The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors Neat cheap seat modification for AD's

I stumbled onto a post (with pictures) that shows how you can modify your stock AD seat so that the back easily tips forward, giving you access to the usable area on top of the fuel tank. It also shows how, by removing and reversing the top brackets, you can drop the seat back a couple more inches to give you a more comfortable driving position and belly room!!

The original poster was Chris55.1, it was entitled "What seat do you recommend?" posted 4/30/2005 and the tip was given by Hartmte Bolter #2765 and it can be found on page 9. Click on "show all topics" at the top of this page...it'll give you 15 pages.

Check it out....it works great!!!

My Thanks to whoever slid the original post by Chris55.1, which has a great response with pictures by Hartmte, Stovebolter #2765, up for all to see. For us with the solid seat frame, it offers a quick and inexpensive way to open up some much-needed extra cab storage space.

As a note....when you drill out the 2 rivets per bracket, you'll find that it's also been spot welded in so you'll have to cut off the protruding ends. I redrilled the holes to 1/4" to affix the new brackets....the entire modification took less than an hour and the extra space and additional cant-back makes the driving position much more enjoyable.

And while I've got the floor....my thanks to all of you who take pics and document your creative ideas. "A picture is worth a thousand words" still holds true and if you stumble on something really useful, buried in the old posts, I would recommend highlighting it. Isn't that what this site is all about?

The Link::
A Really Neat Idea

http://www.stovebolt.com/bboard/cgi-bin//ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=20;t=000242

i did it and couldn't conceptualize it with out the pictures. thanks again. ron

a safety question::

after looking at the photos and thinking about a front end crash:: is it necessary to have the seat back, after it has been put back in place, to drop two pins thru the top bar hooks , so the seat is tight and can not fold forward??
I plan on doing this as my seat needs to get a complete re-do and I'll soon be at that point.

The original poster mentioned something about a couple wing nuts. These might have been for securing the seat against popping forward. I've seen some little 1/4" pins with a check-ball on the side that would work! Think it was Home Depot in their little specialty hardware section.
It's really amazing how much more comfortable the seat is with the slight tilt back. If you don't put the little bend right up close to the bolts (and go straight down) you can actually feel a little additional room back from the steering wheel.

That's a fantastic idea! Somebody should make this a tech tip. I'm going to try it out.

An alternative to linch pins or thumb screws:
http://www.chuckthetruck.com/page27.html#folding

Now that's slick!!!! If you really wanted to get fancy, you could tack on a remote activated door lock solenoid, and have the first 52 Chevy truck with a factory "power" seat!!!

Thanks for sharing!

that's also a nice trick chuck
I likes that one and will add that to mine.
thanks gents

Hi everybody.
Something has been bothering me since I read the original post. I coulden't put my finger on it untill today. After looking at the pics the top hooks are NOT reversed. If they were the seat couldn't pivot forward. Putting a dogleg in the bottom mounts would give us full figured gents some more room. If you replace the top supports with a dogleg you gain mayby 3 inches. Then your shoulders would rub the seat frame. Just my observations. Jimmie D.

I love the orig. seat in my '53 3100 but it sat too high for a 6'2" guy and too far forward. I REMOVED the brackets from the top altogether and let the seat rest back against the cab. I glued some foam on the back of the seat to keep it from rattling. The seat is thick enough that my back doesn't come close to the bar. Then, I cut a 1.5" section out of the riser (that attatches to the floor) and welded it back together. I ovaled the holes in the frame to set it as close to the tank as possible and cut 1" off the rear stud risers to drop the back of the seat down. Then, I extended the gas pedal to the right about 4".
AHHHH, at last, I can stretch out and enjoy the ride.