The MKI “Bugeye” Sprite seats were not particularly comfortable or supportive. This image shows the MKI seat design:
MKI Sprite seats
The previous owner was apparently aware of this shortcoming because the seats in the Bugeye are from a MK2 Sprite. These look very similar to a MKI Big Healey, but are not quite the same. Note the horizontal seam in the seat back – it distinguishes the Sprite seat from its big brother..
MK2 Sprite seat upholstery
We are going to have Geoff Chrysler, owner of Rightway Heritage Trimming, https://www.rightwayheritagetrim.com provide the seat upholstery. Unfortunately, new foam cushions for the MK2 seats are not available and Geoff is not pleased with the premade seat covers available from the usual vendors, so he will make and install the new covers himself. We will be going with red and red piping. We will send the foams we have along with the vinyl covers to Geoff so that he can use them as patterns. Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Sixty-one shows the deconstruction of the lower and upper seat cushions in preparation for sending to Geoff.
https://vimeo.com/955906748/05d8772bd1?share=copy
Our next step was to prepare the seat pans, the seat bases and the upper seat backs for shipping. Unfortunately, we discovered that the seat pans were not usable without some major rust repairs. Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Seventy shows the seat components and their condition.
https://vimeo.com/972539064/c702e9e1bc?share=copy
We discovered that Kilmartins http://www.kas-kilmartin.com.au in Australia fabricates the correct seat pan so we ordered a pair and had them sent directly to Geoff. One of the seat backs had a pivot hole that was out of round so my friend Randy kindly brazed a washer on the inside of the seat to provide a nice new fit.
Seat Pivot repair 1
The seat bases were in good shape but the slider tracks were not. We drilled out the rivets that fasten the slider tracks to the base and removed them. We have purchased some used tracks that we will secure when the seat assemblies come back from Geoff’s shop.
Seat Base
Several of the pivot bolts had stripped threads. We located some new weld studs that seem identical to the originals and Randy welded them in place for us.
Seat Pivot Studs
We media blasted the seat backs after repairs, treated them with a rust preventative and painted them with two coats of POR 15. Now they are nice and shiny and ready to go to Geoff.
Painted seat backs