Harvey's dinette seats came with the industry standard 4" foam padding.
I had been sitting at the dinette table doing some work on my laptop for about 30 minutes when the discomfort finally got unbearable.
Not being blessed with my own padding in this area, 'numb bum' doesn't quite describe the feeling of the hard plywood under the seat cushion against my nether region.
Upon examination, the inferior seat foam was compressed completely flat where I sat. OK, it almost immediately returned to it's original shape but sit back down and whumphf, straight back down to the plywood.
There's plenty of other places to sit in Harvey, but I like to have breakfast at the table and despite it being called a laptop, I find working on it here suits me too.
Ignoring the pins and needles feeling spreading down my legs I began an internet search for upholstery foam.
There's so much to read i feared my feet might fall off if I didn't do something soon. A couple of throw cushions from the sofa were suitably employed and blood flow was restored.
I found the site:
Custom Cut Foam Rectangle | DIY Upholstery Supply
It belongs to DIY Uphostery Inc. is easy to navigate and most informative.
Following their explicit measuring reccomendations, oversize thickness by 1" and width and depth by 1/2" on each side, I ordered two custom cut and 'Dacron' wrapped foam inserts for my bench seat cushions. They laminate layers of varying densities, the uppermost for comfort, the lower ones for support and to add structure like bolsters on a racing seat for instance.
They arrived via UPS compressed and tightly cling film wrapped as promised. Wrangling the faux leather seat covers over the far superior less squidgy foam was a workout, but they fit and look awesome.
I forgot to take a photo before I stuffed them in the covers, I'm not taking them out again so you'll just have to visualize the significant difference to the original foam which is shown below underneath the new seat squab.
Out in Harvey the difference is phenomenal. The depth of the padding slightly raised my seating position which I like. I tried bouncing repeatedly to try and bottom out the foam to no avail. My wife joined in on the opposite side, to be fair she barely puts a dent in it. Parked alongside our house, Harvey is not leveled and stabilized as he would be on a campsite. I imagine our neighbors were speculating about events inside as our enthusiasm had him rocking and rolling a bit.
In all seriousness, this was not a cheap upgrade. Quality foam is costly, check out the green single density stuff at your local craft store. Like most things, you get what you pay for. If your posterior comfort is important to you, and you use your dinette for extended periods as I do, then you might consider it worthwhile. But the result looks inviting don't you think?
For me, to have it cut perfectly to size, wrapped in 'Dacron' (the fluffy batting outside the foam core that gives it that extra plush feel) and delivered to my door, beat going to the craft store and buying that green foam they cut with a serrated bread knife.
I'm actually enjoying my new dinette seat right now writing this. If I hadn't bit the bullet and splurged on the foam, this article would of course be redundant, but more importantly, it would be considerably shorter.
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