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MGB Early MGB Seats

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R

ronzi

Senior Member
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I am doing some work on the seats of my '64 MGB. As might be expected, the driver's seat is more worn than the passenger seat.
The accompanying picture shows the pass. seat, and it can be seen that the configuration of the frame is bulged on one side and straight on the other. The driver seat has the bulge on the opposite side, etc., so the seat cushions are NOT interchangeable.
seatcush1.jpg


My question, however, has to do with the seat back. Insofar as I can determine from actually switching the seat backs, both seat backs appear to be identical side to side.
Early B's do not have a seat back adjustment lever, so that's not a problem.
Has anyone else done this, and were you able to find any difference side to side?
 
I guess my question is, if the drivers side is worn, why put it on the passenger side?

If you are going to go through the work of taking the seats apart, why not re do them? Obviously this way costs more, but once it's done, you won't have to think about the seats for a long time.
 
Good question, Rob.
The major thing wrong with the driver's seat is that the cover of the welting on the seat back is worn through in a couple of places. It is currently at an custom upholstery shop having the bad welting replaced, at a cost of about $100. Other than that, it's fine.
The seat back on the pass. seat is perfect, so I switched that onto the driver side.
The driver's seat cushion is in good shape, with minimal wear, and a new diaphragm put in a couple of years ago.
Replacing the covering (real leather) on both seats would cost, according to what I see in the Moss catalog, almost $1,000 plus installation, or my own decidedly amateur labor.
In my mind spending $1,000+ on new leather would make only a marginal improvement, with the exception of the welting on the driver's seat. From what I gather about the history of the car, it underwent a cosmetic referb in the early '90s including an all-new interior, so it's not like the seats were some ratty 40 yr old original stuff.
 
Since my initial post met with such overwhelming response, I thought I'd post pics of the outcome of the seat adventure.
This is a photo of the original driver's seat back, now switched to the passenger side seat cushion, showing the replaced welting and an abraded portion of the seat back.
ColoringSeat003.jpg


This photo shows the process I used for re-coloring the abrasion.
ColoringSeat006.jpg


The welting around the edge of the seat back, and the vertical welt next to the abraded area have been replaced and the abrasion recolored.
seats005.jpg


The re-coloring procedure doesn't really repair the abrasion, but it sure makes it less noticeable. The coloring was done with red SAS Soft Leather Cream, obtainable at any SAS shoe store for about $5.00 for a tube that will last you a lifetime. The color match with the the seat leather is, so far as I can tell, virtually perfect.
The obvious question is, does the color rub off on your clothes? Don't know at this point, but once it has been buffed out it doesn't seem to rub off on a cloth.
However, if you use it on the driver's seat cushion and your wife wants to know where the lipstick on your backside came from, don't come crying to me.
 
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