Discussion
I had that problem last year. As there is a hole for the spring in the tube, they tend to crack from there. Before rewelding, I would suggest you fit a stepped rod inside the tube to beef it up. I did that to mine and didn't need to weld it as the mounting frame bolts keep it in place. An external hook is bent around the tube and the spring attached to that. Or you could buy a new one...
The original seats (ie in most wedges) were made by Cambro in Coventry - some cars have their labels on the seats.
Cambro made seats for most of the Brit motor industry, which is why they look so familiar. The levers, slides etc. and the basic method of construction were used on loads of cars, but dimensionally they are Wedge specials.
I repaired mine using the wire 'springs' cut from either a Metro or a Maestro, I forget... whichever, they were wider than the wedge seats so there was plenty of wire to trim to length and it was a simple matter to twist the ends round the attachment points using pliers.
The main point about the wedge seat bases is that they are very narrow, but long under the thigh, especially by modern car standards. A mate of mine fitted ex-Rover 200 or 400 leather seats (minus the electric packs) and found them lacking in support with them being so low in the TVR.
The best modification I did was to use the double-latching slides from a Maestro. On these there's a tubular handle that links the two runners, so it's easier to find for adjustment than the original sideways-moving one (put hand between legs and pull up - ooer!
). Also the double latch makes the seat feel more secure on the floor.
I've modded the Esprit seats in the same way. These have a different construction to the TVR ones but still look suspiciously Cambro in origin.
Here's the TVR (and Lotus) originals:
and my modified Maestro ones:
The cross-handle has to have a short piece cut out to make it fit the narrower seats. Here's the Esprit seat with the 'new' slides:
Soon be spring, time to fiddle some more!
Ian
Cambro made seats for most of the Brit motor industry, which is why they look so familiar. The levers, slides etc. and the basic method of construction were used on loads of cars, but dimensionally they are Wedge specials.
I repaired mine using the wire 'springs' cut from either a Metro or a Maestro, I forget... whichever, they were wider than the wedge seats so there was plenty of wire to trim to length and it was a simple matter to twist the ends round the attachment points using pliers.
The main point about the wedge seat bases is that they are very narrow, but long under the thigh, especially by modern car standards. A mate of mine fitted ex-Rover 200 or 400 leather seats (minus the electric packs) and found them lacking in support with them being so low in the TVR.
The best modification I did was to use the double-latching slides from a Maestro. On these there's a tubular handle that links the two runners, so it's easier to find for adjustment than the original sideways-moving one (put hand between legs and pull up - ooer!
). Also the double latch makes the seat feel more secure on the floor. I've modded the Esprit seats in the same way. These have a different construction to the TVR ones but still look suspiciously Cambro in origin.
Here's the TVR (and Lotus) originals:
and my modified Maestro ones:
The cross-handle has to have a short piece cut out to make it fit the narrower seats. Here's the Esprit seat with the 'new' slides:
Soon be spring, time to fiddle some more!
Ian
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