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Triumph TR3 - Original TR3A seat springs

I am restoring the seat cushions on a 1959 TR3A. After removing the old covers from the cushions I found that there are 3 broken springs in the second and third row from the back of one seat cushion and 4 broken springs in the second and third row from the back in the other seat cushion. Out of the 152 springs plus that are in the two cushions there are only 7 bad spings. Is there a source for these springs on this side of the Atlantic? John Skinner probably has them in England but he will want to sell me a whole new spring set. How about .06 piano wire and make the springs myself? But what size and length should the springs be before installation? The easy solution is to clean and spray all the good springs with anti-rust primer and crimp the broken springs together but I really do not want to do that. Thanks for any suggestions.

hjr
hjr

Go visit a local re-upholsterer and ask him if he has springs about the same size. That's what I did. I left the old ones there and spiral turned (or threaded) the new ones in among all the broken ones. Them I twisted the ends so they would stay in place and finished the job by pulling the new seat covers on. These have been there 16 years now (87,000 miles) and they are still like new.

Don Elliott
Don Elliott

Triumphs Only in California says they wind their own. I think you'd be able to make a few yourself. A slight difference in length would never be noticed. If all your new ones are in one small area, you might see/feel a little difference, but if I were you, I'd just make some with piano wire.

The only wire I found when I was doing this was too thick/heavy. And I can really feel the excess spring pressure where they are. I'll be redoing them or at least taking some of them out of the firmer areas.

Once you get them right, an oil mist over the paint would be a good idea.
Tom

The Roadster Factory was talking about making and supplying the springs a couple of years ago. Don't know how far they got with that project but might be worth checking with them. I thought they said there are 90 springs per seat.
Jim
J. S. Wallace

Don, Tom, and Jim, thanks for the good ideas. I will let you know what I finally do and how I like the results.
hjr
hjr

This thread was discussed between 20/12/2005 and 22/12/2005

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