WTB: BJ7 Squab

[50yrs same Healy]

Bought car w/o rear seat back (squab). Original brackets mounted, but no back frame. Where do I find one OR does anyone have the specs to build one?

 

[gonzo]

Hi 50 years, I have a BJ 7 and plan to follow rear seat squab specs that someone had shared though internet ether. I will post them for you if you're still interested. Gonzo

 

[50yrs same Healy]

Hi 50 years, I have a BJ 7 and plan to follow rear seat squab specs that someone had shared though internet ether. I will post them for you if you're still interested. Gonzo

Hello! I've actually chased down a vendor that has the part for an incredibly reasonably price of about 80 bucks and ordered it. They also have the hinges and other components, but my car has some those original parts. Tremendous volume of parts and price: britishcarspecialists.com
Online catalog but can be a bit interesting chasing down part through various catalogs - they are in Stockton, California. So much better, for me, to have assembled components. They take and confirm order BUT call you for $ info and to confirm you are getting everything you need for a project. If you're doing a couple grand project - ask them about their pre-pay order for a 10 percent discount. They are also a Moss and Kilmartin sheet metal/parts affiliate. It's like a scavenger hunt for parts, isn't it? Jacqueline

 

[gonzo]

I had planned to fabricate the rear seat squab thinking it couldn't be sourced. Looks like again, BCS, Stockton can do it and more. Thanks for the helpful tip. I'll be giving them a call. Gonzo

 

[50yrs same Healy]

I had planned to fabricate the rear seat squab thinking it couldn't be sourced. Looks like again, BCS, Stockton can do it and more. Thanks for the helpful tip. I'll be giving them a call. Gonzo

You're welcome. I stumbled across the site and found all the odd and rare items I was looking for. Items are oddly spread between multiple catalogs and difficult to find as their search doesn't seem to work perfectly between them. If you don't find something, call them as they almost have the part numbers in their heads. Anyway, for 80 bucks you can't really but decent wood to make item. Pretty sure I paid about 80 for a box of toothpicks at the grocery store. They also have the left side seat pan in stock, which are back ordered everywhere. Where are you planning to get the upholstery kit? And, if you've done it yourself in the past, how difficult is it as a DIY? Jacqueline

 

[Bob_Spidell]

BCS is the go-to for hard-to-find Healey parts; I usually just call them. The business was started by Norman Nock, a Scotsman who apprenticed with BMC and mechanic-ed for some of the rally teams. Norman retired a decade or more ago and, unfortunately, passed away not long after. The business is owned by Norman's son David and daughter Sheila. David is quite generous with advice, and parts guy John will usually know if they have what you need off the top-of-his-head. They have a huge collection of used parts, and are known to buy inventory from shops going out of business. Fortunately for me, they're about a half-hour drive from where I live. I once had an O/D that refused to mate with its gearbox, though I'd managed the trick before, so I ran them up there. David was kind enough to drop what he was doing and perform the surgery with the help of a couple of his mechanics.

British in Blood

 

[gonzo]

I'm re-doing my interior with a leather seat set sourced from AH Spares, U.K and purchased last year when the exchange rate was favorable. Although, their vinyl sets are excellent too. I will be covering the rear seat pans on my own, but the fronts are to be done professionally. Do-able but described as "bull-work" by some YouTubers who share their work/stuggles. GONZO

 

[50yrs same Healy]

I'm re-doing my interior with a leather seat set sourced from AH Spares, U.K and purchased last year when the exchange rate was favorable. Although, their vinyl sets are excellent too. I will be covering the rear seat pans on my own, but the fronts are to be done professionally. Do-able but described as "bull-work" by some YouTubers who share their work/stuggles. GONZO

As I live in a rural area, I've had concerns about local upholsters doing a British seat back. It's only the seat bottoms that need work due to the seat pans rusting out - much of the car original components still good. I've thought that I may do the bottoms and squab only and see if it looks acceptable. Figured butt wear might match it up, in time, or that this would do until I located somewhere in Denver with expertise. Although, price of gas might make it more reasonable to ship to location. You know how it goes, needed to redo carpet, which led to discovery of rusted seat pans, which led to..... Surprisingly, after finding the seat pan rust, I poked the heck out of the floor and it's sound. I'm pondering that. Jacqueline

 

[Bob_Spidell]

There's nothing about British upholstery that requires particular expertise; esp. if the shop has an original or kit to go by. I had my BN2 seats--Moss kit--done by an 80+ YO man in San Jose who said he'd started in the business at 13 when his father took ill. I was encouraged by the fact he had several exotics in his shop when I visited. He did say they were a PITA, esp. the seat bottoms as the foam required lots of shaping. On the seat backs, the part by the lumbar where there's a seam is sometimes done poorly, with looseness and/or too much wrinkling. He charged me $500 and it was well worth it.

 

[50yrs same Healy]

There's nothing about British upholstery that requires particular expertise; esp. if the shop has an original or kit to go by. I had my BN2 seats--Moss kit--done by an 80+ YO man in San Jose who said he'd started in the business at 13 when his father took ill. I was encouraged by the fact he had several exotics in his shop when I visited. He did say they were a PITA, esp. the seat bottoms as the foam required lots of shaping. On the seat backs, the part by the lumbar where there's a seam is sometimes done poorly, with looseness and/or too much wrinkling. He charged me $500 and it was well worth it.

60 plus years of experience! I'd hire him too. The prideful examples posted by my local guys, of simple USA cars, didn't give the warm fuzzy feeling I need to hire them. If I want it 3rd rate - I can do that myself for free - and I might need to. Interesting that some folks reference the seat bottoms as awful and others the seat backs as the challenge. Bob, I'm encouraged by your estimate that it's a do-able project. Although, when working on checking the rust through on my inner boot panels, I had trouble straightening up and backing out. Pretty sure I used to be more bendy.
In looking at various photos of car interiors, floppy saggy upholstery is noticeable. My 60 year old seats look better than some I've seen, which is concerning in going forward. My town has less than 6,000 people and the entire county less than 13,000 and we're the big dogs in a 4 county area. The only upholstery guy works out of his garage as a hobby income. I be afraid - very afraid. I'd be thrilled to have a completed project that looks like the seats in your photo. I bought Moss's upholstery video, which I'm reviewing now. Anyone do that - did it help?
The upside of limited resources - virtually no crime here and way cheap property taxes! We had the first murder in decades - drunken family fight a few years ago. So the trade-offs are fair enough.

 

[50yrs same Healy]

60 plus years of experience! I'd hire him too. The prideful examples posted by my local guys, of simple USA cars, didn't give the warm fuzzy feeling I need to hire them. If I want it 3rd rate - I can do that myself for free - and I might need to. Interesting that some folks reference the seat bottoms as awful and others the seat backs as the challenge. Bob, I'm encouraged by your estimate that it's a do-able project. Although, when working on checking the rust through on my inner boot panels, I had trouble straightening up and backing out. Pretty sure I used to be more bendy.
In looking at various photos of car interiors, floppy saggy upholstery is noticeable. My 60 year old seats look better than some I've seen, which is concerning in going forward. My town has less than 6,000 people and the entire county less than 13,000 and we're the big dogs in a 4 county area. The only upholstery guy works out of his garage as a hobby income. I be afraid - very afraid. I'd be thrilled to have a completed project that looks like the seats in your photo. I bought Moss's upholstery video, which I'm reviewing now. Anyone do that - did it help?
The upside of limited resources - virtually no crime here and way cheap property taxes! We had the first murder in decades - drunken family fight a few years ago. So the trade-offs are fair enough.

There's nothing about British upholstery that requires particular expertise; esp. if the shop has an original or kit to go by. I had my BN2 seats--Moss kit--done by an 80+ YO man in San Jose who said he'd started in the business at 13 when his father took ill. I was encouraged by the fact he had several exotics in his shop when I visited. He did say they were a PITA, esp. the seat bottoms as the foam required lots of shaping. On the seat backs, the part by the lumbar where there's a seam is sometimes done poorly, with looseness and/or too much wrinkling. He charged me $500 and it was well worth it.

Bob, the carpet looks like a recent re-do. Did you use any sound insulation or heat shield? If so - any advice?

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Depends how original you want to be. Originally, I think all the cars had a tar paper over paint, with jute padding then the carpet. On the BN2, I got the kit from Moss, which came with a thick pad, and just laid it down. It's not likely this car will see much rain; we put down lots of paint and I can add something later (1st photo). For the BJ8, a few years ago I scraped out the tar paper and installed Kilmat, a Russian(!) made knock-off of Dynamat (2nd photo), then put a layer of shredded cloth water heater insulation over it (3rd photo). Then, I had floor mats custom-made by Cocomats, which are da bomb (4th photo). The floorboards will get wet, some way, somehow, so it's arguably best to have carpets, etc. removable (there originally was 'Lift-A-Dot,' I think, fasteners). I'm comfortable that the Kilmat makes as least a good a seal as tar paper, and the cloth insulation will dry but probably not as quickly as jute. Dyna/KilMat helps with soundproofing, but not much with heat insulation. My cars are drivers, esp. the BJ8 which has somewhere around 210K miles. My BN2 is a factory 100M which my late father and I restored but it's not near concours quality, but it's fun to drive. The BJ8 still has the carpet that came with it; apparently an aftermarket kit of something done by an uphosterer. Not fancy but does the job.

One unusual thing I did for the BN2 was put a layer of a 'bubble-wrap' kind of insulation with a foil side inside the doors, followed by leather. The roadsters have 'hollow' doors and I think, originally all they had was with a layer of vinyl or leather--however they were fitted--and would make a hollow sound when closed. When I close the doors on that car they make a very satisfying, meaty 'thunk.' The Moss carpeting kit was OK, not great, with some parts of the boot lining not cut exactly right.

 

[50yrs same Healy]

Depends how original you want to be. Originally, I think all the cars had a tar paper over paint, with jute padding then the carpet. On the BN2, I got the kit from Moss, which came with a thick pad, and just laid it down. It's not likely this car will see much rain; we put down lots of paint and I can add something later (1st photo). For the BJ8, a few years ago I scraped out the tar paper and installed Kilmat, a Russian(!) made knock-off of Dynamat (2nd photo), then put a layer of shredded cloth water heater insulation over it (3rd photo). Then, I had floor mats custom-made by Cocomats, which are da bomb (4th photo). The floorboards will get wet, some way, somehow, so it's arguably best to have carpets, etc. removable (there originally was 'Lift-A-Dot,' I think, fasteners). I'm comfortable that the Kilmat makes as least a good a seal as tar paper, and the cloth insulation will dry but probably not as quickly as jute. Dyna/KilMat helps with soundproofing, but not much with heat insulation. My cars are drivers, esp. the BJ8 which has somewhere around 210K miles. My BN2 is a factory 100M which my late father and I restored but it's not near concours quality, but it's fun to drive. The BJ8 still has the carpet that came with it; apparently an aftermarket kit of something done by an upholsterer. Not fancy but does the job.

One unusual thing I did for the BN2 was put a layer of a 'bubble-wrap' kind of insulation with a foil side inside the doors, followed by leather. The roadsters have 'hollow' doors and I think, originally all they had was with a layer of vinyl or leather--however they were fitted--and would make a hollow sound when closed. When I close the doors on that car they make a very satisfying, meaty 'thunk.' The Moss carpeting kit was OK, not great, with some parts of the boot lining not cut exactly right.

Perfect. The car had cheap carpet replacement with nothing between floor and carpet - so nothing as a guide. While sound block would be ok, the heat through the floor, in winter, is a plus but my side of Colorado has 100 plus summers. I've ordered a velour carpet set from Germany that is more complete than most. Always difficult ordering from a 2s2 catalog photo. It comes with the oem type snaps, that can be used, which puzzles me on how to apply to floor side if I add too much padding. Clearly the snaps allow removal to dry if a puddles are actually holes. Really - if the pipes drain water out do they also pipe in?

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Related. KoolMat looks to be the optimum liner for heat rejection (I haven't used it):

BJ8 Trans Cover Carpet

Hello, Another carpet question. BJ8 tranny carpet has jute under it, with carpet held in place by snaps. (All carpet is unbound.) How does the transmission carpet tunnel meet the bulkhead carpet? Does tranny carpet stop at the fiberglass tunnel lip, or does it extend past, example by an...

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