348 seat recline lever... a suitable replacement!

My 1995 348 spider was purchased with a few cosmetic/functional flaws... one issue was that the passenger side seat recline lever was fractured at the base and I found that the part is NLA. Doing some research I found that the 355 spider has extremely similar appearing levers that fit as stock, function correctly, and look "correct" for the car... and they are still available new!! Ricambi has them; part nos 63998500 and 63998600 ... expensive for a "non concours" solution to the problem at $125.79 a piece, but they sure do solve my problem and they look like they were made for the car. Save your NLA handles for show if they are in good shape and replace them with these!

 

an addendum to my post... the posts of the seat levers that attach to the seat are shorter in 355 levers than in the original 348 ones. they dont protrude enough to clear the leather. but the visible rubber portion is exactly the same. No problem !! as long as you kept your broken original lever, you can cut the post of the original one off and using a file or fine saw you can work the profile of the thinner section of the post so it fits in the new lever post snugly. took me 15 minutes per side

 

the extensions I thus created can be epoxied to the new lever posts but I found this unnecessary. the results are completely hidden within the seat body and look and function exactly as the original ones. I found the metal of the old post to be very easy to shape and cut and the extension is quite sturdy