Need opinions on a seat modification

As you all know there is not much room behind the wheel of a CJ-5. Since my seats are mounted as far back as they can go and are not reclinable, what I did was remove the bolts holding the seatback up and leaned it back a bit and drilled new holes for the bolts. Now this helped tremendously in the comfort department, as did rigging up the front mounts so the seat is angled back a bit. Now what I'm wanting to do to get another inch or so back is grind off part of the actual seat metal under the fabric so I can push it back farther against the wheelhouse. Would this be a good idea or not? Just trying to get a little more legroom so the angle of my right foot on the gas isn't as severe. I figured if I ground off an inch or so of metal that I could mount the seat on the seatrail further back and gain the extra room without having to notch the wheelhouse, which I'm not willing to do. Should I do it or just leave it be? I plan to do the same type of thing to the passenger seat once I get the driver's seat situated the way I want it. Probably won't grind any metal off, but will definitely recline the seatback some. That thing is straight up and down! Thanks for any advice and sorry so long. LOL! R)

 

Another option is to put a smaller steering wheel on. Granted it will make turning a little more difficult if you still have manual steering and take away from the original look, but it will free up a little more space in that area..

 

Well I thought about doing that, but i have plenty of room (for me) between my midsection and the wheel now and I can stretch my arms out to reach it. The main problem now is the angle of my foot on the accelerator. It's a pretty steep angle and gets uncomfortable after awhile. I was thinking that moving the seat back another inch or so would help with that greatly. If I can get these seats mounted how I want them I will be more inclined to drive my Jeep much more than I do now. It's just not comfortable to drive for any period of time with the seats configured the way they are. Thanks for the idea tho. As much as I want to keep the stock look, nice Grant wheel may be in my future.

 

Well I really don't want to cut any holes in the tub, especially just to get another inch or so. I can drive it like it is now with the seat reclined...but a little extra legroom wouldn't hurt. And I don't think removing that little bit of metal off the seat would weaken the structural integrity of the seat. What do you guys think? Maybe I should take some pics tomorrow of what I'm talking about and show you.

 

Pics will def. help.

 

I will take pics tonight and show you guys what I'm talking about.

 

I agree that it sounds like you might be ok. It is kinda hard to say without looking at it though, especially since I have seen cases where people I know have done something similar to seats and they ended up breaking, but they were on different applications.

 

You could also consider going to a wrangler cable operated gas pedal. You could change foot angle that way and maybe pick up enough room.

 

My brother had this same problem with his cable operated gas pedal. We found if we move the pedal up higher it really helped and made it more comfortable.

 

How do you go about moving the pedal?

 

I had the same problem with a '69 Nissan Patrol, I had done the same modification to the rear tub, it worked great and I still had clearance for the tire.
I am having the same problem with my CJ, and have come up with the solution to modify the seat brackets and rails. Now I will have to find the time to follow through with it.

 

I went junk heap hunting and found a set of 87 blazer vinyl seats and put them in my DD. I saved the origionals for "show and tell" but I have it setup to change them out in about 4 minutes. those blazer seats sure do feel good though. I'm 6'3'' and fit nice and comfy.

 

I used a bfh to gain about 1/2" on the pass side when I changed the seats.

 

I did exactly what you are proposing. I have a 1960 CJ5 with a low-back seat. Instead of cutting the tub, I took the pads off the seat, marked where it hit the tub, and cut it out with a Dremel. I am 5'11" and it moved it back about 1.25 inches, and I have not noticed the cramped position since. It was just enough room to let your foot get off the "fully cramped back" position and into its normal movement range. I do remember the cut being a little bigger than I originally though it would, but it does not seem to have affected the integrity of the seat whatsoever.

 

That is good to know. I think I'm going to give it a go this weekend and see how she turns out. The seat position is 110% better now that I reclined the back some though. On a side note, I tuned her up yesterday with all the usual goodies (plugs, wires, cap, button, points, condenser, fuel filter) and she is running so much better now! I even decided to drive it into work today, which is 30 miles away. But it was a great ride in and no problems whatsoever. I may start doing this once a week or so.