• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Spitfire Spitfire seat suggestions?

Share this page

A

AustinJim

Senior Member
Country flag
Offline
Hi All,
It's time to completely replace the seats in my 78 Spitfire. The only parts that are worth reusing are the frames. I'm considering 2 versions of the seats: all black vinyl and black with houndstooth inserts. I'd appreciate any feedback on:
-Is the houndstooth material durable? It seems it was the most deteriorated on the original seats.
-Does the vinyl feel/seem cheap?
-What suppliers do you suggest?
-Finally, Rimmer says "vehicles to FH100,020 had vinyl trim with plain flutes" but when I got my car (FM71580U) it had seats with the houndstooth inserts. I'd like to know what was originally on the car.
As always, I appreciate any help at all!
 
AFAIK, "houndstooth" was original on US cars from at least the 1977 model year. Odds are new kits will be at least as durable if not better, particularly the cloth part. I've no personal experience with available reupholstery kits, so I'll let others add their experience.
 
Jim - not sure whether you managed to read my post reply. I had entered a long reply in the 'new' forum, but these seem to be gone now (grrr.....). Maybe they'l reappear.

A short synopsis, "FH" refers to non-US commission numbers. Your "FM" commission number was probably fitted withy houndstooth originally.

I got my seat covers from Canley in the UK. Good prices, check the shipping cost. Total, all out, they are probably less expensive than US sources. I got vinyl, non-houndstooth. Good quality. Not yet installed but I'm sure they will look nice, and not 'cheap'. Originals were vinyl. These replacements are probably better than the originals. I would prefer leather if I could afford it....

Seat foams - look for US sources. These are too expensive to ship from UK. Last year, Motorheads had the best prices, but I did get mine from TRF. They are good quality foams. Expensive for what they are, but hard to recreate, and an upholsterer will charge you even more for custom work.

Keep all you rings and clips (not hog rings) from the old seats....
 
My wife's 1979 Spit has the "fluted" inserts, not houndstooth.
I am not certain the seats are original but they are definitely worn enough that it seems likely!
Simon.
 
I have a 77 Spit. The hounds tooth fabric was replaced in about 92(talented wife) and all material was changed last summer. I would say the houndstooth material is not real durable. I purchased the Moss covers and foams during the yearly sale in the spring(several years ago) I think. They are easy to instal and look very good. (one or two weekends for the less than talented). The material was of good quality. Actually the vinyl held up well, the cloth was not so good.

I like my leather B seats better. They were awful to instal.
Larry
 
Back
Top