Spy Hunter cockpit seat question

TheShanMan

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What is the proper covering for a SH seat? I have one that is bare wood (obviously not correct) and one with gray carpet which is very nicely done. I have also seen pics of one with different gray carpet. I have not found other pictures that show the seat.

If you think you know what is original, please let me know and ideally please post a pic. I'd eventually like to get mine to be original but I don't know what original is when it comes to the seat bottom.
 
You could just go custom and add some padding and upholster it with faux leather.
 
I'll try to remember to snap a pic of mine. It feels like a slab of wood covered in a black leather or vinyl in the same pattern as this iphone cover.

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Plastic is the original seat covering. 3 support bumps on the back and then a raised section on the seat. This needs to be reproduced, I'm pretty sure every seat could be replaced.....
 
The reason for bringing this up is I had phineas foo over yesterday (the vacuum forming guy) and he suspected that the seat bottom was plastic. We were discussing reproducing the seat back. So if I can get a picture of what it is supposed to be, maybe we can go down the road of reproducing the whole thing. I would imagine he or I would need to get an original one in our hands to make a mold, but let's at least start with a decent picture if someone could please provide one!

I'm assuming the back and bottom are 2 separate pieces but confirmation of that would be appreciated and maybe some detail of how the 2 pieces come together as well (seat bottom overlaps the lower portion of the seat back???).

I appreciate the help guys! I'm checking with Rich to see how far out repro artwork is but wouldn't it be cool if repro artwork and repro seat plastic became available simultaneously? :)
 
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I still vote for doing a custom seat..thats padded for comfort. ;)
 
The purpose of this thread isn't to seek advice on what the best seat would be. But if you want to make a custom seat for yours, go for it.
 
OK, wow... The main back support is vac formed and we have that piece, the original was done in .060 cheap ABS. I can do it in better ABS so it will be solid and bullet proof. The lower cushion is just a piece of foam covered in vinyl. I am going to opt for leather since it will take a ton more wear and tear... OK, so these are on the list to get done.

Lets start making a mold Shanman!

PF
 
zfcamaro, I got the impression from your post that the seat bottom is made out of plastic too? How about the pics you promised? It would be nice to confirm that what gjinc posted is either original or not.

gjinc, if it's determined that yours is original, can you tell what's under the vinyl? I'm thinking a layer of closed cell foam with a layer of open cell foam is what you'd want for the seat, although I'm no expert on foam.
 
here's what the seat looks like on my spy hunter. hope that helps.
 

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That helps a lot! If I'm seeing right, that appears to show that the entire seat is one piece of plastic. Correct?

zfcamaro, is that what yours is like and is the raised portion intact? Or gjinc, are you able to tell if you've got a raised plastic piece under the vinyl and foam? Ultimately we're going to need someone to step up to help us with the seat bottom since it's missing on both of my cabinets. That may mean loaning it out to us or it may also work to have someone make molds for us. Phineas Foo told me how the molds would be made in this case and I don't think there is any reason that someone couldn't make it themselves and then send it to us. Basically it just involves coating the raised section (from underneath) with special "non stick" stuff (don't remember what it's called, but PF knows) and then filling it in with bondo. So it should be pretty easy. I'm sure PF will speak up if he thinks he needs to be the one to make the mold.

Thanks guys!
 
I couldn't see any joints in the corner of the seat, looks like one long piece. Also, I think the bottom portion mirrored the archs at the top, and they tended to crack in the corners giving you a nice scrap and or pinch.
 
I believe if PF does a repro it's going to have to be 2 pieces but hopefully the part where the 2 pieces come together can be done in such a way as to not be noticeable. On the plus side though, the plastic will be much more durable so no one will have to worry about it cracking or breaking.

ikarispy (or anyone else), is it possible to get a pic of the "end" of the plastic? I can't quite tell from your pics where the edge is, i.e. does it wrap down the front of the seat base? Obviously you don't want someone's legs rubbing against an edge of the plastic so lets get some detail on what they did with that edge.
 
I'll go look at it again
I can not see what the seat has in it, but it is soft and has not crushed to a shape. Maybe auto type seat foam :confused:
 
So it looks like I'm going to be spending more money on my spy hunter. My cockpit just has the carpeting on the seat. I'd love to get a replacement for it.
 
By the looks of it, they made the part in one shot, and the ribbed part was supposed to bend. Not a good idea as it has to be too thin to work and the thing cracked with people sitting on it right at the base of the seat without having it reinforced.

So, there is a way to do it in two or three parts... and have it be better and more durable than the original. One part would be great, but the machine needed to do that is very expensive and getting the parts custom formed would cost close to $50 each to have done.

Sooo... lets work some logistics and see what we can do to not only make a better part than the original and also reinforced at the bend.

PF
 
What part are you saying cracked???

maybe I can't see it on mine because of the cushion
 
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here's what the seat looks like on my spy hunter. hope that helps.

Yeah that's the original seat, sorry about the pictures - I took them but I forgot about this thread... The bend is ribbed so it flexes and yes the part in the seat is supposed to be raised buy mine is cracked as well. As soon as you sit down really hard on them they break.... It's all one piece of plastic and is stapled to the wood. If you get it set up and trust the person who is doing it I will send my seat in for the mold.
 
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