Raising the driver's seat

[cats-whiskers]

I was poised to invest in a pair of the purpose-made rubber blocks to lift the back of the driver's seat a few inches when my son told me of an idea he put in to practice on a Mini some years ago. He cannibalised a pair of G clamps and used the threaded portion to insert through a hole drilled in the bottom seat tube. This was held in place with 2 nuts - which meant the length/height could be varied - and the swivel "foot" was ideal for taking up any irregularities in the floor. Sounded good to me, wondered if anyone had tried something similar on their Moggy.

[chrisryder]

so long as the floor, where the foot stands, is strong enough to take the loading. might be worth spreading the load with a plate on the foot. just my two cents!

[Biggles1957]

I've very successfully done both of my front seats by using longer bolts straight through a piece of oak about 3" wide by about 3/4" thick. It's raised the front and altered the angle of the seats ideally for me and is a really solid modification. A lot comfier now!

[Neil MG]

Yes, obvious perhaps, but it might be interesting to note that raising the front will tilt the backrest back and raising the back will tip it forward!

[ASL642]

Sometimes just raising the rear of the seat a little bit makes all the difference as to whether the driver can engage the clutch properly or not!

[silloyd]

Anyone got any photos of their efforts please?

[Declan_Burns]

I have the raising blocks from ESM but they do tend to wander even with the cable ties so I fitted an aluminium flat bar. As I rarely have passengers in the back it doesn't bother me.[frame][/frame]

Close-up


[frame][/frame]

I have a better solution that I'll post up later.


Regards
Declan

[silloyd]

Thanks Declan, That looks a lot more solid than rubber blocks alone and closer to what I need. Will be interested to see your "better solution" particularly given some of your more innovative (and well engineered/executed) solutions to problems elsewhere on these pages.

[Declan_Burns]

The idea was to use one of these adjustable furniture legs, which are also available in black, from the DIY and cut and filed to the contour as shown in the photo. The measurements taken coincide with the rubber block in the photo above. Cut a slot to take a good quality jubilee clip on both sides. Paint it black when installed and adjusted. It could then be welded and the jubilee clip removed or leave it as it is. It would be possible to glue a plate of some kind to the base to spread the load over a greater area. I have never done it but it's been on the back boiler for a while as a winter project and should work and would not look out of place.
Regards
Declan[frame][/frame]

[silloyd]

Thanks for the additional photo, I like the idea of adjustable feet.

Sadly, I wouldn't have the capability to machine the legs as you intend, lack of pillar drill, etc.

I also think welding would be necessary to prevent the leg from accidentally rotating around the bar, which is a distinct possibility if just clamped. Perhaps an alternative would be to leave the legs higher on the inside of the seat, and then to put a stabilising 'stretcher', similar to your aluminium strip with the rubber blocks, between the legs but higher up under the seat where it won't get in the way of the rear passenger's feet. That way you could still clamp them on and remove them easily, is needed.

[Declan_Burns]

Once positioned correctly you could remove the foot and drill through the leg and use a foot with a longer thread giving even more adjustment and it wouldn't rotate accidentally-possibly with a nyloc at the top or something similar.
Regards
Declan

[mike.perry]

And I thought that a plank of wood under the back legs was standard practice

[Alex'n'Ane]

On my old seats I fitted two of those adjustable rubber feet, the sort of thing you get on the bottom of fridges etc which attatxh via the threaded bar on top. I then simple drilled the leg and tacked a captive nut onto the bottom. This allowed me the adjust the height easily by simple screwing the feet clockwise or anti clockwise, aswell as giving good sturdy rubber feet and not taking up any extra room.