Spitfire mk1 seat baskets

[Paul Rees]

Hi 

First post for me.  I have a mk1 spitfire completing an off body restoration.

I have recently started looking at doors and seats.  I noted that the silent travel door lock mechanism have cracked so need some replacements - I note that Spitbits and Miss Europe sell repair kits but they are expensive.  I noted that the MG TD uses the same brand but are they the same?

Does anyone have some for sale ?

The car had mk 5 seats in it, the runners are mk1.  I have found mk1 seat frames but cannot find any wired baskets.  Does anyone know where I might find some or is there an alternative?

Regards

Paul 

[RRR]

Hi Paul,

Unfortunately on the early door catches this is a common problem after all these years. The relatively good news is that they are not entirely unique. The main castings are common to MG TD/TF, Austin Healey BN1/BN2, and were popular on cobra replica's. For the main latch mechanism, these are still ~£50, and you will most likely need to swap over the release lever to the Spitfire one.

When it comes to seats, I am struggling a little on details. The wire basket may be the same MK1-3. I don't have details. Certainly the foam/padding make-up is different, and nobody supplies the complete cushion foam kit for MK 1 seats that I know of.

I'm hoping to find time this year to tackle my Mk1 seats, as the foam is crumbling badly on the drivers side. Might be as cheap to do two sets as one.