Ah to sit and slumber - a seat question

Okay guys and girls I need your brains and wisdom,

I am 8 weeks away from my Africa trip and some 10000+ miles of interesting
driving. I have looked at Exmoor Trim and BLRS and I have decided that i
need to change the passenger and drivers seat in my Defender 110 2.5TDI CSW,
1991. However, I really would like something more comfortable than the
standard Land Rover seat.

I would prefer to fit second hand ones as I suspect after four months in
Africa they will be veryyyyyyyy dusty. I also would like to fit them at a
reasonable price.

So here is the criteria - I want to keep the centre seat as one of my
daughters will be sitting in it. she loves it. I have four kids and they all
want to be sitting forwards. I also would like seats that have rear pockets.

So what seats will fit? I have access to three very good scrap yards.

I don't want any fancy electrics, just comfort. I do not need to have access
to the underseat boxes as both batteries are brand new and I can forget
them. I have fitted a second battery on a split charge system. I suppose if
I really did get a flat battery I could always whip a seat off as I will be
carrying a full tool kit.

So any ideas.

Yours

Andy

Andy Hi,

I am sorry I can not assist you about the selection of seats but may I
propose you run a pair of heavy duty wires with a male socket on one of
their sides and connect a female plug to the starter battery and leave this
femaly plug somewhere within easy reach if need arises?

This way you will not have to remove the seat in case you need to jump start
the car.

A twin battery setup does NOT guarantee that one of your batteries, or both
of them will not fail you when you need them the most.

And if you have paid for OPTIMA batteries don't be so sure about their
quality and several friends on expedition trips have found.

Take care
Pantelis Giamarellos
LAND ROVER CLUB OF GREECE


"Andrew Renshaw" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Okay guys and girls I need your brains and wisdom,
>
> I am 8 weeks away from my Africa trip and some 10000+ miles of interesting
> driving. I have looked at Exmoor Trim and BLRS and I have decided that i
> need to change the passenger and drivers seat in my Defender 110 2.5TDI
CSW,
> 1991. However, I really would like something more comfortable than the
> standard Land Rover seat.
>
> I would prefer to fit second hand ones as I suspect after four months in
> Africa they will be veryyyyyyyy dusty. I also would like to fit them at a
> reasonable price.
>
> So here is the criteria - I want to keep the centre seat as one of my
> daughters will be sitting in it. she loves it. I have four kids and they
all
> want to be sitting forwards. I also would like seats that have rear
pockets.
>
> So what seats will fit? I have access to three very good scrap yards.
>
> I don't want any fancy electrics, just comfort. I do not need to have
access
> to the underseat boxes as both batteries are brand new and I can forget
> them. I have fitted a second battery on a split charge system. I suppose
if
> I really did get a flat battery I could always whip a seat off as I will
be
> carrying a full tool kit.
>
> So any ideas.
>
> Yours
>
> Andy
>
>
>

On or around Wed, 26 Oct 2005 10:20:46 GMT, "Andrew Renshaw"
<[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>Okay guys and girls I need your brains and wisdom,
>
>I am 8 weeks away from my Africa trip and some 10000+ miles of interesting
>driving. I have looked at Exmoor Trim and BLRS and I have decided that i
>need to change the passenger and drivers seat in my Defender 110 2.5TDI CSW,
>1991. However, I really would like something more comfortable than the
>standard Land Rover seat.
>
>I would prefer to fit second hand ones as I suspect after four months in
>Africa they will be veryyyyyyyy dusty. I also would like to fit them at a
>reasonable price.
>
>So here is the criteria - I want to keep the centre seat as one of my
>daughters will be sitting in it. she loves it. I have four kids and they all
>want to be sitting forwards. I also would like seats that have rear pockets.
>
>So what seats will fit? I have access to three very good scrap yards.
>

Ford sierra are good. remove all the underpinnings, back to a basic seat
with 4x M8 threaded holes. Make plate (3mm steel would be better than the
2mm I used) which sits on the LR seat rails, is screwed down onto them and
extends (I forget exactly) about an inch either side with bolt holes to put
bolts up into the sierra seat. I think you can get away with having the
centre seat still in place, although on mine I moved the outer seats in
about an inch each and didn't have a centre one.

The plates on mine were in fact in 2 halves (front and back of the seat,
going across from side to side), although one big one would do equally well.

--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
"Remember that to change your mind and follow him who sets you right
is to be none the less free than you were before."
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180), from Meditations, VIII.16

Saw a thread here a couple of days ago that mentioned Rover car seats, but I
can't seem to find it now...
Wolverine.

On Wed, 26 Oct 2005 10:20:46 GMT, "Andrew Renshaw"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>So what seats will fit? I have access to three very good scrap yards.
>
>So any ideas.

Anything will fit if you work at it!

Main criteria is it needs to have a fairly low base else you end up
looking out above the windscreen (unless you are a short-arse!)

I have saab seats in mine (as i already had em spare) I had to
customise the base to make it lower. I can still fit a centre seat
between them.
I fixed 2 bits of angle iron onto the sides to bolt them down with.
The seats are fixed onto 4 'studs' (long bolts with nuts on fixed
through the seat box) that are fixed in place - so to remove the seat
i only have to undo 4 nuts from the top and then lift it out leaving
the studs in position in the seat box. Works well for the odd occasion
i have to get the battery out or access the fuel tank.

My landy came with metro seats in. They fitted alright but I scrapped
them as they were disgusting.

"Tom Woods" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Wed, 26 Oct 2005 10:20:46 GMT, "Andrew Renshaw"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>So what seats will fit? I have access to three very good scrap yards.
>>
>>So any ideas.
>
> Anything will fit if you work at it!
>
> Main criteria is it needs to have a fairly low base else you end up
> looking out above the windscreen (unless you are a short-arse!)
>
> I have saab seats in mine (as i already had em spare) I had to
> customise the base to make it lower. I can still fit a centre seat
> between them.
> I fixed 2 bits of angle iron onto the sides to bolt them down with.
> The seats are fixed onto 4 'studs' (long bolts with nuts on fixed
> through the seat box) that are fixed in place - so to remove the seat
> i only have to undo 4 nuts from the top and then lift it out leaving
> the studs in position in the seat box. Works well for the odd occasion
> i have to get the battery out or access the fuel tank.
>
> My landy came with metro seats in. They fitted alright but I scrapped
> them as they were disgusting.

I had, until recently, Ford XR3i seats in my 110. Very good side support and
the low base required, as mentioned by Tom. Piece of wee-wee to instyall,
1/4" flat bar at front, bolted to seat with a hole at each end to pick up on
the landy rails, 1" sq. tube at rear to get the correct base angle for
comfort.
Just replaced them with some high-backs bought from "tuningleader" on the
dreaded ebay, absolutely fantastic! Low base, excellent side support and
comfy. Just went from Elgin to the Isle of Mull and did recovery work on the
Tour of Mull Rally and never once got a sore back or ar5e!
Badger.

On or around Thu, 27 Oct 2005 13:15:02 +0000 (UTC), "Badger"
<[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>I had, until recently, Ford XR3i seats in my 110. Very good side support and
>the low base required, as mentioned by Tom. Piece of wee-wee to instyall,
>1/4" flat bar at front, bolted to seat with a hole at each end to pick up on
>the landy rails, 1" sq. tube at rear to get the correct base angle for
>comfort.

I think they're pretty similar to the sierra ones, especially the more
sporting sierra ones. The ones in my 110 were from an XR4x4, although I
recently got a pair much similar from an ordinary (but later) sierra. Didn't
bother with the angle adjustment though, they came out OK as they were.
--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
"The breezy call of incense-breathing Morn, The swallow twittering
from the strawbuilt shed, The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing
horn, No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed."
Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.

Andrew Renshaw wrote:

> Okay guys and girls I need your brains and wisdom,
>
> I am 8 weeks away from my Africa trip and some 10000+ miles of interesting
> driving. I have looked at Exmoor Trim and BLRS

I have no experience with BLRS's seats but I recently bought ExmoorTrim's
rear highbacks (two of them) plus extension kits for the 3 rear seats.

I have been less than impressed by all I received. A few examples. They
provide all the screws and nuts and washers. Good. Except that the screws
are so long that they physically won't fit between seats and will catch the
seat belts damaging them in the process. The fabric (techno in my case) is
alright but the plastic that goes on the back of the seats is very thin, a
lot thiner than original seats, and thus subject to damage (I already have
holes in then and they're not even 6 months old). The extension kits are
*very* badly welded and aligned to the extent that to fit they have to be
ground down, thus needing re-painting, which I would have done anyway
because the original paint was not that good (trapped dust and hair
everywhere and very thin in places and sagging in others).

On top of that, the seats are not that comfortable. The base is shorter the
the original (but nicely shaped) and the back is too deep as in a very deep
vertical centre area and 2 vertical cylinders (with an almost square
section) on both sides, meaning that the passengers' back rests mostly by
the shoulders and the spine does not touch anything, not holding the back
at all.

So I would just recommend to stay away from ExmoorTrim.

Just my 2p.

Fred

Fred Labrosse wrote:
> Andrew Renshaw wrote:
>
> > Okay guys and girls I need your brains and wisdom,
> >
> > I am 8 weeks away from my Africa trip and some 10000+ miles of interesting
> > driving. I have looked at Exmoor Trim and BLRS
>
> I have no experience with BLRS's seats but I recently bought ExmoorTrim's
> rear highbacks (two of them) plus extension kits for the 3 rear seats.
>
> I have been less than impressed by all I received. A few examples. They
> provide all the screws and nuts and washers. Good. Except that the screws
> are so long that they physically won't fit between seats and will catch the
> seat belts damaging them in the process. The fabric (techno in my case) is
> alright but the plastic that goes on the back of the seats is very thin, a
> lot thiner than original seats, and thus subject to damage (I already have
> holes in then and they're not even 6 months old). The extension kits are
> *very* badly welded and aligned to the extent that to fit they have to be
> ground down, thus needing re-painting, which I would have done anyway
> because the original paint was not that good (trapped dust and hair
> everywhere and very thin in places and sagging in others).
>
> On top of that, the seats are not that comfortable. The base is shorter the
> the original (but nicely shaped) and the back is too deep as in a very deep
> vertical centre area and 2 vertical cylinders (with an almost square
> section) on both sides, meaning that the passengers' back rests mostly by
> the shoulders and the spine does not touch anything, not holding the back
> at all.
>
> So I would just recommend to stay away from ExmoorTrim.
>
> Just my 2p.
>
> Fred



Following on from Fred's piece above, I called Exmoor trim to enquire
about child seats in my 90 (I was looking for some forward facing fixed
seats and needed some advice and if they could help) and was made to
feel like a complete idiot and that I was wasting their time (I'm not
and was'nt). The 'representative' on the other end of the phone even
moaned that this was the 3rd call that day enquiring about such a
thing.

I was also going to ask about retrimming all my seats, but guess
what....I did'nt bother to raise the subject.

Saying that, I cannot get BLRS to even answer the phone....

Cheers
Gavin

On or around 3 Nov 2005 04:00:12 -0800, "Gavin"
<[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>
>Fred Labrosse wrote:
>> Andrew Renshaw wrote:
>>
>> > Okay guys and girls I need your brains and wisdom,
>> >
>> > I am 8 weeks away from my Africa trip and some 10000+ miles of interesting
>> > driving. I have looked at Exmoor Trim and BLRS
>>
>> I have no experience with BLRS's seats but I recently bought ExmoorTrim's
>> rear highbacks (two of them) plus extension kits for the 3 rear seats.
>>
>> I have been less than impressed by all I received. A few examples. They
>> provide all the screws and nuts and washers. Good. Except that the screws
>> are so long that they physically won't fit between seats and will catch the
>> seat belts damaging them in the process. The fabric (techno in my case) is
>> alright but the plastic that goes on the back of the seats is very thin, a
>> lot thiner than original seats, and thus subject to damage (I already have
>> holes in then and they're not even 6 months old). The extension kits are
>> *very* badly welded and aligned to the extent that to fit they have to be
>> ground down, thus needing re-painting, which I would have done anyway
>> because the original paint was not that good (trapped dust and hair
>> everywhere and very thin in places and sagging in others).
>>
>> On top of that, the seats are not that comfortable. The base is shorter the
>> the original (but nicely shaped) and the back is too deep as in a very deep
>> vertical centre area and 2 vertical cylinders (with an almost square
>> section) on both sides, meaning that the passengers' back rests mostly by
>> the shoulders and the spine does not touch anything, not holding the back
>> at all.
>>
>> So I would just recommend to stay away from ExmoorTrim.
>>
>> Just my 2p.
>>
>> Fred
>
>
>
>Following on from Fred's piece above, I called Exmoor trim to enquire
>about child seats in my 90 (I was looking for some forward facing fixed
>seats and needed some advice and if they could help) and was made to
>feel like a complete idiot and that I was wasting their time (I'm not
>and was'nt). The 'representative' on the other end of the phone even
>moaned that this was the 3rd call that day enquiring about such a
>thing.
>
>I was also going to ask about retrimming all my seats, but guess
>what....I did'nt bother to raise the subject.
>
>Saying that, I cannot get BLRS to even answer the phone....

had reasonable results from BLRS. They made me a bench seat trimmed in
disco blue velour when I asked 'em; only proviso they made (quite
reasonably) was that I shouldn't try to send it back if it wouldn't fit.

Their series seats aren't exactly like the originals, but are functionally
the same and work OK.
--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
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In news:[email protected],
Austin Shackles <[email protected]> blithered:
> On or around 3 Nov 2005 04:00:12 -0800, "Gavin"
> <[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:
>
>>
>> Fred Labrosse wrote:
>>> Andrew Renshaw wrote:
>>>
>>>> Okay guys and girls I need your brains and wisdom,
>>>>
>>>> I am 8 weeks away from my Africa trip and some 10000+ miles of
>>>> interesting driving. I have looked at Exmoor Trim and BLRS
>>>
>>> I have no experience with BLRS's seats but I recently bought
>>> ExmoorTrim's rear highbacks (two of them) plus extension kits for
>>> the 3 rear seats.
>>>
>>> I have been less than impressed by all I received. A few examples.
>>> They provide all the screws and nuts and washers. Good. Except
>>> that the screws are so long that they physically won't fit between
>>> seats and will catch the seat belts damaging them in the process.
>>> The fabric (techno in my case) is alright but the plastic that goes
>>> on the back of the seats is very thin, a lot thiner than original
>>> seats, and thus subject to damage (I already have holes in then and
>>> they're not even 6 months old). The extension kits are *very*
>>> badly welded and aligned to the extent that to fit they have to be
>>> ground down, thus needing re-painting, which I would have done
>>> anyway because the original paint was not that good (trapped dust
>>> and hair everywhere and very thin in places and sagging in others).
>>>
>>> On top of that, the seats are not that comfortable. The base is
>>> shorter the the original (but nicely shaped) and the back is too
>>> deep as in a very deep vertical centre area and 2 vertical
>>> cylinders (with an almost square section) on both sides, meaning
>>> that the passengers' back rests mostly by the shoulders and the
>>> spine does not touch anything, not holding the back at all.
>>>
>>> So I would just recommend to stay away from ExmoorTrim.
>>>
>>> Just my 2p.
>>>
>>> Fred
>>
>>
>>
>> Following on from Fred's piece above, I called Exmoor trim to enquire
>> about child seats in my 90 (I was looking for some forward facing
>> fixed seats and needed some advice and if they could help) and was
>> made to feel like a complete idiot and that I was wasting their time
>> (I'm not and was'nt). The 'representative' on the other end of the
>> phone even moaned that this was the 3rd call that day enquiring
>> about such a thing.
>>
>> I was also going to ask about retrimming all my seats, but guess
>> what....I did'nt bother to raise the subject.
>>
>> Saying that, I cannot get BLRS to even answer the phone....
>
> had reasonable results from BLRS. They made me a bench seat trimmed
> in disco blue velour when I asked 'em; only proviso they made (quite
> reasonably) was that I shouldn't try to send it back if it wouldn't
> fit.
>
> Their series seats aren't exactly like the originals, but are
> functionally the same and work OK.

Hmm, suit you sir,
although I wouldn't have thought disco blue your colour!

--
"He who says it cannot be done should not interrupt her doing it."

If at first you don't succeed,
maybe skydiving's not for you!