Seat dilemma

[Dady]

Now that I’m keeping my TR4a IRS for the foreseeable future, I’ve decided that the seats need attention. However, not sure which way to go with this. Do I refurbish the current (original) seats or replace with something more comfortable and supportive? I’ve considered the MX5 based reupholstered seats that many members have gone for, also viewed the Sussex seats that Rimmer Bros were displaying at the NEC last weekend. 
I would be very interested to have the thoughts of those that have already been there and done that. 
Will my seats, once refurbished, give me the support I need? Is it worth investing anything up to £2k to replace with new? If I choose the refurb route are there any recommendations of suppliers for this service?

As usual, any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

David

[iani]

I replaced the original seats in my TR6 with removable headrest MX5 ones, I could have had the TR ones recovered but they still would have lacked the support that the MX5 ones gave. If you are going to spend a lot of time in the car comfort is very important, I use Alfa 156 seats in my PI saloon & estate, I also fit modern seats to gain headrests, again, missing in early Triumph seats.

[cvtrian]

Comfort and safety would be my choice, I have MOSS leather seats, complete with headrests, in my TR6. https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/classic-seat-assemblies-mgb.html (interior of my car is black anyway, ignore the MG bit!)

IMHO They are more period looking, but MX5 alternatives are brilliant value for money - and can be trimmed to suit existing colours, Paul Bishop is a popular choice for the work.
Ian

[Colin Symonds]

I have the Moss seats as well, trimmed in black leather with white piping, I find them extremely comfortable, enough support without feeling imprisoned.  Mine are about 15 years old now and suit the car perfectly.

Edited November 14, 2023 by Colin Symonds

[keith1948]

Hello David

One issue not mentioned by replies so far is that the original 4A seats do not lock down to the runners. Changed mine for a pair of TR6 seats and had to modify the runners so the locking hooks would work. Basically this was done by extending the flat part of the runner that the back of the seat sits on. You could use another runner to make extensions. Not having the locking mechanism on the 4A seats was a safety issue for me. The only thing holding me and the seat down was the seatbelt. Also the original seats fastened at the front using same holes each side but the TR6 seats didn't seem to line up properly so at the front, one bolt is in one of the 2 holes and the other is in the other hole otherwise the seats weren't pointing ahead. They were at a slight angle which made them uncomfortable until I did this.

The headrests on the TR6 seats are a bit too low even when fully extended and not that good if you are tall. The mechanism that controls the up and down movement of the headrest was broken/missing on the TR6 seats I refurbished and I made something that worked ok using rubber rawlbolts. The TR6 seats are adjustable (reclinable) which the 4A seats are not. That gives a bit more comfort. I have driven around Wales and France with both 4A and TR6 seats and the 6 seats are marginally more comfortable.

Refurbishing the seats wasn't too difficult. I used upholstery foam from a local upholsterer and cut the pieces to shape and glued them together with upholstery foam glue. Main thing is to get the shape right before you fit the covers.

Keith

[Nick Seber]

7 hours ago, cvtrian said:

Comfort and safety would be my choice, I have MOSS leather seats, complete with headrests, in my TR6. https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/classic-seat-assemblies-mgb.html (interior of my car is black anyway, ignore the MG bit!)

IMHO They are more period looking, but MX5 alternatives are brilliant value for money - and can be trimmed to suit existing colours, Paul Bishop is a popular choice for the work.
Ian

+1 Paul Bishop seats 

[trchris]

Hi David

l fitted US TR6 leather faced  seats into my 4a and find these to be comfortable and look,in my opinion, good with the Surrey top

Chris

[John Morrison]

Seperate headrest MX5 Seats, 

did 440 mls in a day in the TR in September without an ache, 

and still great value for money.

John.

[John L]

I bought some cushions for my MGB at Moss, they are very soft sponge, having looked on the MGB forum, I was advised that the Moss ones were in fact very soft and not like the originals, and was advised to speak to Mirrortrim, https://mirrortrim.co.uk/  may be worth talking to them about the quality of foams.

John

[Hamish]

Consider these seat options from Ridgard Seats

https://www.ridgardseats.co.uk

not only great seats but a company rescued by a TRmember and who has gone on to sponsor the club’s championship thus very worth supporting. 

[SuzanneH]

25 years ago we had our original TR4A seats reupholstered and recovered in leather. They are as original, very comfortable and 25 years later still very comfortable. During these 25 years we have averaged 15000 miles a year or thereabouts and have often driven nonstop from Oban, Scotland to West London , about 500+ miles.

We once installed a TR6 passenger seat with the facility to lean back and with a headrest, this was for the Round Britain Reliability RUN to enable the co driver to lean back and sleep. This turned out to be a complete wast of time as it was the most uncomfortable seat ever. My son, the codriver didn’t like it at all.

Although I didn’t take part in the RBRR I had to sit in this TR6 passenger seat whilst it was in our TR4A before and after the RBRR, it was very uncomfortable especially around the back of my legs.

I would strongly advise not to consider TR6 seats and if necessary redo your TR4A seats.

Edited November 15, 2023 by SuzanneH

[monty]

1 hour ago, Hamish said:

Consider these seat options from Ridgard Seats

https://www.ridgardseats.co.uk

not only great seats but a company rescued by a TRmember and who has gone on to sponsor the club’s championship thus very worth supporting. 

I had Ridgards in my TR4. Very comfortable. Expect them to still be good from the new owner but probably a little on the high side price wise? I have Cobra Classics in my 4A & they have been good for 15 years. Obtained from Merlin Motorsport @ a reasonable cost. The critical thing in a TR4 or 4A is the width in the cabin for non-standard seats.

[Dady]

1 hour ago, SuzanneH said:

25 years ago we had our original TR4A seats reupholstered and recovered in leather. They are as original, very comfortable and 25 years later still very comfortable. During these 25 years we have averaged 15000 miles a year or thereabouts and have often driven nonstop from Oban, Scotland to West London , about 500+ miles.

We once installed a TR6 passenger seat with the facility to lean back and with a headrest, this was for the Round Britain Reliability RUN to enable the co driver to lean back and sleep. This turned out to be a complete wast of time as it was the most uncomfortable seat ever. My son, the codriver didn’t like it at all.

Although I didn’t take part in the RBRR I had to sit in this TR6 passenger seat whilst it was in our TR4A before and after the RBRR, it was very uncomfortable especially around the back of my legs.

I would strongly advise not to consider TR6 seats and if necessary redo your TR4A seats.

Thank you for your insight. I wonder if you can remember who did the restoration work and are they still in business? I’m wanting the best of both worlds really, comfort but also originality is important.

David

 

[Dady]

3 hours ago, Hamish said:

Consider these seat options from Ridgard Seats

https://www.ridgardseats.co.uk

not only great seats but a company rescued by a TRmember and who has gone on to sponsor the club’s championship thus very worth supporting. 

Thanks for the link. I’ve just sent Sam a request for some costs to refurb or replace.

David

[SuzanneH]

16 hours ago, Dady said:

Thank you for your insight. I wonder if you can remember who did the restoration work and are they still in business? I’m wanting the best of both worlds really, comfort but also originality is important.

David

 

Hello David. You request has reminded me that we also had a pair of seats reupholstered in about 2012 in red leather for our TR4. They were £500:00 per seat back then, not including the leather covers which we purchased separately @ + £400:00 per pair.

 The company was Motobuild in Egham, Surrey and my husband says they are still in business. They were always very busy but worth the wait.

 

https://classiccarwebsite.com/item/moto-build/

 

Edited November 16, 2023 by SuzanneH

[Andy Moltu]

The fixed and separate early Mx5 seats are essential the same (Ignoring the funny higher Porker like seats) 

The fixed head restraints have inbuilt speakers. 

[North London Mike]

MX5, Sep Head Rests, work really well in any TR and can be trimmed to suit. VERY important to trial drive a members car with the seat of your choice already fitted, try before you buy. Agree John M's comments, last year coming back from Sicily, did 3 back to back tour days averaging over 400 miles per day

 

Edited November 16, 2023 by North London Mike

[Jase]

I have to agree, I was sceptical about changing from the originals to Mx5 but they do compliment the cabin and they are very very comfortable and safer:

 

[Bleednipple]

I have Moss seats in my TR4. They are extremely comfortable and somehow manage to offer more support laterally than they look like they should. We've done a three-week long event in them and they worked very well for us. 

We have a pair of Ridgards in our Alfa. They are 'proper' rally bucket seats so locate you very securely although are very firm. We've done a couple of multi-day rallies in them. The frames they come on are canted quite strongly front to back, I don't know how that would suit a TR cockpit straight in, maybe fine but they could be chopped about to suit no doubt. Our seats had some issues with the seat pads and had to go back for some re-working, which they willingly did. I'd guess that was a teething issue with the recently re-started manufacturing.

I haven't sat on the MX5 seats but they do look like a good compromise between the original 'slab' TR seats and a modern format and that's no doubt why they're a popular choice.

Nigel

[Dady]

Thank you to all who have proffered advice, much appreciated.

I’ve considered all options mentioned and given my budget and the fact that I won’t unfortunately, be touring in the car for any length of time, I think the MX5 option is probably the best compromise for me. They look supportive and certainly safer then my current (original) seats. The only disappointment is that my current seats have a heating pad fitted which I was hoping to replicate. Although I don’t use this function, I’ve always thought I’d keep the setup as a future selling point. I don’t know how easy/difficult it might be to remove these elements from the old seats and have them transferred to the new ones. My local supplier of the MX5 seats is not willing to undertake this for me. I’d be grateful to know if anyone with MX5 seats has done this or knows who could do this job for me.

David 

 

Edited November 29, 2023 by Dady

[stuart]

20 minutes ago, Dady said:

Thank you to all who have proffered advice, much appreciated.

I’ve considered all options mentioned and given my budget and the fact that I won’t unfortunately, be touring in the car for any length of time, I think the MX5 option is probably the best compromise for me. They look supportive and certainly safer then my current (original) seats. The only disappointment is that my current seats have a heating pad fitted which I was hoping to replicate. Although I don’t use this function, I’ve always thought I’d keep the setup as a future selling point. I don’t know how easy/difficult it might be to remove these elements from the old seats and have them transferred to the new ones. My local supplier of the MX5 seats is not willing to undertake this for me. I’d be grateful to know if anyone with MX5 seats has done this or knows who could do this job for me.

David 

 

A forum search will I think show you how to do just that.

Stuart.

[Dady]

Update - I am pleased to report that my new seats were installed last Thursday. 
I chose the MX5 type with detachable headrest. They were fitted by Carl from TR Trader and I must say I’m very pleased with the results. Very firm and solid with leather facings. Only driven a few miles to test but so far so good. A good match for the rest of the interior too.

My compliments to Carl, what a nice guy to do business with. 
 

David

 

 

 

 

 

[Jase]

13 hours ago, Dady said:

Update - I am pleased to report that my new seats were installed last Thursday. 
I chose the MX5 type with detachable headrest. They were fitted by Carl from TR Trader and I must say I’m very pleased with the results. Very firm and solid with leather facings. Only driven a few miles to test but so far so good. A good match for the rest of the interior too.

My compliments to Carl, what a nice guy to do business with. 
 

David

 

 

 

 

 

Congrats, just one piece of advice, if you are using inertia seatbelts fit the seatbelt guide to the headrest. It can wear the trim on the seat (we think) if you are not careful.

[Jase]

Like this

[Dady]

Hi Jase, thanks for the advice. Do you remember your source for those seatbelt guides. I have static belts at present but was considering changing to inertia ones.

David