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Aftermarket Seats with Headrests

roscoe

Jedi Knight
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From a safety standpoint, I've never been comfortable in my BN2 seats for their lack of head rests. Then about 2 months ago I had 5 cervical vertebrae fused and a bunch of titanium bits implanted. The headrests became a "need to have" more than a " like to have".... I could detail the saga of my search but would rather take a poke in the eye than recount how much time and disappointment were involved. Suffice it to say I gave up on " period looking" seats; shy of building a custom seat which was out of my price point. My " do it yourself" attitude has fizzled a bit. I also wasn't interested in buying junk seats that needed a full refurbishment. Call me picky. I hope not too many think they are fugly. The whole thing is reversable for someone down the line if they want.

While looking for the usual stuff I scroll Craigslist for I saw a local set of black leather seats in fine shape for $450 for the pair. They were out of a Mercedes 2000 SLK. After looking that up to see what a 2000 SLk was, I thought it would be worth a local drive to see if they might fit. It is very difficult to find dimensions for OEM seats unless you get into the owner forums and happen to luck out. These seats were perfect. No bulky motorized parts involved but had 3 way manual adjustments and an almost flat set of mounting rails that I made flat in about 10 minutes with a cutoff wheel and hammer. When adjusted all the way down they are actually a tad lower than the factory Healey seats, although that is adjustable by your foam thickness but once lowered you can't raise them. The seats are heavy. I didn't weigh them but they are probably 10 pounds heavier than the OEM Healey seats. The bonus is that they just fit under my hard top. I was prepared to modify the headrests if I needed a bit of clearance but I don't need to do that. There would not be room behind the seats unless the seats are all the way forward for the folded up soft top and obviously my tonneau cover would need to be modified. Here is a photo and Im glad to talk to anyone who might have questions.
 

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Thanks. So far they seem comfy. I'll report further on the comfort after I do a few trips. As an after thought, I'll point out that none of the seat supplier web sites, the ones where they let you put the make and model of your vehicle in to find out if they will fit, ever have data for an Austin Healey 100. There was nobody to say " yes, these will fit". Snif, snif.
 
Roscoe--

I hope your surgery turns out as well as your new seat installation and as Rob said it is a great modern update.

I have always found the seats in my 100 to be reasonably comfortable though the lack of a headrest is a real safety concern. I too have a hardtop which stays on the car almost all of the time and if faced with a similar situation I would opt to install a functional rollbar with a small cushion as required by racing specs.
 
Another option might be the Mazda Miata or MX5 seats from 1993-1997 with removable headrests. These are rare in the US but plentiful in the UK. Might be worth shipping across to the US. I had mine reupholstered in a Ferrari 250 SWB seat pattern and chose to leave the headrests off. As my healey is a nasty boy originality is not a problem but it has the ‘top not folding unless moved right forward’ problem. This is not a problem in Southern California. The seats are far more comfortable than original Healey seats and they are adjustable recliners….


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From a safety standpoint, I've never been comfortable in my BN2 seats for their lack of head rests. Then about 2 months ago I had 5 cervical vertebrae fused and a bunch of titanium bits implanted. The headrests became a "need to have" more than a " like to have".... I could detail the saga of my search but would rather take a poke in the eye than recount how much time and disappointment were involved. Suffice it to say I gave up on " period looking" seats; shy of building a custom seat which was out of my price point. My " do it yourself" attitude has fizzled a bit. I also wasn't interested in buying junk seats that needed a full refurbishment. Call me picky. I hope not too many think they are fugly. The whole thing is reversable for someone down the line if they want.

While looking for the usual stuff I scroll Craigslist for I saw a local set of black leather seats in fine shape for $450 for the pair. They were out of a Mercedes 2000 SLK. After looking that up to see what a 2000 SLk was, I thought it would be worth a local drive to see if they might fit. It is very difficult to find dimensions for OEM seats unless you get into the owner forums and happen to luck out. These seats were perfect. No bulky motorized parts involved but had 3 way manual adjustments and an almost flat set of mounting rails that I made flat in about 10 minutes with a cutoff wheel and hammer. When adjusted all the way down they are actually a tad lower than the factory Healey seats, although that is adjustable by your foam thickness but once lowered you can't raise them. The seats are heavy. I didn't weigh them but they are probably 10 pounds heavier than the OEM Healey seats. The bonus is that they just fit under my hard top. I was prepared to modify the headrests if I needed a bit of clearance but I don't need to do that. There would not be room behind the seats unless the seats are all the way forward for the folded up soft top and obviously my tonneau cover would need to be modified. Here is a photo and Im glad to talk to anyone who might have questions.
Do the backs tilt forward to put stuff behind the seats (for those of us who have the rear "seats".)
 
John, The seat backs can be tilted forward but not with a quick release lever. There is a knob on the side of each seat that can be turned to move the seat backs fore or aft. It takes a bit of turning to go full range.
I looked for the Miata seats with removeable rests here in the US but came up with nothing. The Miata seats with the built in head rests are unattractive even in a Miata. Guido, yours are extremely good looking. Nice job. I would have jumped on them if I could have found some. Your hand brake position is interesting. What was involved in doing that and why did you bother?

Took a ride this morning and the new seats are decidedly more comfortable. A bit of lumbar support is nice.

Michael, thanks for the wishes. The surgery went very well. My surgeon is a wizzard. It'd be a bit weird to attach my latest xray so suffice it to say the Terminator has nothing on me. Some of the titanium is actually 3D printed. A roll bar with a head pad may well be a better solution but I think I'll just try really, really hard to never roll this thing. Not a pleasant thought.
 
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Just ran across the above, and the BN7 being sold had been fitted with XJS seats. No other information on the seats other than that, but fun to read the ad, and I particularly enjoyed the phrasing at the start:
"The Austin-Healey in all it's guises is a fantastic example of a brilliant British sports car, be it an early BN1 four pot with the infamous 3-speed manual or a later 3000 with the grunty six cylinder, all are equally worthy representatives of British motoring."
" Some, however, are more equal than others."

George Orwell would be proud!
 
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