Upgraded seats for the 110

[Ed Poore]

Just a sneak peek into my new project for the 110.

A chap over on fullfatrr.com had a full set of heated leather seats out of a Td6 that he wanted rid of for next to nothing. So after a bit of measuring against mine I came to the conclusion that they would probably fit. Just been up and collected them and since it's nice and sunny outside removed the cubby box and passenger seat to offer them up.

Annoyingly if the seat frame was 1/2" wider and 1" longer they would simplify into place.

I was most concerned over their width but actually they're not too bad. The photo shows them in their highest setting which is required to remove them, drivers side will be impossible to drive like that but once I've reverse engineered / wired them in then I should be able to see what the clearance will be like.

Added bonus is that they have the TVs built in the back which offsets the wear and tear. However if I do get them in then I can always retrim if I want.

I've already lost the middle seat in place of a cubby but with both seats in I'll need to build a narrower cubby box. The seats do have arm rests though so no more trying to open the cubby when the passenger has fallen asleep on it.

Rear seats should be a bit more entertaining though...

[FridgeFreezer]

Oooo nice, more pics please!

[Ed Poore]

I haven't got that far, just cut some excess of the runners so they now fit in place.

Need to try and sort out the electrics next so I can adjust them. Want to try and line up the drivers side so it's central and to make sure I can actually fit in...

But ask and ye shall receive.

Way too advanced for a 300Tdi

Rear seats in the shed...

Gubbins to get working next...

[Ed Poore]

If you look closely in the last pic you can see a thick bit of the seat runner (at the bottom) where the bolt goes through. All I did was take the grinder to it to trim off everything below it.

Et voila!

[FridgeFreezer]

Cheers Ed! How much taller / fatter in the base are they than Defender ones? I always worry about knees hitting steering wheel as can happen with many car seats.

[Ed Poore]

Haven't actually looked at these ones. When I measured mine which is a 2007MY they were 8" compared to 4" for the standard Defender ones.

But none of these measurements were taken with the baseball the way down.

Currently there's no way I could fit but there's a decent amount of drop still to go.

(These seats are from a Td6 so an earlier year and originally from a 7 series, people say they're more comfortable). This is going to be rather ironic if they're comfier than the ones in the actual RR!!

Shall I depress you with what I paid for all 5 including switch units?

[Ed Poore]

You might be able to see the difference in height here.

[mickeyw]

Leg to steering wheel clearance looks a little tight.

I had the same problem with Rover SD1 seats in my first 88" (long time ago)

[Ed Poore]

Um, at the moment it's non existent. The base sits about level with the steering wheel.

Need to get the motors fired up so I can see how low it will actually go.

[Ed Poore]

Small update, I've got all the motors working. I say that as if it was difficult, two wires to a battery and job done.

Just need to trim the drivers seat rails and then I'll see whether I can actually fit under the steering wheel.

[Ed Poore]

Last night I chopped the driver's side seat rails down to size, hooked up the battery and collapsed the seat as much as I could. Then it was a case of maneuvering it into the 110 (tricky on the passenger side and damn right awkward on the drivers side).

So on a plus side I can (just) fit into it and reach the pedals and turn the wheel. However the L322 seat base is flat and the Defender is not. Consequently the front of the seat lifts up my knees which I suspect would make long journeys uncomfortable.

When I next get some time I shall see if I can modify the brackets so I can get it lower without having to modify the seat base. I suspect it would be beneficial to have a slightly smaller after market wheel as well but more tinkering first.

[Ozzy50]

As many know car seats or pretty much any non defender seats are a hard fit mainly due to the thickness of the bottom /base cushion ,I found some beauty's in a Nissan 200zx in the scrappers,this was a few years ago when you could still wander round and get your own parts before h+s madness took over ! I will get a pic today ,would recommend them to anyone ,I paid £100 for the pair ,pictures to follow .

[Ozzy50]

Ignore the muck ,cats are using the landy as a bed at the mo,not a problem as they are nice black leather ,landy is in bits at the mo however I have done several thousand miles with these seats fitted and they are super comfy without raising your on any higher than standard seats .they are not bolted down in these pics so go another 15 mm lower when fitted ,200zx or possibky 300zx ,can't fully remember.

[Ed Poore]

Right I've finally had some time to revisit this after several months fencing in Wales, a few days off roading in France (was an incredible weekend) and finally the FF deciding to leak gearbox oil all over the road, but managed to sort that all yesterday.

Not much time mind, simply removed various bits underneath to see what could be done to reduce the height of the base. Just removed the brackets and motor that adjusts the height of the front of the base and it looks like that might drop it enough. I'll probably need to build a little replacement bracket to fix the front down rather than adapt the motor bracket as there'll be no need for it I think.

Unfortunately it's decided to rain so that's curtailed further work. Next chance I get I'll find a way of fixing it down. The bonus is that it looks with a little modification I might be able to adjust the rails so they are the same spacing as the Defender's.

Then a bit of test driving to see whether its actually going to work. I think I might go for a smaller steering wheel as well.

[Ed Poore]

Finally had some time to not do chores and tinker with the 110. Both front seats are now fitted in a fashion.

Unfortunately it's now dark so only got one photo when out for a test drive. They're still a little high compared to normal bit it can be driven quite nicely. And boy what a difference in comfort.

I slightly regret chopping off the back of the rails now, I changed my mind about where I mounted them and could do with the extra to get the runners back to a more substantial bit of the seat box. I took the plunge and drilled some new holes. I've relocated some of the captive nuts to the new holes to make removal easier. But haven't moved all of them yet so they're held in with nuts, bolts and washers at the moment.

I think when I get some time in April and a barn then I might build a new seat box to drop them lower again.

In the meantime the next job will be to wire in the electrics so they're adjustable without having to plug in a temporary loom and battery.

[Troll Hunter]

Hi, all, 

I fitted replacement seats to my 110 CSW as follows:

In 2009 I replaced the front seats from a "Rover", unspecified, but bought from a fellow forum member, and they needed a little bit of fettling to make them fit.  I then dumped the rear bench seat and fitted a Mitsubishi Pajero rear bench seat, including seat belts, which needed a little bit of modification to the rear wheel arches to be fully accommodated. The seat belts were anchored to the seats and I secured the seats to the chassis as the original seats were secured.

[GW8IZR]

On 30/10/2016 at 6:01 PM, Ed Poore said:

 They're still a little high compared to normal bit it can be driven quite nicely. And boy what a difference in comfort.

<snip>

I think when I get some time in April and a barn then I might build a new seat box to drop them lower again.

 

Is it just the front thats too high? (and from the photo maybe too far forward) would it be possible to lift the back and move the whole thing further back? That might give you extra room under the wheel without major re construction.

I put standard seats in mine but raised them as I'm quite tall, more comfortable but I nearly need a step ladder now :-)

[Troll Hunter]

Sorry, I had a brain f**t and only wrote half of what I had intended before finger trouble struck!  Could the wine have anything to do with it?

Having fitted the ex-Rover front seats I found that I was sitting about 1" - 1.5" higher than previously.  This was fine, since I'm only 5' 7", and it gave me slightly better forward view, but the downside was that there wasn't so much room below the steering wheel and getting in and out was a challenge. I solved this by fitting an after-market steering wheel, only 13.5" diameter.  This made it far easier to get in and out, and the HGV sized original wheel is not needed with the benefits of power steering.

Just hope that this gives you some ideas and options.

Mike

[GW8IZR]

46 minutes ago, Troll Hunter said:

 

Having fitted the ex-Rover front seats I found that I was sitting about 1" - 1.5" higher than previously.  This was fine, since I'm only 5' 7", and it gave me slightly better forward view, 

Interesting comment that, I'm quite tall and found raising the seats made a massive difference - I always had bad knees when driving with the seat in th original position - 'er indoors is tiny and apart from getting in and out finds the higher position much more comfortable.

One unexpected thing, my spare is on the bonnet and for some reason now I'm sat higher up I find it more obtrusive, I _think_ its because instead of just seeing the tread I now see more of the sidewall as well which makes it seem bigger.

[Ed Poore]

It's a bit more comfortable driving position being higher up. For reference I'm 5'10". It is a tight fit under the steering wheel but not too bad, only really find it when turning around quickly I might clip my legs with my hands.

In terms of getting in most people needed a step ladder before so who knows now. I don't find it too difficult but used to do a fair bit of climbing so perhaps an unfair comparison.

The seat is a bit forward but much further back and I'd struggle to push the accelerator all the way down without stretching. In terms of seat height at the front lifting the back might help in that the seat would become more level, currently lifting the back on the motors will inadvertently lift the whole seat up a little as well.

Part of the thinking behind a new box would be to reinstate the front motor brackets, in the FF I find it quite nice being able to drop the front of the seat further when on a long drive so I can stretch out my legs. Although I can get stuff in and out of the underneath storage it's a bit of a pain so I'd also make them side entry. If I don't like it then I've always got the original to fall back on. Plus inevitably things won't get done as quickly as hoped so rather than having a cut up box I can always reinstall the old one quickly!

[Ed Poore]

A small update (no piccies I'm afraid) as I'm just sitting down listening to 12h old puppies squeaking away.

I ended up drilling out the pop rivets that held in the captive nuts in the old locations and drilled new ones.

I also wired in the motors via a new fuse box in the battery compartment so now you can adjust them even if you need the doors open to do so. Now I've done some offroading in them and longer journeys they're a damn sight more comfortable despite being taller. Even to the point that I find the driving position more comfortable than my other car, a 2007 L322!

One bonus was the wires can use some of the old holes to route the cable through to the battery box.

When I get some time I'll probably design a new switchboard to relocate the seat controls to the centre. But with 9 puppies that might be a bit in the future.

[GW8IZR]

I wonder if you could fit the left hand switches on the right hand seat and VV - would that move the switches to a more accessible place?

 

[Ed Poore]

1 minute ago, GW8IZR said:

I wonder if you could fit the left hand switches on the right hand seat and VV - would that move the switches to a more accessible place?

Not really simply, if you see my last photo the loom comes around to the connector on the outside. It's all been cut to precise lengths to stop the wires snagging so swapping them over is the same amount of work because of having to adjust all the cables. Or extend the looms.