MK3 Spitfire Seat Restoration

[jamie31888]

Hi All,

Due to the lack of information i could find on the net about restoring the early spitfire seats ive decided to start this thread.

I have stripped the covers of my seats and sent them to the blasters.

Can anyone tell me if the new covers come with the foam attached like the orignals i have taken off?

The pictures on the usual suppliers websites make them look rather flat & un padded.

Regards

Jamie

[Ludwig]

Hi Jamie,

Newton Commercial supply the trade, and their covers have foam inserts, although don't seem as plush as the originals?

Over the past few years I've seen a few cover sets appear on Ebay, they are just as good a build and fit as Newton Commercial covers but crucially lack the foam inserts. I'm speaking from experience and ended up getting some from Newton Comm. I'm [slowly] in the process of fitting them.

Did you keep the horsehair padding? It doesn't deteriorate due to being covered in glue and has a special profile, so are worth keeping as the replacement are 'flat". When you come to recover, bear in mind it's not feasible to replace the perished wooden strip along the bottom of the seats, you may want to consider drilling out the nails, and fasten the covers with rivets and washers - I can't think of any other way of doing this, I tried velcro but covers were having none of it!

Nice runners by the way  :P

Alex

[jamie31888]

Thanks for the heads up on the eBay covers I almost bought them a few days back ??) I think newtons supply James paddocks so will probably purchase from them.

Yes I kept the horse hair, but will need something for the edges?

I was thinking of trying to get some strips of plywood and attach them with peel rivets, not sure how well the wood will bend though....

Runners should come up nice from the blasters this week , then it's time to get busy with the welding on the runners and seat frames.

Jamie

[JensH]

Put some pvc on the back side too, or the horse hair will get wet!
I used a 5mm tap on the wooden parts. Some pictures from one I did for a friend of mine

[JensH]

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[JensH]

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[JensH]

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Sorry - must get an account somewhere to upload pictures  :B

[junkuser]

Jamie,
          Where the back of the seat joins the bottom  frame there is a good chance of breakage on these seats so consider brazing a strap of steel on the outside over this area.
The seats I started with were rust free and already cracked when car purchased in 1976.
The metal I used was about 1" X 1/8" and about 4" long, placed level with the rolled edge of the seat back and down to the bottom edge of the seat frame.
No failure since and covers hide them nicely.
The metal used was just what was on hand so others may have better suggestions as to optimal design.
I prefer brazing to welding for this job.

Just a thought.

[jamie31888]

Thanks for the pictures and advice , much appreciated.

What kind of wood did you use Jens h ?

Any idea on the recommended material for covering the edges of the horse hair?

[JensH]

I was able to reuse original wood, after extensive use of some good old wood glue  :)
Was supplied with all materials, so don't know with covering material. Make sure its strong; otherwise I don't believe the vinyl will last for long.
Pictures of complete seat was passenger seat done by the owner years ago (yes, he is not that fast - no names though - he is on this forum too - muhaha 8) )
Don't know why he put that white clothing on.

As for protecting the horse hair; I just used a good quality plastic bag I had.

[jamie31888]

Received the seats back from the blasters yesterday, re-tapped the 10/32 threads that hold the seat hooks on.

Then started to weld up the areas that had cracked and broken.

[jamie31888]

Seat frame

[jamie31888]

seat basket

[junkuser]

The welding on the seat back will have caused localised stress points, particularly at the front edge.

Consider strapping back to base.

[jamie31888]

Thanks for the heads up, not to sure what you mean by strapping the back to base?

[junkuser]

"junkuser      
May 20, 2013, 11:01pm

Jamie,
          Where the back of the seat joins the bottom  frame there is a good chance of breakage on these seats so consider brazing a strap of steel on the outside over this area.
The seats I started with were rust free and already cracked when car purchased in 1976.
The metal I used was about 1" X 1/8" and about 4" long, placed level with the rolled edge of the seat back and down to the bottom edge of the seat frame.
No failure since and covers hide them nicely.
The metal used was just what was on hand so others may have better suggestions as to optimal design.
I prefer brazing to welding for this job.

Just a thought."

[Ludwig]

Blatant thread hijack [but still very relevant]. :P

I've been trying to assemble the seat base, namely using hog-ring pliers to fix the cover to the seat basket, as per original spec.

The problem I'm having is the hog-rings appear too large and don't grip the cover to the basket. I'm using the hog-rings supplied with the seat covers Newton Comm via Rimmers], they fit the pliers but seem to close up before they grip, and as a result are loose. I'm folding the vinyl edge over the same as my original seats.

Anyone had the same problem and managed to find a work around?

Cheers,

Alex

[jamie31888]

Hi Alex,

I''ve not come to this yet, I have heard of people using cable ties?

[Ludwig]

Cable ties worry me as the hole punctured to fit them may enlarge through use?

Alex

[jamie31888]

Is it possible to clamp the rings tight with a normal pair of pliars?

[Ludwig]

4457 wrote:

Is it possible to clamp the rings tight with a normal pair of pliars?

Tried that, all a bit messy, thanks for the thought. Think it's the way to go though,

Alex