateur installation of new springs? Or...?

I have a friend with a restored Model T Tudor and his seats are much much better. He has Snyder springs I believe.



















Here is a photo of a Snyder Model A Tudor front spring, it doesn't look like what I have...I think.





Apart from selling the car, what are my options? I want firm or very firm seat springs...I don't want to disappear into the seat. I am very picky when it comes to seating position and comfort. If comfortable I can spend 12 hours a day driving; if uncomfortable 12 mins is too long.

I'm unsure if Snyder springs will be firm enough for me. They use 10 gauge coils in their seat springs. I rang Tom there ask about having ones made with 8 or 9 gauge coils but he hasn't got back to me

Another option is to forget coil springs and have high quality 16 year foam around the 25-50 spec fitted. Not my preferred option but I do not want to go on a long and expensive journey of having coil springs made with an uncertain outcome.

There's a local auto upholstery place I'm going to take my seat for their opinion. Maybe they can replace the current coils with 8 gauge or do something else. If it works on this passenger seat I can do the same for the driver's seat.

What are your thoughts?

[Tacoma Bob]

Well my friend....you picked the worst body style there is as far as seating. Folks have been miserable with Tudor seats for decades. I owned two different auto/furniture upholstery shops through the years. Things I have heard from others are Snyders springs are a bit stiff. BUT, in this case it may be just what you need. If you go that rout I would follow up with Foam as opposed to cotton. many here will chastise me and will tell you that foam deteriorates which is pure bull durum. By the best foam you can buy not crap from Walmart. You and your trimmer will have to custom fit the compression rates of foam that work for you. Last year I reupholstered our 30 Tudor and I through the cushion springs away. I built a concealed box frame and fitted "no-sag" (zig-zag springs) and custom laminated foam that goes underneath the actual seat covers. You cannot tell the difference by looking at them. We now drive all day in total comfort. No more sinking but. Good firm solid support. I will try to post pictures that I posted last year for you. keep up on your research.......you are on the right track.

[midgetracer]

I used the original springs and packed each coil with cotton. The seat is firm and works nice for my 205 pound frame.

[ed thibodeau]

I packed my springs with medium hard foam robber. Before putting the cover on I built
a bolster a couple inches wide and 3/4 inch high along each side edge. I added stiffer
foam to the passenger seat because the passenger does not have anything to hold onto.

[M2M]

Originally Posted by Tacoma Bob

Well my friend....you picked the worst body style there is as far as seating. Folks have been miserable with Tudor seats for decades. I owned two different auto/furniture upholstery shops through the years. Things I have heard from others are Snyders springs are a bit stiff. BUT, in this case it may be just what you need. If you go that rout I would follow up with Foam as opposed to cotton. many here will chastise me and will tell you that foam deteriorates which is pure bull durum. By the best foam you can buy not crap from Walmart. You and your trimmer will have to custom fit the compression rates of foam that work for you. Last year I reupholstered our 30 Tudor and I through the cushion springs away. I built a concealed box frame and fitted "no-sag" (zig-zag springs) and custom laminated foam that goes underneath the actual seat covers. You cannot tell the difference by looking at them. We now drive all day in total comfort. No more sinking but. Good firm solid support. I will try to post pictures that I posted last year for you. keep up on your research.......you are on the right track.

Thanks for your reply Bob. I've seen your post and photos of the box frame zig zag setup...if you were selling these I would probably buy. Not everyone can make something like that.

I have done research on foams and have been thinking about possible solutions to this issue for a while.

I think what I'm going to do is buy one Snyder seat spring then add a layer of dense firm high quality "16 year" foam instead of cotton. How thick a layer of cotton is normally on top of the springs?

If this works I'll buy another Snyder spring and do the same with other front seat. If it doesn't work I'll try using just foam, no coil springs.

The photo below is the Snyder spring; I definitely don't have this in my seat or something near it's quality. I have a low quality unprofessional job





It would cost too much for Snyder to make a custom spring using heavier gauge coils. I rang them again today.

As far as foams, I would buy it from a proper upholstery supply shop not Walmart. There are two foam types I am considering, the first option is a 50LB ILD like this:

http://www.usafoam.com/tech/Lux-HQTech.html

Second option is more extreme, a tractor/boat seat 90LB ILD foam. I found one supplier that sells it. This foam even when in a thin size, bottoming out is not a problem. Perhaps an inch thick layer of this on top of Snyder's would do the trick?

[Flathead]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

EZ-GO Golf Cars have a nice foam in their seats. I stocked up when I worked there.

[M2M]

Closed cell marine foams are also very firm such as this 1/2" sample.

[rotorwrench]

As was already mentioned, padding each coil either with cotton or foam will add rigidity to the spring box. Cotton was stuffed in there by trimmers back in the day. Using a new spring box from Snyder's and packing the coils should get them pretty stiff. At least this way a person can still use a cotton batting on the top of the build up stack before installing the upholstery cover. It takes a lot more cotton stuffing to do this but I'm sure a person can get it the way they want it.

Seats can be built up by stacking softer foams on top of denser foams and eliminating spring boxes all together if a person wants adjustable rigidity. A lot of trimmers custom build seats this way. Closed cell foams can be pretty rigid as was already illustrated. They will be like board if a person wants them that way. Where there is a will, there is a way that won't break the bank.

[M2M]

Originally Posted by rotorwrench

As was already mentioned, padding each coil either with cotton or foam will add rigidity to the spring box. Cotton was stuffed in there by trimmers back in the day. Using a new spring box from Snyder's and packing the coils should get them pretty stiff. At least this way a person can still use a cotton batting on the top of the build up stack before installing the upholstery cover. It takes a lot more cotton stuffing to do this but I'm sure a person can get it the way they want it.

Seats can be built up by stacking softer foams on top of denser foams and eliminating spring boxes all together if a person wants adjustable rigidity. A lot of trimmers custom build seats this way. Closed cell foams can be pretty rigid as was already illustrated. They will be like board if a person wants them that way. Where there is a will, there is a way that won't break the bank.

Okay, thanks for the tips.

[M2M]

UPDATE

Purchased a new Snyder Tudor front seat spring and with the help of a club member fitted it to the front passenger seat to see how it comes out before tackling the driver's seat.

Much much firmer than the seat spring that was in there, and I think most people would say it's either just right or too firm, but for me it's still not quite as firm as I would want it to be.

I've ordered a new Snyder for the driver's seat that I plan to add but with some modifications to make it firmer. I've found online 1" thick high quality HR foam that has a IFD (Indentation Force Deflection) of 80 pounds...ie. extremely firm. A bit hard to explain but I plan to cut it into long strips and place these strips on two opposite sides of each coil spring near the top so that this 1" foam sits between the coil wires. The coil springs are in a line so a foam strip can do multiple coils. Hopefully, this will make the seat firmer

[Paul Bjarnason]

I just bought a pair of Snyder's front seat cushion springs. They appear to be a good quality. I have not driven anywhere in my Tudor, yet, -- hoping to get the Jalopy on the road sometime in the next couple of months.