SpitfireGeorge Posted April 5, 2022 Report Share Posted April 5, 2022 Hi Guys, Anybody got a Spit Mk3 seat, preferably with the sub-frame, for sale? Think it is the nearside that I need as the one I have has the slide adjuster on the right. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted April 5, 2022 Report Share Posted April 5, 2022 There’s one on eBay here. Bit steep though. The one in that link is a LH seat. You can tell as the back is wider to the transmission tunnel side. If you do have a RH seat already yourself you might get lucky and find a LH one, I don’t remember seeing a RH one for sale by itself over the past few years. I did a lot of looking at seat ads and considering options before deciding to rebuild the 1500 ones that my Mk3 came with! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpitfireGeorge Posted April 5, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2022 Hi Josef, Yes saw that one but it is a bit steep and it needs renovating too. Collection from Hove which is a bit far from me. Hoping to pay under £100 and get a sub-frame too! Bit cheeky I expect. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted April 6, 2022 Report Share Posted April 6, 2022 Yeah, the crazy prices being asked were another reason I decided not to get a set myself. I was mostly posting the link though as it’s got some good photos that help demonstrate how to spot the handedness of the seats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted April 6, 2022 Report Share Posted April 6, 2022 12 hours ago, SpitfireGeorge said: Hi Josef, Yes saw that one but it is a bit steep and it needs renovating too. Collection from Hove which is a bit far from me. Hoping to pay under £100 and get a sub-frame too! Bit cheeky I expect. Cheers. On my doorstep! I live in Hove, so happy to have a look at it. May be able to haggle price down too? I would say it may be usable, not perfect. Unlikley to find used seats a lot better? I have a fully refurbished pair in my mk3, the cost the previous owner a substantial sum to rebuild. And bear in mind a seat in poor condition is £50 upwards, probably more. I have seen early runners selling at over £100 pr. Not much use getting north though. We are off to Scotland in a few weeks, but in our spitfire, no space for a spare seat! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpitfireGeorge Posted April 7, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2022 Thanks Clive, That's kind of you to offer. If you could take a quick look and let me know what you think? Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted April 7, 2022 Report Share Posted April 7, 2022 46 minutes ago, SpitfireGeorge said: Thanks Clive, That's kind of you to offer. If you could take a quick look and let me know what you think? Cheers, I have sent him a message. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted April 8, 2022 Report Share Posted April 8, 2022 21 hours ago, SpitfireGeorge said: Thanks Clive, That's kind of you to offer. If you could take a quick look and let me know what you think? Cheers, I have been to visit the seat. Will send a pm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted April 8, 2022 Report Share Posted April 8, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpitfireGeorge Posted May 31, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2022 Apparently the driver's is different to the passenger's. Anybody know of one available anywhere? Contacted Spitfire Graveyard but I doubt they will have one either. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Twitchen Posted June 1, 2022 Report Share Posted June 1, 2022 Try giving SpitBitz a ring http://www.spitbitz.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpitfireGeorge Posted June 3, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2022 Thanks Dick have just sent am email. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted June 3, 2022 Report Share Posted June 3, 2022 How’re your metalwork skills George? I reckon it should be possible to hand fabricate a roundtail seat frame without any wildly specialised tools. It would need to be the mirror image of the one you’ve got. They’re not a hugely complicated shape, and there’s not anything tricky like a reclining mechanism to replicate. The basket for the seat cushion would be a bit fiddly, but again, should be possible. (Also, on your question about a loaner seat. The passenger side might fit well enough on the wrong side for the car to be drivable, have you tried that?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Cooper Posted June 3, 2022 Report Share Posted June 3, 2022 40 minutes ago, Josef said: (Also, on your question about a loaner seat. The passenger side might fit well enough on the wrong side for the car to be drivable, have you tried that?) It does indeed. When I had my seats re-trimmed by a local upholsterer, he did them one at a time and I swapped the passenger seat over so I could keep using the Spitfire to get to work while he did the driver's seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpitfireGeorge Posted June 5, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2022 Hi Guys, Thanks for your comments. Got lucky yesterday, David, TSSC member 1969Mk3Spitfire, went to the Classic Car Show at Tatton and saw a pair of Mk3 seats for sale and texted me to let me know. I was there an hour later and purchased them for £160. The driver's needs recovering as it has a couple of tears but the passenger looks very good. Unfortunately they did not have the runners so I am still on the lookout for a driver's side one. At a pinch the passenger side one can be used temporarily but to get it in the adjuster handle has to be moved up hence unlocking it. But as it is only a mile to the trimmers it should not be a problem. Thanks again David, 1969Mk3Spitfire. Cheers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted June 5, 2022 Report Share Posted June 5, 2022 I have seen there are reproduction bits for at least the lower parts of the roundtail seat runners in case part of one or a pretty knackered set turns up https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/295022764638?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=IFxwWDy6TCS&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=en_MztWYTyu&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1969Mk3Spitfire Posted June 6, 2022 Report Share Posted June 6, 2022 I'm absolutely delighted, George, that you were able to strike a deal with the trader and buy those seats. I see it as a tangible benefit of TSSC membership that by keeping an eye on the forum I was aware of your need and was able to make you aware of them. Great outcome. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted June 6, 2022 Report Share Posted June 6, 2022 20 hours ago, Mathew said: What is it with seats being sold without runners! Seems like the norm now but they used to be mainly complete. Given the state of the squaretail runners I rebuilt for mine (took them apart completely, thoroughly derusted everything and zinc plated then) I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d been binned or rotted away. Or of course people expecting to make a bit extra by splitting things… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanMi Posted June 6, 2022 Report Share Posted June 6, 2022 you have to remember that the newest roundtail was 10 years old when the last spitfire was built so it was really just an old banger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now