Rockape Posted November 25, 2021 Report Share Posted November 25, 2021 So - having perused the forums it seems I have unwittingly joined the fraternity of Spitfire owners with challenging seats…in the car that is…. My ‘68 Mk3 is in great condition following its complete rebuild. However, I am told the seats are off a Mk4. they were very hard to slide when the carpets were in, and now I know why. They are too wide by quite a margin. ( I am fitting new carpets and sound deadening ) Given that Mk3 seats appear to be as rare as the proverbial, what are my options? Fit MX5 seats and remove some seat foam (which year MX5 though?) Would it be possible to strip down the existing seats, modify and re-foam/cover? (They need new foam anyway) any ideas greatfully accepted…. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted November 25, 2021 Report Share Posted November 25, 2021 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175029615010?hash=item28c093f9a2%3Ag%3ALgYAAOSwAfZhl~pf&LH_ItemCondition=3000 You could always try a cheeky offer.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockape Posted November 25, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2021 25 minutes ago, Colin Lindsay said: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175029615010?hash=item28c093f9a2%3Ag%3ALgYAAOSwAfZhl~pf&LH_ItemCondition=3000 You could always try a cheeky offer.... Interesting- thanks for pointing this out…. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted November 25, 2021 Report Share Posted November 25, 2021 1 hour ago, Rockape said: However, I am told the seats are off a Mk4. they were very hard to slide when the carpets were in, and now I know why. They are too wide by quite a margin. No, Mk4 seats fit a Mk3 perfectly well and slide nicely, as long as you use the Mk4 runners and drill the extra holes for the fittings (as the runners are more widely spaced than the Mk3 ones). If they don't slide it's almost certainly down to one of two things: - the runners are rusty (extremely common!) - They've been fitted on top of thick carpets without the necessary spacers, and the runners are thus bent (even more common!) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanMi Posted November 25, 2021 Report Share Posted November 25, 2021 The floorpans are the same on mk3 and later. In fact pretty much the whole of the interior structure is the same, so the mk4 seats should fit without issue. Of course if new pans have been fitted the holes may have been misplaced. Seats being hard to slide is normall carpet issues. There should be thick washers under the seat slide bases to lift it from the floor a bit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockape Posted November 25, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2021 Well - that’s what one would think. However the facts are these seats are two wide …..so perhaps they are not Mk4 seat at all? Potentially I guess the floor pan is different - but nothing else is out so am pretty sure that’s not the case….would need to find some dimensions of the original pan to check I guess - the key one being width between transmission tunnel and inner door sill. it’s annoying ….. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted November 25, 2021 Report Share Posted November 25, 2021 3 minutes ago, Rockape said: Well - that’s what one would think. However the facts are these seats are two wide …..so perhaps they are not Mk4 seat at all? Potentially I guess the floor pan is different - but nothing else is out so am pretty sure that’s not the case….would need to find some dimensions of the original pan to check I guess - the key one being width between transmission tunnel and inner door sill. it’s annoying ….. When I replaced the floors in my Mk1 GT6 the seat mounting holes were in totally different places; the earlier ones were closer together so I had to position the seats on the new floors and drill accordingly. Even if you've had the floorpans replaced they still fit into the same space in the original car, so will be no narrower / wider between the sills and tunnel. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockape Posted November 25, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2021 15 minutes ago, NonMember said: No, Mk4 seats fit a Mk3 perfectly well and slide nicely, as long as you use the Mk4 runners and drill the extra holes for the fittings (as the runners are more widely spaced than the Mk3 ones). If they don't slide it's almost certainly down to one of two things: - the runners are rusty (extremely common!) - They've been fitted on top of thick carpets without the necessary spacers, and the runners are thus bent (even more common!) Lack of spacers could be the issue - any suggestions what dimension they would be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Truman Posted November 25, 2021 Report Share Posted November 25, 2021 On both the Vitesse and Dolly Sprint the slide issues was down to the guides being bowed over time, straightened and they are great now, daughters Mk2 Spit slide great, but I did strip a anchor nut thread with it getting carpet bound, so I burnt the loose carpet with a bit of old gal pipe around the mounting holes to ensure no repeat & heli-coiled the damaged nut! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockape Posted November 25, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2021 49 minutes ago, DanMi said: The floorpans are the same on mk3 and later. In fact pretty much the whole of the interior structure is the same, so the mk4 seats should fit without issue 9 minutes ago, Peter Truman said: On both the Vitesse and Dolly Sprint the slide issues was down to the guides being bowed over time, straightened and they are great now, daughters Mk2 Spit slide great, but I did strip a anchor nut thread with it getting carpet bound, so I burnt the loose carpet with a bit of old gal pipe around the mounting holes to ensure no repeat & heli-coiled the damaged nut! I do need to watch for that when I install the new carpets …. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanMi Posted November 25, 2021 Report Share Posted November 25, 2021 for the spacers just 5 or 6 washers will do the job, they were just a thick washer, but are generally lost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockape Posted November 25, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2021 Thanks - I was thinking a nut of a suitable size would do the business…just need to make sure I don’t put in too much to put my head over the windscreen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted November 25, 2021 Report Share Posted November 25, 2021 I bought some cheap nylon spacers off eBay - 6mm thick. You could go up to half inch thick if you're expecting to fit them through the carpet rather than on top of it, otherwise all you need is the thickness that the carpet compresses by. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrapman Posted November 26, 2021 Report Share Posted November 26, 2021 You don't actually show us what the seats look like, so unable to say if they are Mk4 Mk3 floor pans had 6 captive nuts, as US seats were like Mk4 seats. So 4 on inside and 2 on outside, or other way round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockape Posted November 26, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2021 Here are a couple of photos that may shed some light. on the floor pan, the four holes in Green are I believe the original holes . The red ones are the ones in use on the left hand side rail(this is the passenger seat) does this look like the original penetrations . It’s a little odd as the one bottom right is a clearance hole and requires a washer and nut. The others have captive nuts or are threaded. also shown is a photo of the seat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted November 26, 2021 Report Share Posted November 26, 2021 That does look like a Mk4 seat but it's NOT the passenger one! If you've got them swapped - so the tilt release lever is by the transmission tunnel - then they won't fit. The release lever should be by the door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockape Posted November 26, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2021 Thanks - should have been more clear - the seat I know is the drivers side - it’s just the mounting holes are more clear on the passenger side as I have the silent coat installed on the drivers side … although looking at this drivers side photo the mounting bolts are pretty obvious! Which makes me wonder why there are new/additional holes on the passenger side… grrrrr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrapman Posted November 26, 2021 Report Share Posted November 26, 2021 Passenger side red holes in wrong place, they should be alongside the green ones. green ones should also be captive. And Mk4 seats should always use the wider holes, so odd that your drivers side doesn't by looks of it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Truman Posted November 26, 2021 Report Share Posted November 26, 2021 looking at the photo of the red and green circles on the passenger side the btm right larger hole has obviously been drilled out as you can see the 4 indent marks of the spot weld which holds the captive nut plate 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockape Posted November 26, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2021 I am going to check the dimensions of the rails - there are only 4 bolts so not sure now which of the six holes on the passenger side are being used. the drivers side “looks” right - with the four bolt locations being on the raised section of the floor pan (meaning they are at the same height, and match the four green circles on the passenger side. The extraneous red circled holes may be for some long forgotten project ! anyway - I think I have the main answers - they are Mk4 seats, and the rails need to be mounted on some spacers …. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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