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Red check interior - where to find?
Posted: 04 Sep 2008 13:56
by Mowog73
We’ve been working away on the body of the TR7, getting it ready for primer and paint before the cool fall weather sets in. Of course the boy is day-dreaming of having the car completed and says that he would like to do the interior in the black with red check colours. I see that this combination is no longer available new, but does anyone have suggestions for suppliers that might have used seat seats and door panels available?
Mark
1973 MGBGT
1976 TR7
1980 Spitfire 1500
Posted: 04 Sep 2008 18:20
by FI Spyder
Probably S&S or Robsport in UK. I don't know of any this side of the pond. But they will be old. I'm not a fan of plaid, never have been, I like the black vinyl of earier (and spider) cars or the velour of the last cars. If your adamant about red check I would get a new panel and "cloth glue" on the red check material and get seat material custom made. Putting old panels and seats in a new restoration is only going made the difference stand out more. If going to the expense and trouble of painting the car I would go the rest of the way if the seats/panels aren't like new.
By the way, my panels were like new except rubber strip at windows were hard(broken bits) and it had warped up, more towards the rear. The new panels addressed both these issues with top quarter of panel reinforced with aluminum skin and rubber window strip a replaceable clipped on rubber strip.
TR7 Spider - 1978 Spifire - 1976 Spitfire - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra

Posted: 04 Sep 2008 19:31
by Mowog73
I do agree, I'm not a fan of the plaid either and no sense buying worn seat covers or door panels, they must be almost like new. But, it's not my car and not my money; it's his final decision, although I will do my best to persuade him to go with new, not used.
Mark
1973 MGBGT
1976 TR7
1980 Spitfire 1500
Posted: 04 Sep 2008 20:14
by busheytrader
A pal of mine was looking for red check seat trim about a year ago. He said it was so difficult he paid a trimmer to recover them all in black leather.
Posted: 05 Sep 2008 01:23
by tr8
It looks pretty good on the right car.
Paul
Posted: 05 Sep 2008 07:40
by John Clancy
Nice! When I was looking for a TR7 back in 85 it had to have the red check interior. I liked the green too but not as much as the red.
Sadly the red check interior has never been remanufactured so you won't find any new items. However, you'll be surprised at what you can find second hand. I purchased a used seat back at the TRDC national a few years ago that looked exactly the same condition (i.e. no apparent fade) as the new seat bases I had off Rimmers about 10 years ago. That and all the other red check items are safely stored in my wardrobe for future use when required.
Another possibility for a red check interior is from the S1 Lotus Esprit. It's not identical but very similar. There was also a special edition Mini that had the seats clothed entirely in the TR7 red check trim.
<center><b>[url="http://www.triumphtr7.com/documents/sales/codenamebullet.asp"]Buy the story of the Triumph TR7/8 on DVD here[/url]</b></center>
Posted: 05 Sep 2008 11:38
by Mowog73
Maybe I can find a bolt of red check cloth [:D]
I sent emails to the parts places in the UK that carry TR7 stuff and I may have found what I am looking for; just waiting for a photo of the seat covers to be sent to me. I did find a place with NOS red check door panels
Mark
1973 MGBGT
1976 TR7
1980 Spitfire 1500
Posted: 05 Sep 2008 11:50
by gslittle
Hi
At the risk of being laughed off the forum, here's an idea that I had to repair the red plaid in my car. I haven't actually done it but thought it might be worth mentioning.
Ahem.
1. Remove seat cover with good condition plaid section.
2. Iron if necessary.
3. Scan into PC.
4. Enhance image if necessary e.g. brighten red sections.
5. Print out onto iron-on paper.
6. Iron on to suitable fabric.
7. Repeat as necessary for larger area.
8. Make repair and/or create new section for re-trimming.
I'll shut up now and get back to my deskwich.
Cheers
Graham
Posted: 05 Sep 2008 12:03
by Maxwell
Sorry, Paul. If it's a white car then it HAS to be a green plaid interior...IMHO!
Graham... do your novel repair methods work on the metal bits as well....?
Maxwell [8)]
Posted: 05 Sep 2008 16:09
by tr7inc
Shame you didnt live in the UK as Rimmers have a set of seats going for £25 in there bargain section, no perfect but good price!! I my 7 was a white one i'd probably have black Velor, just aswell we all share different tastes eh
Steve
Posted: 05 Sep 2008 18:36
by mb4tim
Posted: 05 Sep 2008 20:00
by Mowog73
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by tr7inc</i>
Shame you didnt live in the UK as Rimmers have a set of seats going for £25 in there bargain section, no perfect but good price!!
Steve
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
£25? Gee, I wish I was in the UK. I wonder if Rimmer would take the upholstery off for a small additional fee?
Mark
1973 MGBGT
1976 TR7
1980 Spitfire 1500
Posted: 05 Sep 2008 20:10
by tr7inc
Hi Mowog
You never know them seats have ben on there auto jumble for sometime, its worth a try, they may be used but at least it would be what you were lookin for, and whatever imperfections they may hold might be easily enough to put right, give them an email and see what they say
Steve
Posted: 05 Sep 2008 20:16
by tr7inc
Mowog here is the seats, see what you think, they as you say, take the covers off, for a small fee on top of buying and postage costs.
Steve
Posted: 06 Sep 2008 07:52
by john
Gotta say here the red check is the best colour IMHO [:D]
your only hope is second hand at the moment as there are no stocks of this fabric
now wether it is cost effective to get a run of this fabric made i'm not sure but maybe someone knows the original manufacturer or knows of a Chinese upholstery company that would run this out for a penny or two
[8 whole cylinders worth of punch to ram the world through the windshield and out the rear view mirror. Car & Driver]
1981 Grinnall TR7 v8
1981 Black FHC
1979 & 1980 Black Premium FHC(laid to rest) Sorry
John