so here's a question for anyone with stock seats in their car

rsporsche

rsporsche

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i am working on a new console drawing and i am curious what the dimension between the 2 seats is - across the tranny tunnel from seat bottom edge to other seat bottom edge. since i use scheel sport seats, my dimensions might not match yours.

so anybody with the original Anton armrest, has your seat ever rubbed on the arm rest? curious if we can make it a little wider. in addition to being a little wider, i am also curious to see if we can cover the new one with padded vinyl to better match the console interior. it would also be nice to find a sliding / hinged top mechanism from an existing car that is readily available (for a reasonable price)
 
i don't know Mark ... not sure if i am going to make them or do a drawing to have one / some made. i have one of Anton's ... but i guess if i really like what i draw, i will sell that one. if i do install Anton's, i will probably wrap it with foam and then in vinyl or leather.
 
DWMBMW said:
6” between the seat bottoms at the top (at the narrowest portion) and 7” at the bottom.
Click to expand...
many thanks for the information. Anton's base was 4.75" wide and the top was a little wider. it has to be a little narrower because the top flips open to the side.
 
so next question - who has one of Anton's armrests in their car? i would like some pics / dimensions of it in place.

1. dimension - height of top of armrest above the bottom of the seat surface (near the seat back)?
2. dimension - how much higher is the top of the armrest above the shift console?
3. dimension - how far is the back edge from the front of the rear seat?

4. question - does the height and position of the armrest fit comfortably? should it be higher / lower or closer to the console / shifter?

5. picture - can anybody send me a side picture with the seat as far back as possible to see the armrest in relation to the a/c console
6. picture - can you send me a pic - looking from the glovebox toward the arm rest (with the handbrake pulled up). i'm curious about how that all fits together
7. picture taken straight down looking at the armrest, handbrake, a/c console + seats

much appreciated to as many people that have thoughts and information. i am trying to design a new armrest ... for a starting point, i have drawn Anton's armrest, but the idea is to come up with something that i like even more. this is a pdf of the initial drawing. i wonder if it would be better to have a sliding top to make it more comfortable and get out of the way when you want to pull the handbrake. i wonder if it would be better to have one that is mounted further up that flips up to clear the handbrake. those are the most pressing of design criteria, then we get into what would look best with the a/c console ... how we can tie them together (visually) and fit into the existing context of the tranny tunnel. this might NOT work ... but i wanna give it a go while i'm waiting for carpet.
 

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Scott,
I'm not sure this pertains to your inquiry but, there are 2 different seat height dimensions in our Coupes. The sun roof version seat sits lower than the slick top. I guess it's because of the mechanism for the sun roof. I found this out when I happened to get slick top seat for Sixto which has a sun roof. I sit higher in Sixto and at first I was bummed out about the issue. Definitely different geometry for tall guys. Ask Don L he knows all about it.
Turns out as I age I'm getting shorter and I was never tall. Now as I continue to shrink it will take longer for me to become a "driving head" and this is a benefit.
Hope this is of some value.
Regards, Jon
 
that's a new one to me Jon ... in relation to any vintage BMW. if that was the case, there would be different part numbers in the orange books.
 
When Don was still working with me on Sixto it was obvious that the seat was different because it was hard for him to fit behind the wheel. He eventually told me about it as it wasn't an issue for me. He talked with Jesus at Coupe King and he's the one that told him about the difference. Sixto started out as a shell I bought from Terry C. He gave me a choice between a number of items for the shell including the seats. I didn't know there was a difference and ended up with slick top seats for a sun roof Coupe. Add the fact that Juan O. who rebuilt the seats to a very good standard and the difference about sitting in Sixto to sitting in my Sahara Coupe will convince you of the difference.
Good point about the part #. I'll check REALOEM to see if there is any thing there.
Regards, Jon
 
Looked it up and there are 2 Front Seat numbers for 4/71-75 and 2 Frame numbers for 4/71-75. Seats end in 811-753 and 819-107. Frames end in 825-445 and 825-446. Not definitive proof but a reasonable level that they are different.
We learn something every once in a while that makes us better stewards for the Coupes.
Regards, Jon
 
rsporsche said:
so next question - who has one of Anton's armrests in their car? i would like some pics / dimensions of it in place.

1. dimension - height of top of armrest above the bottom of the seat surface (near the seat back)?
2. dimension - how much higher is the top of the armrest above the shift console?
3. dimension - how far is the back edge from the front of the rear seat?

4. question - does the height and position of the armrest fit comfortably? should it be higher / lower or closer to the console / shifter?

5. picture - can anybody send me a side picture with the seat as far back as possible to see the armrest in relation to the a/c console
6. picture - can you send me a pic - looking from the glovebox toward the arm rest (with the handbrake pulled up). i'm curious about how that all fits together
7. picture taken straight down looking at the armrest, handbrake, a/c console + seats

much appreciated to as many people that have thoughts and information. i am trying to design a new armrest ... for a starting point, i have drawn Anton's armrest, but the idea is to come up with something that i like even more. this is a pdf of the initial drawing. i wonder if it would be better to have a sliding top to make it more comfortable and get out of the way when you want to pull the handbrake. i wonder if it would be better to have one that is mounted further up that flips up to clear the handbrake. those are the most pressing of design criteria, then we get into what would look best with the a/c console ... how we can tie them together (visually) and fit into the existing context of the tranny tunnel. this might NOT work ... but i wanna give it a go while i'm waiting for carpet.
Click to expand...
Love love love the idea. As I mentioned in an earlier post I reached out to Anton because I wanted to revitalize his version at least as a starting point. Since you’re already going down this road, count me in as a willing participant for brainstorming, contributing funds for design mockups, etc.
The general features I like in an armrest are an area that I can open to store things in, support for the elbow that is relatively far forward (thus the sliding option) and often some open well in front of the storage compartment. That open area may be a bit harder because our handbrakes fill so much fore/aft space. I therefore would say opening compartment with a roof on which is mounted a slide-forward padded area. From description it sounds as if Anton’s opened from the side. Structurally more sound with a longer supporting hinge but harder for the passenger to open. So rear hinge works but will need to make sure it doesn’t have too much side to side play when open.
Some mechanism of integrated cupholder could be nice, or could at least have a bracket built in that would allow for mounting one of the Rinashi cup holders, which is what I use currently bolted onto trans tunnel side of passenger seat rail.
 
rsporsche said:
many thanks for the information. Anton's base was 4.75" wide and the top was a little wider. it has to be a little narrower because the top flips open to the side.
Click to expand...
IMG_0377.jpeg


Maybe 4.75” is as wide as it can be to fit between the hinges unless the bottom is notched so they can slide by underneath.
 
I am interested as well. I have been watching for someone selling one of Anton's creations, so if new versions are contemplated I would be interested. Let me know how I can help.
 
really good point on the hinges as the determining dimension for stock seats. i have scheel sport 400s, so i might have a little more room. i am still curious to see a top down picture with the entire console in context (90 degrees to this picture) so i can see the 'plan' from the shifter to the end of the arm rest. here are a few that i have found from the side. (thanks @Drew Gregg) what i can see is that with the seat all the way back, the armrest is barely long enough in the front and it goes behind the seat where nobody can reach - especially if you have big bolsters like the scheel 400s. what i can see is that the front edge of the armrest base is mostly concealed by the seat. i haven't been that 'wild' about the angled portions of the base on either side of the handbrake, but it does do a few things like help hold a drink on the cupholder and keep the seatbelt end in place. i do see a desire to finish the floor better under the handbrake - to make it be more finished ... i do realize that you have to be able to get your fingers under the handle so it can't be too thick.

@DWMBMW can you tell me what the dimension is from the back seat base to the base of the Anton arm rest (on top of the tranny tunnel)? that will help with positioning the length of a new design to enclose the handbrake arm.

armrest - 1.JPG
armrest - 2.JPG
armrest - 3.JPG
armrest - 4.JPG
 
I started down the path of making a version of this, and have a couple of comments. As noted previously, I liked the rear opening for the armrest.

The width of the base on the Anton armrest fit very nicely onto the tunnel in my car. This was a distinct advantage of the Anton design.

The opening for the parking brake was perfect. I wouldn't attempt to modify that.

I have no space in my car for any finishing underneath the parking brake. My handle goes right down to the floor.

Another advantage of the Anton design was that the armrest is set back from the shifter. This discourages a driver from resting their hand on the shifter while driving (preserving synchros).

I thought the cup holder was pretty useless. Anything in the cup holder took up space my elbow wanted to use. (As noted previously, I have an Ultimate Cup Holder on the passenger side of my console instead).
 
I'm meeting with Eric (Anton) on Thursday so will see what items/options he still has from his design. Anything specific you'd like for me to get from him? I'm a very late joiner to this game since it sounds like he created these a number of years ago and from his own admission he sent the plans away to someone else a bit ago, but may be worth picking his brain just to see what did work, didn't work, etc.
 
ask him what the material he used is. its relatively thin + light and machined relatively well to get good edges and the dovetail joints work well. the only known issue was holding the piano hinge in place from an unruly passenger. that being said, i don't think that material would hold up to a hinge at the end - most materials have issues over time - unless its a metal bracket / hinge. of course that has the drawback of adding fabrication cost. curious what all he has to say.

all in all, it was quite affordable and looks reasonably good.
 
here is an interesting approach to sliding / hinge. i am sure it is too wide for us ... but i like it.

1788889780953.png


1788889827242.png


and another similar model
1788890041807.png
 
I guess one question is what this cost back in the day and what a reasonable target price is for this item today, assuming it meets at least the same quality/build as his?
 
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