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RE: seat squab rubber straps

To: <ralemen@cableone.net>, <spitfires@autox.team.net>
Subject: RE: seat squab rubber straps
From: Douglas Braun & Nadia Papakonstantinou <doug@dougbraun.com>
Date: Tue, 09 Apr 2002 11:12:30 -0400
At 10:39 AM 4/9/02 , ralemen@cableone.net wrote:
>Yes, Since I want to use the same for the extra in the seats, I plan to get 
>that heavy stuff that looks like it mixed up of other firm chunks (I'm sure 
>you catch what I mean here). Interestingly the only foam that has completely 
>gone is the heavy stuff in the head restraints. 
>And yes the edges of the seat base seem to be a lot softer than the original. 
>But then maybe thay have gone hard prior to disintegrating just like the head 
>restraints.
>Looks like by '76 they cheapened the bases as mine don't look like they were 
>moulded. Still have to take the cover off.

BTW, my latex seat base foams were made by Dunlop.  Their name was molded in...

The original foam around the front and sides of my seat bases (squabs?) was
nice stuff that was in pretty good condition.  The new Rimmer foams
had much softer material that provides very little support.
Again, if you look at the seats of any reasonably new, reasonably sporty
car (our Subaru Outback qualifies), the raised sides of the "bucket" seat base
are very firm and supportive, more so than the original Spit foam, and
much more so than my replacements.

Now, my restored seats look really nice, but they are not a whole
lot more comfortable or supportive than the originals.  The once
exception is the sides of the seat backs.  The original foam bolsters
that ran along the sides (made of "chunks") had completly disintegrated
into a crumbly, gooey mess, that rained down onto the floor.
The new seat back foams had the same material in that spot, and
I guess I should have 10 or 15 years of service before it starts
disintegrating.  But even with the restored side bolsters,
the extra-tight webbing causes the seats to give me less lateral support
while going around corners than before.

Doug

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