The Lotus Grand Tourers

I recently noted that it seemed that I was "sitting on the floor" of the Excel. At 6'3" that is not necessarily a bad thing, but it did not feel right. I had a friend sit in the seat, and he commented that the car sure did sit low. We reached under the seat, and sure enough, the rubber bottom support was split in half. Yesterday I took both the driver and passenger seat out and brought them to the reupholstery guy I use, and he is going to rebuild the bases, check the foam, and put new webbing in. If I could figure out how to take pictures, I will do so.

I picked up the repaired seats last week, and I have to say the new support of the bottom cushions is excellent. He was able to repair the driver's side split in the foam, rebuild the top with a new layer, and rebuild the seat bottom support. The material that they used is very strong, and was both glued and sewn into place. Even for my 230 pound frame, the new support is great. I asked the upholsterer, who has done several other jobs for me, if he was sure it was strong enough to support my large back side , and he said that I could stand on the new seat bottom and it would not hurt it. He showed me a sample of the new support material, and try as much as I could, I could not stretch or tear it.

Interesting - what did he do about the rubber diaphragm on the bottom that supports the foam? These appear to be unavailable new, can't find any good used ones, and I've not been able to find anything similar from any other car that comes close to fitting.

rbgosling wrote: Tue Aug 20, 2024 16:23 Interesting - what did he do about the rubber diaphragm on the bottom that supports the foam? These appear to be unavailable new, can't find any good used ones, and I've not been able to find anything similar from any other car that comes close to fitting.

He used the material I was talking about above. First, he glued the new material on the top and bottom of the original piece, then after the glue set, he then sewed it as well. My rubber diaphragm was totally split. This new material is really strong. In addition, he added more foam. He said it would be stronger than new. He is an old school guy, with many years of experience, so I trust him. I sat in the seat, and it felt great.

OK, sounds good. I like that idea, although I don't think my wife's sewing machine would cope with trying to sew through 3 layers of rubber...

rbgosling wrote: Wed Aug 21, 2024 14:52 OK, sounds good. I like that idea, although I don't think my wife's sewing machine would cope with trying to sew through 3 layers of rubber...

Let me see if I can find out the name of it. If nothing else, I bet I can get some from him and send it over.

Sounds like it might be insert rubber sheet - good stuff. Following with interest

Pete

Hope this picture link works

rogbmw wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 18:13
Hope this picture link works

Not for me