Defender center seat

Hi all
I have taken my cubby box out of my 300, and have fitted a center seat I got on ebay, now heres the thing, the seat seems to be too wide, and when fitted I am unable too move the drivers seat all the way back.
Is there any thing I am missing here, there was a center seat fitted originally, so I cant see why this one wont fit.
The frame on the seat hits the recliner mec on the drivers seat, it will not pass it. At present I have the drivers where I want it and the passengers seat is partly forward.
I want it all to work, any ideas greatly welcome.
thanks all
Ray

Think you may have the seats the wrong way round, the recliner mechanism on mine is on the outside of each seat (nearest the door)

Thanks for the reply, but my seats are are as yours, that's what is so frustrating, its the flat side of the recliner mec that the wont go past the frame on the center seat.
I can get the driver or passenger seat past it but not both. I`ve even considered that it may be bent, but there is a bar across the base that makes it rigid, ?

Ah, it sounded like you meant the lever mechanism was fouling , on my centre seat there are 4 rubber bobbin/isolators that go between the seat base and the seat box (probably about 20mm thick at a guess), do you have those installed?

Nope, no spacers of any kind, if I raised the center seat the I am sure the other two would go back, but not sure how high as yet

I'll measure the thickness of my spacers tomorrow (the seat is in the garage at the moment)

These type of things, size to follow

Right, man speak with forked tongue springs to mind! Just had a look at my uninstalled seat and there are only two spacers fitted to the rear mounting points and they are not the mounts I pointed out in the link above. What I have is two M8 x 40mm bolts and nuts, what I thought was the rubber bit is actually three rubber washers stacked up that the bolt goes through. This is probably a better solution than using those other mounts as the threaded parts on those are just bonded to the rubber so would probably separate in a crash. Looking closer at the rubber washers (for part numbers) they actually had HOLDTITE embossed on them which means they are tap washers! Anyway I measured up as they were probably added for the same issue you are having, end result they are 25mm diameter (1 inch),an three of them stacked up is 20mm. Whether I would do the same thing if I were to refit the seat is another question, think I would be tempted to machine up some ally ones to the same dimensions for a bit more rigidity.

Hope that helps.

Hi
Thanks for your input, I have raised the rear of the seat by 20mm, still no joy, it would seem that the seats strike the tube frame of the center seat and as such the seat would have to raise a lot more to clear, then the seat bases would be out.
I have asked a mate, who has one from a td5 to lend me it so as I can compare, still a mystery though.

Are all centre seats the same width? I thought that from 300tdi onward the outer seats were fitted an inch further towards the middle of the vehicle.

The mysteries of owning a land rover eh!

Rougharse Racing said:

Are all centre seats the same width? I thought that from 300tdi onward the outer seats were fitted an inch further towards the middle of the vehicle.

Click to expand...

Mine is a 96 300 CSW and the centre seat is a one piece affair but I think there may be some two piece ones around (with a removable seat base), perhaps that changes the width too?

Hi all
Mystery solved, the guy sold me a seat that came from a 90/110 series, not Defender, that's why it wont fit.
They look the same, but they are not, Got a refund, and brought a Defender seat, fits perfect.
Thanks for all you help.

At least the mystery is solved. That said I'm not sure I would want someone in the centre seat as I think things could get a bit 'friendly' when changing gears etc!