New seats

[Johnluss]

Seats in my TR7 eed re-upholstering or a seat kit. But on Ebay you can have a set of brand new seats, racing type, Celica type, leather (?) for $135.99. Any of you have seen or bought these seats?
Thanks

[Launie]

Post a link to the seats and I'll tell you if they are the ones my son ordered last year for his BMW. I can't believe they are leather at that price, or even new vinyl!

The ones he bought were listed on Ebay but we found an importer in Toronto area, making the cost into Canada a lot less. Got the vinyl ones first, and ended up with the leather ones for a bit more (much better). Two styles too, and one style was way too narrow on the seat. Had to be for a small person or someone who loves being wedged in supertight[}:)]

Anyway,the leather ones in the second style are super and would fit a TR7.

Launie
'76 TR7 FHC
'86 Renault Alliance (daily driver)
'77 Chev Silverado
'86 BMW 635CSi

[Johnluss]

Thanks Launie. Here is the site for the seats.
http://cgi.ebay.ca/2x-LEATHER-RACING-SE ... dZViewItem

And can you give me the supplier of your son seats.
Thanks

[grndsm]

John,

I went through a similar seat selection process a few years ago. My previous experience with aftermarket seats was not all that great. First of all, you do not know just comfortable they are unless you try them out ahead of time (this isn't an easy thing to do when you are mail ordering seats). Second, the quality of aftermarket seat tends to be poor, unless you are buying something more expensive than $600/seat (or so).

My particular problem was with fading of the material. And since then, I have seen numerous faded out aftermarket seats.

Since I didn't want to pay $600+ for new Sparco's or Recaro's I decided to find an OEM seats that would work for my application. At first, I decided to try EVO8 Recaro seats (notice the tight fit in the shoulder area).



That is when I found the next problem: TR7s have relatively tight space around shoulders! That means that seats with prominent shoulder supports will not work! So I had to get rid of my EVO seats (this wasn't a problem as they are VERY desirable!).

As I mentioned several times in the past, I ended up with leather Celica GT seats. I found '02 Celica at a local dealer and went there to test drive the seats. They were very comfortable! And I am sure that Toyota OEM leather will hold up much better than anything you will find on a cheap aftermarket seat!



Even these seats are somewhat tight in the shoulders area, but they are still much better than full "race style" seats.


Leon
'94 Eagle Talon AWD Turbo 613whp <powered by Mitsu 4G63T
'80 TR7 Spyder GS-T <undergoing Mitsu 4G63T transplant
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2472999

[Launie]

John, as Leon says, you won't know how they fit you or the car, nor the quality. The ones you linked to on Ebay definitely won't fit in the shoulder. Plus, adding on the shipping and handling and customs duty, you'd be better to go local and try out aftermarket seats. I have the name of the Mississauga supplier of my son's somewhere. I'll try to find it. I think they would fit and they are the most comfortable seats I've been in. Also very attractive and good quality (leather). But you would be looking at around $400 for the pair (in leather).

One solution (in N. America) is Fiero seats. They are small enough for the TR7 and are often used in MGBs. The wreckers are full of them, and with a day's touring around you should be able to find a nice color and not worn out. I bought a rough set for $30 that I am reupholstering (being a glutton for hard work and frustration)and they are very slightly narrower than the originals, almost precisely the same height, and they bend forward more than the TR7 originals (easier to clean out behind the seats). One nice plus is that most of them have a decent set of speakers in the headrest. Apparently they were designed by Lockheed, and they are certainly comfortable and look good.

But having said all this, I like the look of Leon's and already upholstered in leather too![:D] By the way, you can get new upholstery kits online for the Fiero seats (Mikes).

Launie
'76 TR7 FHC
'86 Renault Alliance (daily driver)
'77 Chev Silverado
'86 BMW 635CSi

[Rich in Vancouver]

I put a set of Recaros in an MG I owned and found them to be too firm. I ended up reupholstering the original seats. Goes to show how important it is to test drive seats before buying.

Rich

1975 TR7 ACL764U

[silverseven]

John why don't you just re-upholster the factory seats??

Many here have mentioned that rebuilding the factory seats is one of the best ways to go, once the foams and diaphrams are changed, aparently they are really quite good!! (and probably a whole lot easier and safer than tring to fit something that was not made to fit there.......)

I'm contiplating (or procrastinating lol) in having my local trim shop (Marcel @ Vitro-plus Vaureuil-Dorion, who does subcontract work for my shop) reconstruct mine soon, he says he can just about match my velour, and wants to charge me around 200-250$ per seat depending on how much of a pita the job will be.

Ron.

[FI Spyder]

I thought the factory seats were quite comfy on the 1,000 mlie ride home. I installed new seat diaphrams whch firmed them up quite a bit. The foam is original but a little brittal around the edges. I reversed the drivers headrest which was put on backwards and that brought it more in line were it should be. (I'd like them a little more forward than they are.) With new foam and back rubber straps it would improve them even more. I did sit in a TR7 that had Miata leather seats and I didn't like them. They felt high centered and unstable. I don't know how many different styles of Miata seats there are but I wouldn't put these in mine.

TR7 Spider - 1978 Spifire - 1976 Spitfire - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra

[frankman]

..... This issue, we had already .. [8D]

I think it is not beautiful in a convertible ! when the seats are too high, it would have been classic seats as the old Recaro the problem is the car is too small or does it not fit for me - the line (shape) is damaged it acts as issued [B)]

It is of course a matter of taste

http://www.wwclassics.com/

http://www.classiccarseats.com/


Hello from Switzerland

Frank

[grndsm]

I can see your argument, Frank.

However, how do you feel about roll bars on convertibles? IMO, a well designed roll bar can really compliment an open top car! And at that point, the seat height does not really matter.

Leon
'94 Eagle Talon AWD Turbo 613whp <powered by Mitsu 4G63T
'80 TR7 Spyder GS-T <undergoing Mitsu 4G63T transplant
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2472999

[Johnluss]

Thank you all for your input and help. One reason why I was looking for new seats is the headrest wich is too low for me on the TR7 seats and also a high seat would have cut the back draft.

[saabfast]

I believe the headrest height on the TR7 seat is adjustable, by just pulling it up. However, I have never been able to get mine to move, probably rusted in!

Alan
Saab 9000 Stg 1
'81 TR7 DHC

[Johnluss]

My head rest is pulled to max and I had to add a lenght of tubing to stabilize it.