Save on Seats

One of the current projects at Gunners Great Garage (www.gunnersgreatgarage.com) involves redoing the interior in a 1968 Triumph TR250. This is a rare one-year-only British sports car, but high quality reproduction seat kits are available from several suppliers including Moss Motors (www.mossmotors.com), British Victoria (www.victoriabritish.com) and the Roadster factory (www.the-roadster-factory.com).

From time to time suppliers such as these have great sales on upholstery kits and some notable savings can be realized. Moss Motors currently has its annual upholstery sale on until May 8 and they also had the all-black seats and panels our customer wants. We haven’t figured it all out yet, but we know that we saved at least $500 by ordering upholstery kits during the sale period.

The car we are working on hasn’t been driven since the 1980s. It is a pretty good starting point for a restoration and it’s worth restoring because TR250 values are climbing. Unfortunately, the car was kept outside for a while, which didn’t help preserve the upholstery and soft trim.

As you can see from the accompanying photos, the seats are constructed in a very traditional British way and they need a total rebuild. Trim panels, carpets and a convertible top are also in the offing for this car. We have installed some seat kits and soft tops, but every car is different and any tips that might help the job along would be most appreciated.

The tan seats shown in one photo graced a nicely restored car that we had the pleasure of seeing during The Shop Show in Indianapolis (www.The-Shop-Show.com). This car was done by Kings Classics in Whitestown, Ind. (www.kingsclassicsllc.com), and was one of several British sports cars they had displayed.

Hopefully we can redo our black seats just as nicely.