STAG SALOON SEAT REPAIR
Although I carried out this repair on the seat of my Stag Saloon, the same method and principles can be used on most models of our Triumphs. When I bought the car it had a large hole in the right hand panel on the driver seat base which needed attending too. For the repair I opted to choose a colour that would be a contrast to the original colour, but really I should have tried to procure a piece of vinyl that was a good match to the original seat, although I have rarely found that it is possible to do so due to discolouration of the original material. My plan was to replace both the left and right hand side panels so that it looked “equal” then at a later date I would also change the panels in the passenger seat. I say a later date because I find upholstering seats very tedious, time consuming and boring, but I was hoping that the result would be better than having the large hole.
First of all I removed the entire seat from the car. I then carefully removed all the clips and very gently prised the cover from the foam to limit any damage that would be caused by breaking the bond of the adhesive,
I then carefully unpicked the damaged panel and using it as a template I marked around it on a piece of vinyl (£3.49 for ½ a metre) but keeping a uniform ½ inch all around the area that would be visible. Then with the seat cover turned inside out I stitched the new panel in place. I did not use a sewing machine as there were many layers in some places and I would have lost control, so this process took me three hours!
I could not face doing the other panel that day, but a load of beer in the evening gave me fresh enthusiasm for the next day so I repeated the process on the left hand panel. After this I re fitted the cover to the seat base using contact adhesive and the clips. I knew that it would be many months before I could summon up the enthusiasm to remove the panels from the passenger seat and replace them with the same colour that I had used on the driver seat, so I thought that I would experiment with one of the leather/vinyl paints that are available. I ordered a spray can of Tan colour and tried it on an off-cut of the material that I had bought, the match to the original colour was excellent! I left it to dry overnight and then I screwed the painted off-cut up, and stretched it this way and that way to see if the paint would crack or peel off, it didn’t! I then decided to mask off the whole top of the seat base and after giving it a good clean I applied two coats of the Tan paint and left it to dry. The end result is a nice looking seat with no rips or tears, but with the base cover looking slightly different (if you look closely) in colour to the back, but this would be the same if I had been able to purchase a new cover for the seat base due to discolouration over the years. So if you have a seat that badly needs a repair you can with the help of a sharp needle, rot proof thread and an off-cut of vinyl (perfect if your seats are black) plus a tube of contact adhesive make your car’s interior a better place to be in, the total cost of this repair including the paint was less than £16 and it has made a huge difference to the car’s interior. I just wish that I had tried the paint before renewing the second panel on this seat!
Whether 6 cylinders or 4 a TR ( or Stag Saloon) is more
Bern
TRIUMPH STAG SALOON (MK2 2000) ECG 849K
25/02/2014
I drove 150 miles to Billinghurst Sussex to look at the car, it had been advertised for £2,500, but I had spoken to the owner who agreed on a price of £2000 cash. Two friends from TSSC S. Wales travelled with me (using one of their cars) as it was my intention to drive the Triumph home (it had a current mot and road tax and I had insured it the day before for a nominal fee). The owner had called me the night before to say that the windscreen wipers had packed in completely and the weather forecast was for heavy rain. I decided to risk it and packed a comprehensive toolkit in the hope that I could get the wipers working. We set out early and the weather for the entire journey was abysmal we even encountered sleet and snow around Reading, however, as we reached our destination the rain stopped and I was able to get the wipers working by cleaning up the motor brushes and stretching their springs. The car was a bargain, I was very pleased and after the money changed hands we proceeded homewards. Everything worked on the car, but it did “blow” 2 brake light bulbs on the O/S. Also after 100 miles it seemed like the engine was miss firing, but it was actually the over drive switching in and out, so with over drive not engaged I cruised home in style and luxury hoping that the fault was caused only by low oil pressure due to either a low oil level or old oil that had thinned as it had got hot and that this had caused the pressure to drop in the over drive unit. I also found that the rear N/S door would not lock.
26/02/2014
I removed the rear N/S door card and wood capping to gain access to the door lock mechanism and after a good soak with WD40 I was able to adjust the latch system so that it did lock. I did not re fit the door card as it was a bit damp. I will left it to dry.
0.75 hours
27/02/2014
I jacked the car up evenly on all four corners and placed it on axle stands so that it remained level and then I removed the gear box filler/level plug (do this first in case it is seized) then the drain plug and finally the over drive plug, magnets and filter. With the gear box drained of oil I re installed the filter and drain plugs and filled the gear box up with SAE 90 gear oil to the correct level. I then spent some time scraping away bits of loose underseal and painted Waxoil rich underseal on those areas. With the car lowered to the ground I started the engine and checked that all gears engaged. After taking the car for a run the over drive issue was still present.
2.75 hours
28/02/2014
With the gear lever in 4th gear I operated the overdrive switch and I could hear the relay and solenoid engaging, but when “wiggling” the gear lever I could hear the relay kicking in and out, this led me to believe that the inhibitor switch on the gear lever mechanism was the cause of the problem. Once again I jacked the car up and managed to locate the over drive inhibitor switch which I could not release from under the car, but with the trim removed from around the gear lever and the steel cover from within the centre console removed I was able to undo the retaining bolt and nut that held the switch bracket and then from underneath the car I was able to extract the bracket and switch assembly. I tested the switch and there was no sign of a fault apart from slight wear on the plunger which maybe was enough to cause the switch to “switch in and out” I also found that the cable which “earthed” the switch was wearing thin at the spade connector. I made a cable to bypass the switch and tried the car. The over drive worked every time so I surmised that the problem was either the cable issue or the wear on the plunger. To eradicate these I removed the 2 gaskets between the switch and its bracket so that the wear in the plunger was equalled out and made a new earth to switch cable. When I tried the car the over drive engaged perfectly each time and did not “trip out”.
6.25 hours/month 2.75 hours
01/03/2014
After painting the inside face of the door card to reduce further damage through damp I refitted it and the door capping to the rear N/S door. I also took out a spark plug and it was a near perfect “burn” colour.
0.75 hours
04/03/2014
I had been given a nice wooden steering wheel the same diameter as the original with the wood colour matching the dashboard and door cappings in return for some work I had carried out on a ladies GT6. I was loath to fit it to the Stag Saloon though as wooden wheels tend to be harder to grip in the hot weather when your hands are sweating then when you add to this the weight of the car and lack of power steering it makes a wooden steering wheel even less of an attractive proposition, however, the original steering wheel was extremely shiny and thin so I thought that if I could buy a boss cheap enough I would fit the wooden one to try it out. I was telling one of the lads in the club this when they said that I had given them a selection of boss’s a few years ago for them to try on their Herald and that they still had a few, well what are the odds of one of these fitting my Stag Saloon I thought, but lady luck once more shone on me and one of the boss’s fitted! I had to drill out the steering wheel’s mounting holes, but after doing this I achieved a perfect fit and I now have a beautiful looking steering wheel that is actually easier to grip than the original. A result or what?
1 hour
Total hours 8