240 Seats are very comfy
 

Is it just me or are the seats in a 240 theraputic ?

I haven't driven my 240 for 2 weeks as the insurance is out & I've been driving my 760 instead. However I got in the 240 today just to move it about on the drive & just sat in the drivers seat for about 5 minutes while my daughter played in the back. I was actually thinking I could do with one of these in the house as my own Volvo themed armchair.

The seats being higher than my 760 makes them so comfy for me, I'm 6'3" & could sit there for hours. I might have to buy some spares & convert them into office seats for when I'm working from home ;-)

Ben

I know what you mean! I have found them more comfortable than the 700 & 900 series that Ive owned.

They are famous for being comfortable. Even people who hate Volvos conceed that it's the best thing about a 240.
Except that the driver's seat self-destructs after about 150,000 miles, and needs major internal surgery to restore or replace the foam seat and lumber support structure.

I recall meeting the Volvo Seat designer once in Torslander plant, we were reviewing the rationalisation of 240 when volumes of sales worldwide were falling and the model range was being reduced, must have been about 90-91.
Well I have a long term back problem and I thanked him for the comfort of the seat.
I used to set the seat up after a visit to the chiropractor or Alexander practitioner and then use it as a reference as to how I should sit as my body slowly sagged between treatments. I still do the same thing.
He stated that the 240 seat was the best european seat there was in the car industry and had recieved a number of awards.
He also stated that the 740 seat was overall a good shape but had had to be widened to fit fit the average American 'butt' which at that time was significantly bigger than the average European and particularly the average Scandinavian ( ever seen a fat Swede, Eric Carlsson excluded of course)
So the 740 940 series seat is too wide for us and gives less lateral support
As an owner of both 940 and 240 I concurr, even though my butt is getting larger as time goes by
This Swede was a qualified Doctor I recall or something similar so his ergonomic designs were based on the human frame and not made for the Looks
Final point he stated that leather gave a more structured support to the human body the resiliance of the material was integral in the design, the foam insert had to be different for the cloth seats and so the design was slightly compromised.
I'm still looking for some tan leather seats for my SE, anyone know where I can get a set?
Richard

Agree with what you say Clifford about the drivers seat self destructing after 150k. My 1988 240GL has done 175k and I've been struggling with a knackered drivers seat for the last couple of years while everyone else sits smugly in comfort. Keep eyeing the passenger seat and wonder whether it would swap. The foam in the back of mine split last year so I stitched it up but I really think I'm at a restoration stage by putting new foam squab and back in. Anyone any experience of cost and likely problems in doing this?

Phil

I think the base units will swap from the passenger side, but obviously the adjuster controls would be wrong for the back apart from any other problems.
I have managed to do a decent repair on a base, but that's really just a matter of padding, suitable backing board, and restoring all the broken springs.
The shaped shoulder and side pieces in the back are the problem - it's not really possible to fabricate anything decent that works. But I did suceed in repairing some foam that had merely broken (farmer overloading the car with water pipes) by clamping it together, taping the joint, and squirting in builder's foam.

options
 

hi all,

agree with everyone on the comfy seats. Phil a while ago I saw that IPD usa do the form replacement but is very expensive in the region of $370 exc shipping

http://www.ipdusa.com/ProductsCat.as...992&RootID=629


May be a search in some breakers yard may come up with a good one ?.

regards

brendan

Both the seat and the back foam are interchangeable left/right, just like the seat covers. The seatback frame even has holes on both sides for the lumbar support adjusting wheel. This gives you the choice of either keeping it where it is and making a hole in the "new" cover you took from a passenger seat, or moving it towards the center of the car and using the existing hole.

(Details and pictures on my website, courtesy Tony Hoffmann.)

We really should start a sort of "exchange service" across the North Sea! As our passenger seats are your driver's seats and vice versa, it means that this way we could all get perfect restoration materials for our sagging driver's seats!

Thanks guys - looks like a trip to the scrappies. A very useful website Erling, which I have bookmarked for future reference.

Phil

The only seat more comfortable than a 240 is the 164 seats!