New seats and seat belts

[Neilnorman38]

Hi, I am a new Caterham owner (that's a owner that's new to owning a Caterham - not the owner of a new Caterham!). I am not technically very gifted - in fact i'm mechanically pretty useless hence my posting on here.

i have had my Caterham two months and want to replace the cloth seats with leather ones and replace the inertia belts with Caterham 4 point harnesses. I intend to get the seats recovered by Oxted who do the seats for the factory. 

I therefore have a couple of questions:

- is it worth trying to remove and refit the seats and belts myself given my limited skills and experience in this area?

- is there an experienced Caterham  garage or mechanic near me who could remove and refit the seats and belts for me, I live in North Yorkshire. The nearest garages I know off are Bookatrack and Oakdale which are both a distance when I will need to get a lift to and from them to leave the Seven with them. 

- where is the best place to source Caterham 4 point harnesses? 

Any help or advice in this area would be gratefully received 

Thanks 

[Jonathan Kay]

Welcome.

It's pretty easy to change seats and belts yourself, and there's lots of help available here. No special tools needed. There's a notorious problem with the floor bolts but there is also a range of simple solutions.

Are you sure you don't want a crotch strap, at least on the driver's side?

Are you set on Caterham harnesses? The last replacement I did was with Titon and I was very pleased. They'll make the adjuster work either way, and I wanted down and away on the lap straps. I bought them from Prima, but If I were doing it again I'd start with Meteor.

Jonathan

[nickh7]

Neil , its very easy , have you seen the leather seats for sale on here ? Why do you want leather ? I always found them slippery when driving spiritedly , especially under braking and preferred cloth when I speced  my new car  . If you are going to switch to harness' then I'd go crutch strap as well. Triton are based  in Huddersfield I think and have a factory shop. Beware of buying off ebay etc as there have been some copies knocking about

Where are you in North Yorks ? If you want to drive to South Yorkshire I can recommend Dave Wingfield at Kimberworth Service Station . But would say have a go yourself

 

Nick h

[Wrightpayne]

I think removing inertia belts is not straightforward as I believe the reel is boxed in. Might need a few rivets drilling out and an ally panel removing.

Ian

[Julian H]

Hello Neil, welcome!

I reckon you should attempt to do the job yourself. Sevens are all about DIY IMO, and this is a nice simple job that you should be easy to do successfully. Just take your time, work methodically, plan your work and ask questions if you are unsure.

Good luck

[nickh7]

Ian your right  but it is straight forward I had to take them out to fit the anti roll-bar and if I can do it anybody can

[Stridey]

Seats are easy to replace yourself. It's a faff to reach the rear bolts, but you'll work it out.  I changed my out of date race harnesses to the simpler Caterham ones that do up with just one clip (similar to the inertia reel clip) as I feel they are easier and quicker to do up and more passenger friendly than the more racey type). 

[Paul McKenzie]

If you can't be ars*d removing the inertia reels, just cut the belt and it will magically disappear, then sometime in the future when you're feeling mechanically brave you can remove the rear wheels, drill out the rivets and add lightness

[MADMALC]

Hi N,

Where in North Yorkshire are you? Your local meetings have plenty of help, support and guidance available should you find yourself wanting to weald a spanner or two. I am in Filey and always available for practical and spiritual guidance!

The inertia part of the belt can be left attached so do not worry about that.

M.