PR: Proprietary Items Seat

[Serge Hilfiger]

I recently started with the restoration of my HRD serie "C" Rapide I purchased some 35 years ago. Now I am working on the seat and I have some doubts about what is original and what is not. Especially meant are the angle irons discoverd between the plywood and the seat squab but maybe there are other non factory original features? Could you please help me in that sense?

Attached are some pictures of what the removal of the cover has unveiled. I am going to replace the plywood base, the cover (fortunately my saddler still has some left cover material close to the original one) and most probably the squab.

Are there different squab qualities available on the market or is the VOC the only source?

 

[bmetcalf]

Some info here: http://www.thevincent.com/Vintank-seat.html

Know Thy Beast has a good illustration, I think.

 

[timetraveller]

Hi Serge, the two pieces of angle iron are standard, 5/8" from memory. Often the curved piece of steel plate at the rear is rusty and needs to be replaced. The other place to look at carefully is at the front where there are two downwards facing supports. These often fatigue either through being used with a seat where the rear has been supported inadequately or just misuse.
The average weight of people is now much larger than it was 70 years ago and there are now much larger seats available that have softer rubber inserts and are therefore much more comfortable than the originals, Care has to be taken with these longer seats to make sure that they do not foul the lifting handle on the rear mudguard.

 

[vibrac]

I cannot place why with the elongated seat I feel higher than before I reduced the squab on the rider end to the same as original and the feeling persists it may be my mounting frame I will investigate further on the rebuild but its nice to have more pillion space

 

[bmetcalf]

The illustration of the internal pieces is in Chapter 3 of Know Thy Beast.

Info and photos here: https://www.vincentownersclub.co.uk/threads/plywood-seat-base.10781/

 

[Bill Thomas]

Serge, Can't see any photos ?.
I have just built a standard seat using new Squab and brackets and cover, I made the base, 19mm ply,
They say you should make the base smaller than YOUR Squab, As there are different size foams,
I think I made base about 6 mm smaller all the way round, Or it cuts the in to the cover ??.

 

[Serge Hilfiger]

Thanks to all for sharing your helpful expériences. Please find herewith the picts which obviously did not went through

 

[Bill Thomas]

The angle iron on the inside is how it should be,
Just the front mounting has had extra drilling.
Cheers Bill.

 

[Oldhaven]

This thread has some good information. In particular, if you have an original Dunlopillo seat foam and think it has gone bad you may be surprised at how they can be brought back. Mine is still going strong after I repaired it and some of the replacements don’t have the same density or shape.

Re-covering dual seat

I'm about to install a new cover on my Feridax seat. I bought a nice new foam and cover but after cleaning up an original 1952 Dunlopillo foam I have it really looks pretty nice, is thinner and is already fitted underneath to the hoop, bars and pan. I am going to use that instead of the new...

www.vincentownersclub.co.uk

 

[Marcus Bowden]

Bill my handsome, I like the way you put in your "D" seat strut into the back of the footrest plate as it puts less strain on the front seat mounting lugs but also it is in keeping the aesthetics of the rear lifting handle and mine also keeping the old seat strut as it was useful in 95 NZ when my hydraulic damper failed I tightened up on the friction. Seat sponge is the original Dunlopillo, new sponges are definitely nowhere near the same comfort, I use a 10mm composition made from a floorboard of an inflatable boat hinged on the front end of an aluminium base made in HMD Devonport in 65, the little holes around the outside were to hold the covering on with a stainless band, my mother was worn out by the time we finished each side for two evenings. So the next seat cover and subsequent ones were stapled into a baseboard with monnel metal staples.
bananaman.