why is seat foam so expensive?

[davek]

is it because you need it? range is $250-$350 https://www.legendaryautointeriors.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/ChryslerCatalogBandC.pdf

 

[HawkRod]

I've wondered the same thing myself. It's nuts.

But sorry, I have no answer for you...

 

[DeltaV]

Design and manufacture of tooling ain't cheap.

 

[davek]

Design and manufacture of tooling ain't cheap.

the design been around for 50 years and I think so is the tooling.

 

[Rainy day auto]

Because they can, what else can you do?

 

[davek]

is it tempur pedic?

 

[HawkRod]

Design and manufacture of tooling ain't cheap.

I get it if you are buying seat foam shaped for a Mopar bucket seat, for example. But I have purchased simple sheets of the stuff for when I did my bench seat. It was still overly expensive, in my opinion.

 

[khryslerkid]

My upholstery shop said there are different grades of foam. You get what you pay for. That was my answer when I asked.

 

[ChargerST]

I've been thinking about buying a cheap foam mattress and to carve out the seat shape..

 

[kiwigtx]

is it tempur pedic?

Just be thankful it's not made by Sealy.

 

[Officer Higgins]

Foam is very very expensive, sometimes the components to produce it can be as expensive as fifty tons of pure gold bullion. No it's just marked up greatly. And restoration of old vehicles especially Chrysler are specialty market. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/oer-sf101/make/chevrolet/model/camaro

 

[bandit67]

A cheap get by I have used. If your foam is good, meaning , its all there just flat or compressed, most upholstery shops have a material on a 36 roll that is about a 1/2 thick , grey, and looks as if its made of reprocessed capet. Not sure what they call it. Buy a yard or two of that and cut pieces to match your foam and glue them to it using the upholstery spray glue. That can provide the thicker fit needed to keep your new covers from being wrinkled. I have not done that on a daily driver so not sure how long it would hold up but for my weekend warrior still looks good years later. My local guy says some of those replacement foams are a major pain in the butt to work with.

 

[toolmanmike]

I've been thinking about buying a cheap foam mattress and to carve out the seat shape..

Foam matresses are memory foam, You will keep sinking towards the floor as you drive.

 

[toolmanmike]

This would provably cost $500 or more per seat. Your choice.

 

[Don Frelier]

I visited Legendary for a car show and they explained and demonstrated how they make the foam seats.
They reverse engineer the forms themselves. They have to prep the form for injection with a special machine.
I don't think the ingredients are cheap either and likely require permitting in NYS.
The injection amount needs to be precise, then the mold needs to sit for an exact amount of time before opening.
Next the mold has to cure. It's pretty neat stuff and you can't do it at home.
The finished product is far better than the original.
They run a good business and take pride in their quality.

 

[69bfan]

The original automotive grade foam found in the original seals is completely different than the current automotive foam found the reproduction seat foam. The original material is much more dense and has a slicker exterior finish to it than the current pieces. For the molded bucket seat foam sets that are available, the tooling to do these pieces are huge. When you start to getting into items of this size, the pricing and the ability to do larger pieces just becomes crazy as compare to smaller simplistic stamped or molded pieces.

When you have to start creating custom sets for those that are not available, just like any fabrication skills, it takes time and experience to develop those skills which usually means more dollars. Also check around on pricing. Most of the larger vendors are sourcing from one manufacturer and repackaging the product with their branding.

 

[Don Frelier]

Some of that money goes right back into R&D for other reproductions so they can support other missing products and expand their product line.

 

[toolmanmike]

MY neighbor has a pattern shop and deals with cores and molds. He could make a mold for you (for only 1 cushion though) for around $10,000. Then you will need another for the seat back as well. Not cheap stuff. And the next model year may be different. Here we go again.

 

[ChargerST]

Foam matresses are memory foam, You will keep sinking towards the floor as you drive.

Not the cheap ones ;)

 

[Ernie ingling]

EPA