Seat hinge cover / seat trim

Attached is a picture of the two outer hinge covers from my parts car. Some damage, but pretty slight.

I took them to a buddy who can digitize them. He calculated what it would cost to machine these from solid aluminum stock on a 3 axis computer controlled mill. Bottom line is we can do it for $200 each piece, $400 a pair. Unfortunately, they would need to purchased in pairs. Should look way better than the originals, and they won't break. I know that seems pricey, but then it appears virtually everything for these cars is either: expensive, unobtainable, or a cheap immitation that isn't worth crap.

Just trying to guage interest on this project. I will not make a dime on this deal. My buddy will barely break even. He is pure "car guy" and just thought it would be a fun project.

I am thinking we make the aluminum ones just a bit thicker than the originals. There appears to be plenty of room. Also, I would vote for making the longer peg (the one that attaches with a speed nut) about an 1/8 inch longer and thread it for a small machine thread nut. Speed nuts are good for one guy only, and that is the guy who assembles the car at the factory. They suck for everyone else.

The same finished product could be used to replace the two inners, but a large hole would be required for the seat adjusting knob.

One last question. The pictured covers are from a 1983 car. Any difference in earlier or later versions?

Just post on this thread if you would be a buyer.

Lynn Bilodeau
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Correct. The inners and outers do appear to be the same (i.e the left seat inner is the same as the right seat outer, except for the hole). The hole for the inners isn't a knock out, but would need to be cut out.

From my limited time on the board, it is my understandint that it is normally the outers that get damaged.

Finish on these would be a natural aluminum that could be polished. Or, you could send to the plater of your choice for anodizing, which would be my personal choice. Last choice would be spray painted, as it just isn't very durable.

I can check on anodizing here locally and see what the cost would be. I believe a batch would be the most economical way to go on that. Different types of aluminum alloy cannot be done in a batch together, but these would all be from the same stock and could be done in a batch, so mayby not as expensive. Just thinking out loud here.

If there is no interest, that is OK. No one is going to hurt my feelings. Just wanting to help keep these awesome cars on the road, looking good.

Lynn

 

Pretty sure they are NLA, which is why we are even looking at this deal.

I suppose there could be some NOS ones floating around, but I wouldn't count on it.

 

Thanks for that info. I thought I had read a previous post stating that they were no longer available.

Will keep you guys posted.

Lynn

 

Just got off the phone with my friend Greg. He was waiting on me to give a go ahead for the first machining. I was thinking he was going to go ahead with one set to see what they look like. Anyway, machining will start this week.

I agree they should look as close as possible to the originals. Only way to do that is either lightly paint (not an option because there would be virtually no durability) or anodizing in natural aluminum (aluminium for you brits). Anodizing isn’t too expensive if we have a whole batch done at once, but will still add about $10 per piece to the cost. Still, at $210 each, much better than buying plastic for $306. Plus anodizing adds a very hard surface and is scratch resistant.

Will post pics as soon as we have them ready to go. I will test fit the first pair on my seats before making the other sets, just to be sure of the fit. So, those pics won’t be anodized. You will have to use your imagination.

From the response, I believe we can sell at least 5 pair.

Again, there is no profit in the deal. Just a fun project.

 

Project is moving, but slowly. We will get there. Both a right and left have been fully digitized.

My buddy and his wife have been swamped. They build portable chillers for drag racers, and have developed a very compact easy to use unit that apparently is not available any where else, and are inundated with orders. We had lunch last week, and he looked like hell. I asked if he was feeling OK. His wife said, yeah, we're fine, but we pulled an all nighter last week, then were up til 3 am the next night and he just hasn't recovered.

So... just wanted everyone to know that it is still happening, just a little more slowly that anticipated.

Lynn