aaronk25 Posted October 11, 2013 Report Posted October 11, 2013 Tried looking up old threads but am arriving with incomplete data. I have a opportunity to by a mid 80s j rear seat, seat pans and any hard wear associated with it to convert my single bench seat to a split removable seats. Does anyone know if what I mentioned above is all it would need or is there other fabricating necessary and how much of a PITA is it? I know how to take my bench seat out so will the split set up just plug and play???? Thanks, Aaron
N601RX Posted October 11, 2013 Report Posted October 11, 2013 The pre 70's with split reclining seats came with the reclining mechanism mounted in the armrest. The newer ones that I have saw it appears to be below the seat and involved cutting a hole through the spar for the recline lever. I'm not sure if all models are like this or not.
aaronk25 Posted October 11, 2013 Author Report Posted October 11, 2013 The pre 70's with split reclining seats came with the reclining mechanism mounted in the armrest. The newer ones that I have saw it appears to be below the seat and involved cutting a hole through the spar for the recline lever. I'm not sure if all models are like this or not. Thanks for the info. I'm not sure either as basically the seller of the plane has said you can take anything out of it you need and so I'm wondering if that will satisfy the parts requirements.
KSMooniac Posted October 11, 2013 Report Posted October 11, 2013 Aaron, is the donor plane still in tact? If so, you'll be able to scavenge everything you need to make the transplant. It isn't "plug n play" so to speak, as you'll have to drill rivets out to remove some of the mounting structure, and of course drill and rivet into your plane to re-install it. You'll have to cut some holes for the recline adjustment controls as well. None of this is impossible, but it is involved a bit and will require an A&P to do it or at least inspect and log the work. I'm going to do exactly that one of these months with my salvage plane, but thus far have not removed the installation and adjustment bits. I'd suggest removing it from the donor plane yourself and take a LOT of pics, and perhaps trace the cutouts to make templates for cutting on your plane.
aaronk25 Posted October 11, 2013 Author Report Posted October 11, 2013 Thanks for the info, very informative! Trying to decide if it's worth the time, trying to decide if I should just do the piper painter folding seat conversion instead. Really just want the extra space and don't have the need to remove just one seat and carry cargo so I would be fine with just a folding single bench. This way I wouldn't have to re-upholster the new seats as my bench has newer leather. Decisions ......decisions!
KSMooniac Posted October 11, 2013 Report Posted October 11, 2013 It is a tough decision, but the split seats are much more flexible, and will increase your hull value too if that matters to you. I've been wanting these ever since I got my plane, and now I just need to make time to rebuild all of the salvage seats (to my specs) and do the transplant. I enjoy this kind of thing, though. I've been folding my bench down as well, but it sucks in comparison.
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