Rear Seat fitting on Series 2 Traveller

[Tony]

I am restoring a Series 2 Traveller and I am having difficulty in getting the rear seat back to fold down as it badly fouls the armrests. The seat is original and I have confirmed with Charles Ware’s and by looking in the “Original Morris Minor” book that it is a Series 2 seat. It has not been recovered. I have fitted new Newton interior side panels (supplied by Charles Ware’s). The boot floor wooden panels are original and the seat hinges line up with the holes OK. However, the rear back seat at the top (ie it widest point) badly fouls the armrests on the side trim panels.

I have talked to Charles Ware’s and they assure me the trim panels are correct for the car. On their advice have raised the rear boot floor by 3/8 inch by putting a batten under the floor where it is screwed down towards the front. This has made a marginal difference but has not resolved the problem. I have also tried tapping in the edges of the seat with a mallet but to no avail. I really need to lose about ½ inch each side.

Any ideas?

[mike.perry]

I swapped the interior on my '68 Traveller and found that things did not quite line up, it was as though each interior had been made for each car rather everything being pre drilled and bolted straight in. I can just push the base over the arm rests but the locating pins do not line up
Also I fitted new rear seat side panels on my '52 2 door and I had a lot of trouble fitting the seat base as the panels were not as curved as the originals

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

Can you post a pic of the armrests and seats just to be sure, I will take a pic of mine tomorrow to compare.

[Tony]

[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

Pictures attached. The seat is really hard against the side panel and needs a lot of force to get it to fold down.

Can anyone confirm whether I have fixed the side panel in the correct position, books I have looked at seem to have it against the B post where I have fixed it. When I bought the car the side panels were missing.

[mike.perry]

Are you sure that it is a side panel for a Traveller and not a 2 door saloon? I will check mine later

[jcrtd]

I have the same problem and assumed that the side panels are for the later models and not available for the Series2. I seem to remember reading that the back seat doesn't fold easily with new panels but I can't remember, possibly Newton Commercial where I bought my new panels from.
John

[mike.perry]

They are Traveller side panels. The arm rests are the same style as my 1952 2 door and completely different from my '68 Traveller which has much shorter arm rests. However it seems to resemble the photo on page 83 of "Morris Minor Official Photo Album" by John Pressnell

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

The panels look right, have you tried screwing it in at the bottom at the back? This may pull it in a wee bit. Mine also seems to be slighty more shaped at the top between the arm rest and the bottom of the window, this may also pull it in. Another place were you can screw to is the shaped peices of wood that go to the top of the arch. I havent refited mine yet as then need varnished.

Im having some pc difs with pictures so have sent them to Stevey to resize and post

[stevey]

[frame][/frame]
heres the triangles that david was on about.

and heres some snaps of davids arm rests in his traveller[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

hope that helps

[Tony]

Hi,

Many thanks for all the advice. Yes, I have already tried fixing the panel at the bottom but that actually makes it worse as the panel won’t then flex (ie push in).

I haven’t any wooden blocks on the top of the wheel arch, do all cars have these? What do they fit to? Could you give me the dimensions of the blocks please? Thanks. They would certainly help tighten the back of the trim panel but I somehow doubt they will pull it in enough to clear the seat. I can flex the trim panels back hard against the ali side panel but that still doesn’t give enough clearance for the seat.

I have today had a bit more advice from Charles Ware’s as follows:

“push the side panels out and down which puts a bit of a curve in them. This tends to make the top of the trim panel nearly the same level as the wooden capping.

Other things they do sometimes is take the metal side edge capping off of the rear seat back and sand the side of the seat away slightly then re-fix this metal edge capping. It has also been known to use a soft mallet, covered to protect the panel, and to beat the panel in the area where it is rigid, adjacent to the seat. This softens the side panel in this area and allows it to move slightly when the seat goes down. This was done when the trim had been fitted elsewhere.”


Their first idea seems a bit of a bodge and you presumably end up with the arm rests sloping rather than horizontal, particularly as I need to gain about ½ inch. When he says “This tends to make the top of the trim panel nearly the same level as the wooden capping“ this seems a massive adjustment as currently I have the panel only about ¼ up behind the bottom of the wooden capping.

I think I’ll have a go at reshaping the rear seat over the weekend and I’ll let you know how I get on. This will necessarily be limited as the end of the bolts will be my limit of “adjustment”.

Tony

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

The wooden blocks are only fitted to early travellers, not exactly sure when they stopped but reckon late 50's. They screw on were the 2 peices of aluminum joint and also cover the end of the trim piece. If you pm me your address I will draw round them and send it on to you as they are curved a bit as well.

[Tony]

A progress (?) report.

I have tried to distort the side panels (ie by damping the card backing and pushing them in and up), this has a marginal good effect. I have removed the metal finishers from the seat back. I have also cut about ¼ inch from the wood on each side of the seat back. I can now fold down the rear seat but only by helping (ie forcing a bit) past the armrests. Its usable, but not ideal.

I wondered whether Newton have made the armrests too wide. At the widest,(measured across the top of the armrest to the edge of the beading on the seat side, its 31/8 inches. It would be much appreciated if David or anyone else with a Series 2 Traveller with original panels could measure them to compare. Thanks.

Tony

[C6Dave]

Im having some pc difs with pictures so have sent them to Stevey to resize and post

Off Topic, but you can resize your own images here: http://www.picresize.com/

It's easy to use and can be faster than asking a friend

[mbo145]

Hi there, the arm rests do look just like mine, I wonder if they have used thicker board when making the replacements? The blocks that fit above the rear wheel arch look like this (see below)
You can see from the photos of both travellers that there is a gap between the top of the folding seat and the arm rest, especially the top photo.
This may help, if you need measurements from mine let me know!
The triangular wooden blocks were discontinued when the Minor 1000 came out in 1956
Phil[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]
looking at the rear armrests on both the series 2 travellers, they do have quite a curve in them!
If you are ever down this way you are more than welcome to look at mine!
The other traveller is Brian Wood's 1954 cheesegrater, I'm sure he will not mind me sharing a photo of it with you!

[Tony]

Thank you MBO 145, that is very helpful. Sorry that I have been a while replying. Try as I may I can’t get the replacement panels to curve like yours. I have tried dampening them and pressing them to a curve but they still do not get to the same shape as the ones in your photo. Should I ever find some originals in reasonable condition I will buy them.

As an aside there is no sign on my car of it ever having the centre triangular centre blocks. Not that it would appear from your photo to have any effect on the above problem as the armrest panels don’t look to be affixed to it.

Charles Ware’s also sold me some trim panels that fit the last side section up to the back of the car, which I have fitted. I noticed your car doesn’t have these, were these actually fitted to Series 2 cars or only later?

Could I ask you if you could measure the maximum width of the top of armrest? The ones I have are just over 3 inches wide ( 3 1/8 inches to be exact). I ask this as was wondering of the originals were narrower.

Many thanks,

Tony

[mbo145]

I will have a measure for you! Not tonight as it is freezing....! The rear wheel arches were just painted body colour on the series 2, the minor 1000 were covered. I think your rear armrests panels should curve in to the base, as ours both do. I will get measuring soon,
Has yours got the original wood? The blocks are fitted with only two screws which fix into the back of the outside block above the wing, the screws go through the gap between the aluminium panels.
Phil

[Tony]

Yes, I think my panels aren’t curved enough and try as I may I can’t get them to curve as much as yours.

My wood is original except for the 2 bottom curved pieces around the rear wheel arch which I have replaced. The rest is untouched and is good. No sign of these blocks but they look comparatively easy to make and fit. A before picture with it partly stripped out is below.

No hurry to measure, whenever you get a chance. My car restoration has stopped until the weather warms up, -9 here last night!

Cheers, Tony[frame][/frame]