Sunken driver's seat!
Discussion
Hi all,
I've recently purshased a Chimaera, however after almost 14 years the driver's seat is badly in need of re-stuffing, as it's visibly dished & sunk. It's hard enough seeing over the dash in these TVR's as it is, but me being a Richard Hammond sized 5'7" this is a joke!
Any advice? Am wondering if i should find a reputable re-upholstery firm to undo the stitching & re-stuff the base section of the seat, or else consider replacing the seat altogether if i can source one. I believe the leather is 'doeskin' in colour.
I've recently purshased a Chimaera, however after almost 14 years the driver's seat is badly in need of re-stuffing, as it's visibly dished & sunk. It's hard enough seeing over the dash in these TVR's as it is, but me being a Richard Hammond sized 5'7" this is a joke!
Any advice? Am wondering if i should find a reputable re-upholstery firm to undo the stitching & re-stuff the base section of the seat, or else consider replacing the seat altogether if i can source one. I believe the leather is 'doeskin' in colour.
the green hornet said:
Hi all,
I've recently purshased a Chimaera, however after almost 14 years the driver's seat is badly in need of re-stuffing, as it's visibly dished & sunk. It's hard enough seeing over the dash in these TVR's as it is, but me being a Richard Hammond sized 5'7" this is a joke!
Any advice? Am wondering if i should find a reputable re-upholstery firm to undo the stitching & re-stuff the base section of the seat, or else consider replacing the seat altogether if i can source one. I believe the leather is 'doeskin' in colour.
I've recently purshased a Chimaera, however after almost 14 years the driver's seat is badly in need of re-stuffing, as it's visibly dished & sunk. It's hard enough seeing over the dash in these TVR's as it is, but me being a Richard Hammond sized 5'7" this is a joke!
Any advice? Am wondering if i should find a reputable re-upholstery firm to undo the stitching & re-stuff the base section of the seat, or else consider replacing the seat altogether if i can source one. I believe the leather is 'doeskin' in colour.
You'll probably find that the wires inside the seat squab which support the cushioning have rusted away. There's some photos on the web somewhere of a seat from below. I'm told the seats are quite straightforward to remove - you can see the bolts sticking through the floor. Any decent upholsterer should be able to repair them for you.
It might be worth taking the seat out to have a look underneath.
It's very straight forward to remove the seat, just four bolts through the floor if I recall. You might find that the wire mesh underneath the foam in the base has come adrift. Mine looked quite rusty and I wouldn't be surprised if it is prone to weakening and snapping because of corrosion, especially if there have been water leaks into the car.
Edit
Ah, zumbruk beat me to it.
It's very straight forward to remove the seat, just four bolts through the floor if I recall. You might find that the wire mesh underneath the foam in the base has come adrift. Mine looked quite rusty and I wouldn't be surprised if it is prone to weakening and snapping because of corrosion, especially if there have been water leaks into the car.
Edit
Ah, zumbruk beat me to it.
Edited by paulga on Thursday 15th February 16:12
the green hornet said:
Hi all,
I've recently purshased a Chimaera, however after almost 14 years the driver's seat is badly in need of re-stuffing, as it's visibly dished & sunk. It's hard enough seeing over the dash in these TVR's as it is, but me being a Richard Hammond sized 5'7" this is a joke!
Any advice? Am wondering if i should find a reputable re-upholstery firm to undo the stitching & re-stuff the base section of the seat, or else consider replacing the seat altogether if i can source one. I believe the leather is 'doeskin' in colour.
I've recently purshased a Chimaera, however after almost 14 years the driver's seat is badly in need of re-stuffing, as it's visibly dished & sunk. It's hard enough seeing over the dash in these TVR's as it is, but me being a Richard Hammond sized 5'7" this is a joke!
Any advice? Am wondering if i should find a reputable re-upholstery firm to undo the stitching & re-stuff the base section of the seat, or else consider replacing the seat altogether if i can source one. I believe the leather is 'doeskin' in colour.
Green Hornet im in the same boat as you due to my 18 stone body
!! if the thin metal spring bars have snapped through rust as mentioned in other posts you can you replace these or repair them with thin cable ties. I`ve not done this yet as i can still see over my bonnet (just).Ok that's it then, get under the car, undo the bolts, whip the seat out & have a butchers. I envy anyone that has a garage at their disposal!!
Nice afterburner tail lights by the way mr meatball, very stylish -could you let on where from? Therein lies another problem (and thread i started) - condensation inside the tail light cluster clear lens
Nice afterburner tail lights by the way mr meatball, very stylish -could you let on where from? Therein lies another problem (and thread i started) - condensation inside the tail light cluster clear lens
the green hornet said:
Ok that's it then, get under the car, undo the bolts, whip the seat out & have a butchers. I envy anyone that has a garage at their disposal!!
Nice afterburner tail lights by the way mr meatball, very stylish -could you let on where from? Therein lies another problem (and thread i started) - condensation inside the tail light cluster clear lens
Nice afterburner tail lights by the way mr meatball, very stylish -could you let on where from? Therein lies another problem (and thread i started) - condensation inside the tail light cluster clear lens
Dont forget to silicon over and around the washers after. The lights are quadconversions by the way and you can rid the condensation by putting silicone into a syringe and sealing the lens from the inside over the painted black edges.
Good luck
We had this problem, the metal wires had cut through the foam by about 1 1/2 inches, leaving the squab saggy.
My cure was to cut up a cheap car mat and sandwich between wires and foam:
Before
After
And of course Daddies little helper:
Had to re sort my socket set after her 'help'!
The seat is now 100% better, did the lh seat while I was at it1
Andrew
My cure was to cut up a cheap car mat and sandwich between wires and foam:
Before
After
And of course Daddies little helper:
Had to re sort my socket set after her 'help'!
The seat is now 100% better, did the lh seat while I was at it1
Andrew
drive2tractors said:
We had this problem, the metal wires had cut through the foam by about 1 1/2 inches, leaving the squab saggy.
My cure was to cut up a cheap car mat and sandwich between wires and foam:
Before
After
And of course Daddies little helper:
Had to re sort my socket set after her 'help'!
The seat is now 100% better, did the lh seat while I was at it1
Andrew
My cure was to cut up a cheap car mat and sandwich between wires and foam:
Before
After
And of course Daddies little helper:
Had to re sort my socket set after her 'help'!
The seat is now 100% better, did the lh seat while I was at it1
Andrew
Nice tip andrew.
the green hornet said:
Andrew many thanks for the advice & pictures, much appreciated. Did the central wire / (piece of fabric?) that goes longitudenally underneath (i.e.just over the many support wires) come away so that you could get the folded car mat in place, and then re-fix this central wire? Adam
No, the mat I used was a thin square one, waffle one side smooth the other. I think we bought a whole load from Tescos for 99p each a while ago, they are thin enough to roll and fold and fiddle between the wires. I folded one in half longways and slid it in one end (the rear I think)ooh eer missus and then unrolled it once in place. Smooth side down, waffle side to the foam. The wires appeared rusty but seemed to be sound and not weakened. [runningtosweetshop]Found some coins under the seats which was a bonus[/runningtosweetshop]
Edited by drive2tractors on Tuesday 20th February 19:34
drive2tractors said:
My cure was to cut up a cheap car mat and sandwich between wires and foam:
Well done drive2tractors. Top quality engineering!
This is why I like sorting out problems myself.....it's always so satisfying to "engineer a solution". If you took it to a garage with this problem they would insist that the seat frame and/or foam needs replacing!
It's not that I'm tight or anything, I just love to fix things!
paulga said:
drive2tractors said:
My cure was to cut up a cheap car mat and sandwich between wires and foam:
Well done drive2tractors. Top quality engineering!
This is why I like sorting out problems myself.....it's always so satisfying to "engineer a solution". If you took it to a garage with this problem they would insist that the seat frame and/or foam needs replacing!
It's not that I'm tight or anything, I just love to fix things!
Why did your Bro buy a girls car?
drive2tractors said:
paulga said:
drive2tractors said:
My cure was to cut up a cheap car mat and sandwich between wires and foam:
Well done drive2tractors. Top quality engineering!
This is why I like sorting out problems myself.....it's always so satisfying to "engineer a solution". If you took it to a garage with this problem they would insist that the seat frame and/or foam needs replacing!
It's not that I'm tight or anything, I just love to fix things!
Why did your Bro buy a girls car?
Ah....I didn't know that you are now drive2tractors rather than 5MUGHUBBY! He probably bought the "Portch" because it's a quality piece of German engineering! It is a fierce car actually, and perfect for the larger, becoming follicly challenged gentleman whose age begins with a 4!
paulga said:
drive2tractors said:
My cure was to cut up a cheap car mat and sandwich between wires and foam:
Well done drive2tractors. Top quality engineering!
This is why I like sorting out problems myself.....it's always so satisfying to "engineer a solution". If you took it to a garage with this problem they would insist that the seat frame and/or foam needs replacing!
It's not that I'm tight or anything, I just love to fix things!
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