Seat's

Hi

Thought I had best get the TVR Griffith seats fitted today but never got that far as the frames caught my attention so I got stuck into them.

Firstly I thought I would see what kind of fit they are,

Not to bad, the seat has lots of clearance, so getting at the handle will be easy but the back is an inch or so wider than the originals and rubs against the side frame, but look good.

I am still deciding whether or not to use the original Panther runners as these are in better condition than the TVR runners, although nothing that a little sanding and spraying won't fix but will decide tomorrow.

You can see what 20 years worth of wear is like but the bolts came out easy enough to remove the runners, I pulled the clips to see what had to be removed to release the under frame for painting.

Just a simple matter of removing the springs, I think not, it took a bit of working out, as there is a lot of tension on them, but as always it came down to a hammer and chisel; well a long screwdriver anyway. I turned the frame on its side then placed the screwdriver where the spring hooks into the frame and whacked it, easy. It was then just the removal of the clips and the frame came out.

It wasn't in to bad a condition, just a matter of rubbing down to key and remove the rust, then a coat of primer and a couple of coats of Satin black.

I also sprayed the exposed frame parts on the seat back after masking off the seat.

While the frame was drying I got on with cleaning the leather, I had a tin of saddle soap for the job and the grime came straight off.

This is a shot before the cleaning.

When the frame was dry I then had a bit of a job fitting it back into seat, again it was the springs causing the problem and after a search of the workshop I decided on the the hook end of the oil seal removal tool. This hooked onto the spring and with a lot of pulling I was able to slip the end into hole of the frame, the leather was then stretched back for the clips to be replaced. I have refitted the seat together for the time being as it still needs to come apart again for re-colouring .

I have ordered a 250ml Dye kit for £40 to re-dye the leather, the eBay add was for a 65ml kit but on talking to the guy I upped the order to the 250ml set, the colour is 92 Griffith Magnolia.

I also found out that they use an airbrush to apply the dye, it just so happens that I have a couple of airbrushes and an airbrush compressor sitting unused in the loft, better dust it of.

I shall get on with the next seat tomorrow, it should go a lot faster now I know how to strip them, I also found out from the guy I bought the kit from that it would be around £250 for them restore the seats plus the courier both ways, so over £300. Think I'll give it ago.

I also got the paint roller out and painted the inside of the cockpit, hopefully I'll be able to start on the seat fitting mods tomorrow.

It is all going to be covered in soundproofing and carpet but it should last longer than me now that its well protected.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have a visitor coming round, he is a friend of my Brother in Law and has been a Paint sprayer / car body man since leaving school and is now retired from that but has over 30 years of knowledge of which I hope to get out of him.

See ya Paul