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Mercedes Seats in a TR7/8

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Vegas_M
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Mercedes Seats in a TR7/8

Postby Vegas_M » 13 Sep 2012 00:55

Last fall I had the opportunity to buy some all electric leather seats from a wrecked Merc 230C for a ridiculously low Cdn$50 for the pair. How could I say no? They were filthy and the forward reverse motor on one seat was missing. So last weekend I finally got busy to see if my purchase might be adaptable to the TR. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to make them fit.

Here are the stock Merc seat on the left, my recovered (ugly!!) stock TR7 seat, and the Merc seat on the TR7 frame.

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The stock Merc seat and mount is way to high for the car, and I didn't want to cut out the floor rails to lower it. So I took the seat apart and mounted it to a TR7 frame. The seat height is now almost the same as the original TR7 one, and infinitely more comfortable. [:o)]

So, the electric fore/aft seat adjuster is gone and I have to use the stock TR7 one (ah shame....). In doing so, I also lost the seat up/down & tilt movement, but that doesn't really matter to me and the rear of the seat is still spring loaded for a nice cushy ride. Here is a pic of the original Merc vs TR7 mounting:

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And one from the side:

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I still have all of the other electric functionality available, adjustable backrest, lumbar, headrest, leg side support (whatever that is called) and even the electric seat warmer!!

To mount the Merc seat was surprisingly easy, once I figured out how to get the stock brackets apart. Some minor cutting and drilling. Two bolts at the front and two small simple angle brackets at the back are all that was required. I cut the original Merc seat pivot cross arm (for the tilt function), drilled and tapped the ends and bolted them to the TR7 frame:

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Then I made up two angle brackets for the rear, to mount the back rest and be a platform for the seat springs in the rear.

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New and old compared:

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Now to do the other seat, mount them in the car and figure out how to manage all the electric controls! [:D]

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M.

DNK
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Postby DNK » 13 Sep 2012 02:43

Dang- Those babies are tall

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FI Spyder
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Postby FI Spyder » 13 Sep 2012 14:01

Still looks pretty tall after conversion (could always be optical illusion), might have to raise the winshield a few inches.[:p]

I'll stick to my TR7 seats that where recovered prior to 1985 and still look like new as I can drive for ten hours straight in them (couldn't keep my eyelids open longer).

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whitenviro
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Postby whitenviro » 13 Sep 2012 14:26

They look pretty comfortable and might be the closest replacement I've seen to the original appearance and dimensions (except the height). Will the color go alright with your interior? Show some more pics once they are mounted in the car!

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Postby Vegas_M » 13 Sep 2012 15:38

The height of the back is fine for me (6'+) when in the car. It is not as obvious as the above pictures make it appear. Will try to post pics of both orig TR7 and modified Merc seat in the car, after work today. (Car is still in a state of many pieces though, getting ready for paint.)

FYI - I plan to dye the leather to match the interior.

M.

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Postby Vegas_M » 13 Sep 2012 21:07

Ok. Right after work today I pulled the cover off the car and sat the old and new seats in for comparison. A few pics.

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Looks fine to me. Will do the other seat conversion tonight.

Then, back to the body work.... Yuck [V]

Martin

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Postby Cobber » 13 Sep 2012 23:20

<font size="2"><font face="Comic Sans MS">A thought just occurred to me: Will you have enough clearance to put the roof up/down? It might pay to check that none of the roof's folding mechanism will foul on the head rests </font id="Comic Sans MS"></font id="size2">



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Vegas_M
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Postby Vegas_M » 14 Sep 2012 11:19

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Cobber</i>

<font size="2"><font face="Comic Sans MS">A thought just occurred to me: Will you have enough clearance to put the roof up/down? It might pay to check that none of the roof's folding mechanism will foul on the head rests </font id="Comic Sans MS"></font id="size2">

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Already checked. No problem.

Martin

[url="https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0BxOL0HRH5pDeNWRlOTVhZjgtMWE1Mi00ZWNiLWE3ZGYtOWNiODU1Y2JjOGQ0&hl=en_GB"]My TR7v8 Document Repository[/url]

FI Spyder
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Postby FI Spyder » 14 Sep 2012 13:55

I'm interested in your initial driving impressions. The seat sits a headrest above the TR7 seat. You're 6'+, I'm 5'10" and with 13" wheel have to duck my head to see signal lights on dash plus even with the wind blocker the air flow going over the car just skims my head. Leaning forward slightly I'm out of air flow. With your larger height and higher seat I fear you'll have to wear goggles and leather helmet a la World War I fighter pilots.

Don't forget the silk scarf.[:p]


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Postby Vegas_M » 14 Sep 2012 15:41

The seat base isn't any higher. Only the backrest. Guess I'll find out next spring, my scheduled launch date.......... [8D]

Martin

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busheytrader
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Postby busheytrader » 15 Sep 2012 05:43

Are Merc drivers really that tall?

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Postby John Clancy » 15 Sep 2012 07:04

Interestingly there was a press report in 1975 after the launch of the TR7 at Boca Rotan (if that's the correct spelling) in Florida that mentioned the comfort of the TR7 seat - "have Mercedes seats been put in the TR7?" or something like that was the question. The current Mercedes seats may be better than olden times but I haven't tried them so can't comment. What I will say is, I haven't sat in a modern vehicle that has seats as comfortable as my original TR7 seats. A lot of people have replaced their seats because the originals have become worn, always due to either a collapsed diaphragm, knackered seat foam or broken frame. Repair them and they're back to being the best seats you'll ever find in a car.

Having said that, this new attempt to make a different seat fit looks a lot better than the usual MX5 replacement. But the originals certainly look better and would look even better still with original coverings.

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