Tuscan Seats

[Dave85chim]

Hi guys,

I have just got a pair of Tuscan seats that I am having reupholstered.

To anyone who has had these fitted? Are they relatively straightforward to fit? Presumably best to stick with the original seat belt buckle over fitted to the chair?





In regards to fitting

[roseytvr]

Straight forward replacement using the runners and lifting blocks off the original seat. No alteration to seat belts required

[Dave85chim]

Thanks for that, Do the new runners rear bolts go through the rear existing holes?

I never had seats with the car (as project) and have no blocks - are these to raise the height of the seat?

[QBee]

I got a bit crafty with mine, fitted new 100mm bolts to the front of the seat runners, drilled some new holes up through the outrigger corner braces and up through the floor, and then bolted the front of the seat all the way through both the floor and the steel braces.

At the rear a certain Mr Mat Smith, when doing a body off resto on my car, welded steel strips across from outrodger to chassis rail each side, and drilled them, so now my rear runner bolts are also through steel.

So if I ever hit the armco head on at speed at Snetterton, flying through the windscreen attached to the Chimaera ejector seat mechanism should be the least of my worries.



Sorry about the rag, but you can see the rear strip, and can just about make out three of the four holes drilled to hold the seat bolts. The front ones are at the left of the picture, just in front of the outrodger cross rail.

[phillpot]

QBee said:

So if I ever hit the armco head on at speed at Snetterton, flying through the windscreen attached to the Chimaera ejector seat mechanism should be the least of my worries.

I can't see that a seat, that doesn't weigh an awful lot, would have any incentive to rip itself out of the floor?
Unless a loose seat belt lets your upper body smack into the steering wheel/dashboard and then bounce back onto the seat back, which if it didn't break the seat might pivot the whole seat back pulling the front bolts through the floor?

Either way I think the seat pulling out the floor would be the least of your worries

[QBee]

In general I of course agree with you, but the bolts through holes in the fibreglass floor have for some time struck me as a tad too Heath Robinson for my liking. Bit like the side impact protection.....

[roseytvr]

Dave85chim said:

Thanks for that, Do the new runners rear bolts go through the rear existing holes?

I never had seats with the car (as project) and have no blocks - are these to raise the height of the seat?

https://tvr-parts.com/tvr-parts/part-details/tvr-u0513/bracket-seat

OE spacer bracket to fit Griffith and Chimaera to raise the seat. Can be fitted in pairs to raise the front of the seat or in a set of 4 to raise the whole seat. Please note price is for an individual spacer bracket. These tubular brackets bolt to the floor and raise the seat by about 1.2" as well as allowing the seat runner to be moved forwards approximately 2.5".

As far as I am aware the floor fixings are the same and, like Anthony, I have a steel brace under the car to protect the bolts from ripping through the floor. That said I do agree with Philpot that this may be overkill.

Edited by roseytvr on Thursday 12th December 09:08

[mk1fan]

phillpot said:

I can't see that a seat, that doesn't weigh an awful lot, would have any incentive to rip itself out of the floor?
Unless a loose seat belt lets your upper body smack into the steering wheel/dashboard and then bounce back onto the seat back, which if it didn't break the seat might pivot the whole seat back pulling the front bolts through the floor?

Either way I think the seat pulling out the floor would be the least of your worries

Another advantage of installing / fixing to the chassis is it reduces the movement of the seat due to flex of the grp floor. The Wedge floor appeared to be two layers of GRP and things are greatly improved by adding another three layers. May not be an issue on the road - although I did find it was when I fitted the Cerb seats - but on the track I notice it and it is a distraction.

The S tubs (the two I've seen) appear to be thicker from the factory but both mine had damage around the seat mountings and I repaired them. The tub still flexed though.

Another plus of installing to the chassis is that you can use a seat mounted belt clip which I prefer to the long floppy ones TVR fitted and the replacement Fiat ones I fitted to the S's. Easier to use which when combined with sorting out the poor upper mounting arrangement makes putting on and taking off the seat belt the same as a 'normal' car.

I wouldn't make efforts to fit chassis rails unless there were other chassis works being done. Although the Wedges with removable sills does make this a lot easier.