33-34 Front seat upholstery

[darcy]

Hi, I am working on the basis that the front seat squabs had 8 two inch pleats (finished size). On this basis the width of the seat should be 16inches ie from inside piped edge to inside piped edge. Can someone give me an idea of the length, front to back, inside piped edges? Thanks in advance. I will eventually get around to the back stab and need the same measurements for each?

[jeans_old_man]

Hi Darcy,
Measured from my original 1935 Dunlopillow cushion. The length is 16.5" width is 17" and height is 4". The height at the back is 1.5". You can see that there are 7 + 2 narrow pleats.
My present covers were made in 1970s and do not have piping along the rear edge but rather the pleats extend over the wooden base. I'm not sure if this is original or not. Brian

[Phillip]

I have detail photos and information of the original upholstery which is still on my '34 Sports. Both front and rear seats. Is this what you need? The cushions on these were inflatable bladders.

[darcy]

Phillip, yes that would be a great help. I am not sure if it helps from a comfort perspective to slope to the back or not. The “original Australian” seats were more like a slab, about 4” all around.

Nearly all the photos I have collected appear to have 8 pleats, but some have 9 as per above.

[jeans_old_man]

The 1934 advert on the main website refers to "Furniture hide upholstery, separately adjustable sponge-rubber cushions". I wonder if the bladders were fitted to the export models? Brian

[darcy]

Brian thanks for your photos. I had planned on making mine slightly longer for extra thigh support as I am 6 foot. They will also be on slides to extend backwards.

[telco.2]

Hi darcy,
I still have the remains of the original rear seat upholstery for my '34 if that would be of help?

[casadecabra]

I too would like all the information I can get about the front seats.This topic came up in this forum about a year ago ('Le Mans seats and upholstery') where Roland ('mothy') gave a lot of useful information although his seats had been remade. Were the front squabs really only located by a peg and a hole in the floorboards?

I'm on firmer ground with the full width backrest as my car came with the original, albeit with considerable rot and woodworm. The base was 3/8" plywood with various hardwood supports screwed on covered with felt padding. It was stuffed with horsehair under the leather covering which had 18 x 2" pleats. Some photos follow. I deduced enough information to have a go at making a new base - in the photos you can see the original bits as they are black. One thing I am not sure about is the profile of the supports at each end as the originals had completely disappeared.

Can anyone recommend a competent upholsterer in the south of England capable of recovering the seats?

David B

[Phillip]

Here are the photos of the front seat back and cushion. These are original and had the inflatable bladder in both the front seat cushions. When these failed, someone replaced them with sponge.

Singer Upholstery_Front Seat Cushion_72dpi.jpg (150 KiB) Viewed 7043 times

Singer Upholstery_Back of seat cushion_72dpi.jpg (124.15 KiB) Viewed 7043 times

Singer Upholstery_Front Seat Back_Front_72dpi.jpg (136.22 KiB) Viewed 7043 times

Singer Upholstery_Front Seat Back_REAR_72dpi.jpg (139.68 KiB) Viewed 7043 times

[Phillip]

Here's the rear seat back and cushion. The cushion has the same durable dot snap fasteners to allow access to the inflatable bladder. The seat back has a wire and coil frame and I can take photos of that if anyone needs it.

33_34_Sports_Rear Seat Back panel in Position.jpg (228.77 KiB) Viewed 7042 times

33_34_Sports_Rear Seat Back_Front.jpg (199.21 KiB) Viewed 7042 times

33_34_Sports_Seat Back_Rear.jpg (206.86 KiB) Viewed 7042 times

33_34_Sports_Rear Seat Cushion_Top.jpg (234.15 KiB) Viewed 7042 times

33_34_Sports_Rear Seat Cushion_Detail.jpg (242.92 KiB) Viewed 7042 times

33_34_Sports_Rear Seat Cushion_Bottom.jpg (224.63 KiB) Viewed 7042 times

[darcy]

Thanks Phillip. The front seat cushion appears to be a flat, ie not shaped like one above? If so any idea on the original thickness?

[jeans_old_man]

Hi Darcy,
I'm pretty sure the latex cushion is original. The patent's date is 1930.

This one has been reinforced underneath with additional latex to replace the original 'box' structure.

I also had a latex cushion that was remarkably similar to the one visible in Phillip's rear seat squab. In my case the latex 'boxes' had been cut out and replaced with new latex.

From memory, it was 2" thick with a 1" step and both ends where the cushion extended over the wood frame. Unfortunately it disintegrated after these photos were taken.
Brian

[darcy]

Thanks, I need to re-think my design, I think thinner in the rear with no more than 3” in the front but using firmer cushion material. The base needs to be longer than 17” to give thigh support, but still allow legs to fit under the steering wheel.

Any other 6’ drivers with seat details / sizes?

[Phillip]

Darcy, I'm 6' 3" and have just used the standard cushion in my '33 and '34. It is a soft cushion as it is really only a slip cover with the bladder in it. Each front cushion just sits in a shaped steel pan set into the floor. The same design is used on the '33 and '34 Sports 4 seaters with the straight chassis.

I have some road test data that gives all the interior dimensions, so I will try and dig that out and post here.

@Brian, it could be that the '35 / '36 cars went to a sponge cushion as it was probably cheaper. My '36 Le Mans SS has sponge cushions and they are crumbling away now.

[jeans_old_man]

The 'improved' seats, with Dunlopillow cushions on slide rails, came in with the dropped chassis which lowered the floor and provided more room. So Darcy has a problem if he has a straight chassis and wants to fit seats with slides. Dave Hardwick's book shows the seat backs on the '34 four seater having plates with multiple holes to provide adjustment for different leg length. I am not sure how the cushions are located.

Phillip, given the price of Dunlopillow latex cushions (which were extremely comfortable, by the way) I doubt that they were a cost reduction.