SilentT Posted Wednesday at 02:13 PM Report Posted Wednesday at 02:13 PM The A&P That was supposed to do my interior and had my plane for 15 months misplaced my back seats. I got a tray as part of my interior package from playing Plastics but the seats themselves are gone and after seeing his shop I don't think they're ever going to be found. If they are it will be too late and I would have already tried to find out another solution. What's my best option for finding replacement back seats for my 1985 J?
LANCECASPER Posted Wednesday at 02:47 PM Report Posted Wednesday at 02:47 PM 3 hours ago, SilentT said: The A&P That was supposed to do my interior and had my plane for 15 months misplaced my back seats. I got a tray as part of my interior package from playing Plastics but the seats themselves are gone and after seeing his shop I don't think they're ever going to be found. If they are it will be too late and I would have already tried to find out another solution. What's my best option for finding replacement back seats for my 1985 J? If I remember correctly those are the split reclining seats (at least they were on my '83 K model when I owned it from '93 - '96). They are in very high demand. People buy those from salvage to replace the bench seats in earlier models. It looks like BAS has one back seat available (https://baspartsales.com/140232-140231-mooney-m20k-aft-bench-seat-cushion-assembly-upper-lower/?searchid=0&search_query=mooney+seat) No matter where he is located, it might be worth a trip to his shop to look yourself. If he is on the West coast where you bought it, could a local Mooneyspacer go look through his shop for them? Bench seats are fairly easy to find (https://ebay.us/m/x0GUHF). I have no idea what all would be involved in putting in a bench seat. But @KSMooniac probably would know what's involved.
Brent Posted Wednesday at 03:12 PM Report Posted Wednesday at 03:12 PM Aero Comfort replaced the back seat rests in my '85J as part of my interior work earlier this year. I believe he had a couple salvage frames that he was able to use, but he might be able to offer something else. The back seat backs are comprised of a fiberglass backing panel and, I assume, some still tubing. I believe the seat bases are just the fiberglass panel with the foam on top. https://aerocomfort.com
PT20J Posted Wednesday at 03:49 PM Report Posted Wednesday at 03:49 PM There are two designs for the seat back frames as shown in the upper left of the drawing. The later ones move the back further into the baggage compartment providing more rear seat room. The bottom is just a cushion that rests on the plastic pan. Your seats have to be somewhere. I’d go searching for them myself.
EricJ Posted Wednesday at 04:38 PM Report Posted Wednesday at 04:38 PM 1 hour ago, LANCECASPER said: If I remember correctly those are the split reclining seats (at least they were on my '83 K model when I owned it from '93 - '96). They are in very high demand. People buy those from salvage to replace the bench seats in earlier models. Yes, cynical me says they weren't "lost". 6
MikeOH Posted Wednesday at 05:50 PM Report Posted Wednesday at 05:50 PM @SilentT Has the A&P that "lost" your seats agreed to pay for their replacement? They were in his custody so, if he won't, I'd be rather inclined to file a small claims action. I've never sued anyone in my life but this situation would piss me off enough that I'd be inclined to! 2 1
LANCECASPER Posted Wednesday at 06:04 PM Report Posted Wednesday at 06:04 PM 17 minutes ago, MikeOH said: @SilentT Has the A&P that "lost" your seats agreed to pay for their replacement? They were in his custody so, if he won't, I'd be rather inclined to file a small claims action. I've never sued anyone in my life but this situation would piss me off enough that I'd be inclined to! @SilentT I agree with @MikeOH, it might be worth at least an attorney demand letter for a few hundred dollars. When I looked at the pictures you sent me back when you started looking at this airplane, from the pictures the seats were at least an 8 out of 10. In that letter I would explain that to get seats that match the front seats, by the time you buy them (quote what factory new seats are), add matching upholstery it would be in the neighborhood of $5000. He may work a little harder to find them. 2
Slick Nick Posted Wednesday at 07:37 PM Report Posted Wednesday at 07:37 PM Why are you just resigning yourself to the fact that the shop owner tells you they're lost? Are you really going to just let it be and eat the cost of new seats yourself (if you can even find them?) 1
KSMooniac Posted Wednesday at 07:58 PM Report Posted Wednesday at 07:58 PM The seats by themselves without the frame/reclining mechanism aren't worth a ton in the market except to sell to an existing owner so I can't imagine he'd try to sell them out the back door. If he had the seats AND the hardware, then that whole kit is worth thousands IMO with nice foam and covers. As mentioned, trying to source just the seats will be difficult and expensive since there aren't many out there. Then you'll have to recover to try to match your fronts, or recover all 4. I looked for a back seat "kit" to convert my bench for years and only found one for sale in the old MAPA classifieds for $2k with bad upholstery. This was circa 2010 or so. In 2013 I bought an entire salvage plane and got my initial kit from there, along with many other upgrades and spares. Later I got better seats from a Bravo through BAS. I still have the back seats from my late '81 salvage J but not all of the hardware for a retrofit. These are the tall back first generation seats with integrated head rests and I expect your '85 seats were shorter with a removable headrest. I would be happy to sell these older ones if you end up with no other option reasonably soon. I was planning to cut out some of the height and shrink the backs down and add conventional headrests, but just used the Bravo seats (after I recovered them) instead. Your best course of action is to turn that shop inside-out to locate them, and use a strong letter if needed to get that accomplished. 2
mooniac15u Posted Wednesday at 09:42 PM Report Posted Wednesday at 09:42 PM I just got an email from BAS this week saying they started parting an M20J. On their website it looks like it has the split rear seat. If you contact them soon you can probably get everything you need before it even gets listed. https://baspartsales.com/blog/new-in-the-bas-disassembly-hangar-december-8-2025
1980Mooney Posted yesterday at 12:07 AM Report Posted yesterday at 12:07 AM 5 hours ago, LANCECASPER said: When I looked at the pictures you sent me back when you started looking at this airplane, from the pictures the seats were at least an 8 out of 10. In that letter I would explain that to get seats that match the front seats, by the time you buy them (quote what factory new seats are), add matching upholstery it would be in the neighborhood of $5000. He may work a little harder to find them. 2 hours ago, mooniac15u said: I just got an email from BAS this week saying they started parting an M20J. On their website it looks like it has the split rear seat. If you contact them soon you can probably get everything you need before it even gets listed. https://baspartsales.com/blog/new-in-the-bas-disassembly-hangar-december-8-2025 9 hours ago, SilentT said: The A&P That was supposed to do my interior and had my plane for 15 months misplaced my back seats. I got a tray as part of my interior package from playing Plastics but the seats themselves are gone and after seeing his shop I don't think they're ever going to be found. If they are it will be too late and I would have already tried to find out another solution. What's my best option for finding replacement back seats for my 1985 J? I have not been following your 85J renovation saga and maybe I have missed something here, but I don't understand your comment " I don't think they're ever going to be found. If they are it will be too late". What is stopping you from going to the shop right now and demanding to pull the place apart to look for them? It is never "too late". It's not like they rolled off a workbench and fell into a crack. Did the shop owner say he lost them or he just can't find them? Stand there (better yet participate) while they move everything around to look for them. 13 years ago I was having some significant panel work done. Unbeknownst to me, the owner of the avionics shop sold the shop during my project. The name and legal entity of the shop changed while my plane was being worked on. There was a delay but the "new shop owner" finished the job. To make matters worse, the new owner decided to start immediately remodeling the office and shop. When I picked up my plane, the work was OK and they honored the original quote, but they "didn't know where my logs were". They claimed that they searched for them but did not know where the prior shop owner put them. I came back the next day and started looking through everything in the shop. Fortunately I found them mixed into a pile of old avionics documents that had been removed from the office for the remodeling. I never went back. 1
PT20J Posted yesterday at 01:09 AM Report Posted yesterday at 01:09 AM Thirty-five years ago I was an engineering manager at a telecom equipment manufacturer. The CEO decided to fire the VP of Manufacturing and gave the job to the VP of Engineering - my boss. In turn, my boss anointed me warehouse supervisor. Some weeks earlier, I had ordered a birthday present for my wife and had it sent to the company so she wouldn't know about it. UPS said it was delivered, but the warehouse crew swore they never received it. Now, I was suddenly and unexpectedly their boss. I got everyone together on the warehouse floor and said that the first order of business was to find my wife's birthday present. After the shock wore off, it only took fifteen minutes to find it where it had fallen behind some other boxes. 2 3
Will.iam Posted yesterday at 02:08 AM Report Posted yesterday at 02:08 AM I think the OP vastly underestimated scarcity and value of his original seats. 2
Slick Nick Posted yesterday at 04:10 AM Report Posted yesterday at 04:10 AM 2 hours ago, Will.iam said: I think the OP vastly underestimated scarcity and value of his original seats. Shouldn’t matter. Even if they were the most common seats in the world, no way I’d let a shop get away with losing MY seats. They’re not the shops seats to lose. 2
SilentT Posted 13 hours ago Author Report Posted 13 hours ago I vastly underestimated the scarcity and value of the seats. Also this guy had ghosted me for months. I was just happy to get my plane back. Dan Bass is on here he can attest this shop is like nothing I've ever seen before. Mountains of stuff piled >10ft high. If it was 1500bucks for seats and hardware it wouldn't be worth the hassle but this is going to get silly. 1
1980Mooney Posted 12 hours ago Report Posted 12 hours ago 17 minutes ago, SilentT said: I vastly underestimated the scarcity and value of the seats. Also this guy had ghosted me for months. I was just happy to get my plane back. Dan Bass is on here he can attest this shop is like nothing I've ever seen before. Mountains of stuff piled >10ft high. If it was 1500bucks for seats and hardware it wouldn't be worth the hassle but this is going to get silly. Why don't you let everyone know who/where this shop is? So what if stuff is pilled up - seats are large - you should be able to spot them. 1
Shadrach Posted 12 hours ago Report Posted 12 hours ago 22 minutes ago, SilentT said: I vastly underestimated the scarcity and value of the seats. Also this guy had ghosted me for months. I was just happy to get my plane back. Dan Bass is on here he can attest this shop is like nothing I've ever seen before. Mountains of stuff piled >10ft high. If it was 1500bucks for seats and hardware it wouldn't be worth the hassle but this is going to get silly. Go to the shop and find your seats. Trying to piece something together from spares is going to be significantly more challenging and expensive in the long run. Even if you have to spend a full day in the shop, it will be time well spent. 2
SilentT Posted 12 hours ago Author Report Posted 12 hours ago Just now, 1980Mooney said: Why don't you let everyone know who/where this shop is? So what if stuff is pilled up - seats are large - you should be able to spot them. I just go ahold of him. He did clear up that on the pallet that just shipped to me, I have two bottoms and a single back rest. In his comment they have to be somewhere. He didn't remove them his helper did and put them in bags when he opened a single back was missing. He's not sure if it was there to begin with. He's apparently where I bought the plane for a funeral he's going to meet with previous owner family and look through old hanger. As he said, it has to be somewhere we just have to find it... At least it's only a single backrest now. Plane was bought in Redlands CA, worked on in sandpoint Idaho. 3 1
TangoTango Posted 12 hours ago Report Posted 12 hours ago When you bought the airplane, didn't it have both seat backs installed? Why would they be with the previous owner? At this point personally I would not trust any shipments, I'd be driving there myself. 15 months is a long time. Most people stop by every so often to check on how the work is going.
LANCECASPER Posted 12 hours ago Report Posted 12 hours ago 4 minutes ago, TangoTango said: When you bought the airplane, didn't it have both seat backs installed? Why would they be with the previous owner? At this point personally I would not trust any shipments, I'd be driving there myself. 15 months is a long time. Most people stop by every so often to check on how the work is going. It's a long story. It was partially disassembled when he bought it from the estate. He has been persistent, to say the least, in getting this airplane back in the air. 2 1
SilentT Posted 12 hours ago Author Report Posted 12 hours ago 1 minute ago, LANCECASPER said: It's a long story. It was partially disassembled when he bought it from the estate. He has been persistent, to say the least, in getting this airplane back in the air. @TangoTango Thats a understatement. Persistent and patient. Some regrettable decisions along the way. Definitely not a lack of involvement. 3
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