Hi,

My girlfriend has just purchased her 3rd 2CV and to her shock I'm unable to drive it as the seat is too high and close to the steering wheel. When in the drivers seat I can hardly see any road in front of me due to the low windscreen (I'm 6'5"). Is it possible to replace the drivers seat with one that has height adjustment/tilt? Searching the internet suggests CX seats may fit. Any other suggestions?

hi tall2cvers, welcome to the forum. there are several options on seats; CX & GS/A ones used to be popular back in the day, although sadly as you've probably realised most of these fine machines have gone to the great scrapyard in the sky...

BX seats are popular & the adaptor boxes that are required are fairly easy to construct if you're a dab hand with a welder, if not then there's at least one chap that can make you a framework that the bolt directly to for a very reasonable price, thing is BX's are going the same way as CX's & are disappearing fast... rumour has it that he has fabricated, or has in the pipeline adaptors for Saxo & other PSA cars such as the Peugeot 306.

If you want the guys contact details, PM me & i'll sort you out.

I've known quite a few people taller than you who've had no problems whatsoever.

Have you tried taking the pin out of the runner between the seats, so you can move the seat a bit further back?

Thanks for the quick responses.

I'll have a look at whether the pin between the seats is there tomorrow and let you know.

If this doesn't solve my problem I'll probably have further questions regarding seat mods/replacement.

Thanks again.

FWIW, I'm 6'2", and have less problems in 2cvs than in most "proper" cars.

Hi,
from experience as a (former) 6' 4" 2CV driver, if you do remove the pin which restricts rearward movement of the seat, it's a good idea to fit a jubilee clip (loosely) around the seat runner and the lower tube of the seat frame.

If you don't, the seat may one day topple backwards out of its rails, shortly after you've outdragged a Eurobox from the traffic lights in 1st gear and chucked the 2CV into 2nd at around 6,000 rpm.
At this point, you lose that little battle, as well as your forward vision...

Btw, has the seat been reupholstered. Sometimes, when this work has been carried out, much thicker foam than was there originally is fitted.

ken.

Maybe you don't have to change the seat. I'm 188 cm(A bit shorter than you) and have no problems, though I must move my head i bit too see some traffic lights, so I can understand the windscreen problem.

The condition of the original seat influence a lot on how high you sit in the seat. If the foam has been renewed with thicker, you'll end up sitting too high, because thick foam takes the load of the rubber-rings and you will not "sit down" in the seat as you should.

For a tall person, actually the best is a seat with worn out foam that is broken at the sides of the seat, where it goes over the seat frame. Because then you're bodyweight is all being put on the rubber rings, streching the rings more, making you sit a bit lower in the seat. That improves the windscreen situation.

I've been experimenting on my driverseat some weeks ago.
The best, for the windscreen view, was the old foam that was broken on the sides at the seatframe. Made me sit quite low in the car, and I liked it, even if you fell a bit...."folded". But comfortable

Next best was the new foam with original thickness. A little bit higher in the seat. But then again, a little bit better general feel over the seat, so for most it's the best choice.

The really bad choice, unless you're short and like "flat", hard seats like in old German cars, is to renew the stock foam with thicker. That’s a no-no....

Also, the condition and number of rubber-rings do affect the seats and you're "ridehight".

There is also the possibility to maybe just shorten the original seatframe a bit?

"If you're high, go low"

Again, many thanks for all the replies.

I removed the pins from the driver's and passenger's seats this morning and took Tilly (she's been christened now) for a spin.

With the seats in the furthest back (last notch) position the legroom and the view was improved. I can live with the legroom, but I still can't see much of the road (although at least now I could see the car in front without too much slouching and head tilting). I assume with the seat located in the notch there is no risk of me repeating Ken's unusual method of obtaining driver seat tilt!

The seats have been re-upholstered so I'll look into removing some of the foam. It also looks like all the rubber rings have been replaced (they look new and are all in place), so I may try removing a couple of these. I'm loathe to actually modify the original seat frame as the car is in such excellent condition, but replacing the seat is still an option.

If they've very recently been done, then you might need to just let 'em settle in a bit. They'll quickly regain some sag, especially if your weight is... umm... commensurate with your height.