TR4/4A Early tr4 Seat refinish - horse Hair for Foam?

[Zitch]

Hello,

I have a 63 TR4 and I am looking to refinish my seats, the still have springs with horse hair under the covers. I'm looking for an opinion on what people believe is better. I see you can get the horse hair kits from Moss and the TRF. If anyone has used the MOSS or TRF kits on their spring base what was their opinion on either kit. Is one better than the other? I see the TRF kit is alot more expensive.

I'm trying to get a good height with a good ride and not cost a small fortune the best of both worlds

FYI she no concurs contestant.

Should I just junk the springs and use foam?

Thanks for your time and consideration.

 

[Geo Hahn]

Should I just junk the springs and use foam?...

That's what I did but it was back when replacement springs were not on offer (TR3A but I think the same seat you refer to). They look fine and ride very nice even after 23 years of my big butt on them -- but if you have decent springs I would certainly stay with them.

 

[martx-5]

I used the original springs, as they were still in good shape. I had to rewire a few of the coils together, but that was it. I used the horse hair/padding kit. I'm pretty sure i got it from TRF, as that's where I got all of the interior stuff from. I opted for all leather, including the door panels, dash board and cappings.

 

[TexasKnucklehead]

I am 6'1" and was happy the seats I got for the TR3 were done in foam. I was able to cut 4" of foam out of my seat bottom. That lowered my head enough to not poke my head into the top. Before the removal, I could lean forward until my head hit the top of the windshield and I would not have been able to see traffic lights with the top installed.

With less foam, the seat is not quite as comfortable. I don't notice it much for normal driving around town, but that 3,400 mile trip made for an uncomfortable butt.

 

[SteveBones]

I redid the seats on my TR3A about one year ago. Same seats as an early TR4 (I have one). One thing I found is that when I pulled the covers off the seats, the seat back padding (horse hair + some white stuffing), it was all in really good shape.

I bought the "horse hair" from Moss because of price which was fine. The point is because I was able to reuse the padding for the seat backs, I really did not need to purchase the horse hair kit at all.

If you can, I would suggest taking the covers off the seats before purchasing the horse hair kits. You might be able to bypass if only the seat bottoms require padding.

Also, just for info, I redid the TR4 awhile ago and reused the original springs. For the tr3A I decided to replace with new springs. If you want to sit higher in the car, the new springs will do this. They do provide better support as well. Not such an important thing if you are on a budget. I am expecting that if the springs are in decent shape, and you are on a budget, they can be reused. If you want a certain seat height, I am expecting that you can add more padding on top of the seat spring.

 

[Zitch]

Here is what I'll be working with , This is the Passenger seat, looks very much like the Driver.

 

[apbos]

Ted
Are those leather seats? I would try some Lexol on them if they are without holes and re-stuff them. Some black shoe polish and I think you might be OK. I sent the Landrum TR3 pdf file to you via email.

Paul

 

[Zitch]

Yes, They have leather centers, most treatments I tried did nothing, I may try to redye them black.

Got the patterns thanks!

Ted
Are those leather seats? I would try some Lexol on them if they are without holes and re-stuff them. Some black shoe polish and I think you might be OK. I sent the Landrum TR3 pdf file to you via email.

Paul