Meet the real Dearg 1275 high backed recliner challenge

[kevs 1961 mk1]

nice work there as usual mate , 3 synchro is a b,,,,y nightmare as you've found ,your getting there though keep on going

[Andrew1967]

When I dismantled a 22G68 SCCR box I bought from the parts department, I initially struggled to get the 1st motion out the normal way and soon realised I had to take it out from inside. A bit of a fiddle as you say David.

I'll have to remember that when I build the SCCR box for my 998.

Cracking work on the Dearg 1275 by the way

[Wilder1992]

I’ve just done exactly the same for my SCCR 3 synchro on my Mk2, it is a right pain. Hoping I’ve done it correctly. Is there any way you can test it before fitment apart from selecting through the gears with the remote change?

[Dearg1275]

I don’ t think you can do anything more than stick it in each gear in turn and turn the input gear. If all rotates relatively easily that’s as good an indication as you can get. If the gears select the only problem would be the synchro rings binding up. I’m no expert, just my thoughts.

D

[Dearg1275]

Engine time now as the gearbox is finished. I had to resort to crude engineering to get the diff side cover bushes “reamed” to size. Let’s just say a lot of trial fitting went on.

Yes, engine. I have been wanting to do this for years. It has been running a pair of H4s since I put it together 14 years ago but today I had a wee grin to myself.

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There is a lot to sort yet such as a throttle cable bracket. Fun though!

D

[Daz1968]

Should sound awesome with the induction off those,

[Dearg1275]

With the gearbox now full of genuine ST CR SC gears and bolted to the bit that makes things happen, it’s all back in the car. I’m still waiting for some oil to turn up through the post and then we can see if these actually work.

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No, I haven’t forgotten the jubilee clips or the clack valve. Patience.

D

[e-type]

You can grind down the input gear teeths, so they will go through the gearbox housing, this will also make the gearbox less noisy .
Doing this, you can assemble the gearbox the normal way.

[Dearg1275]

Back to my Mk 2. Many moons ago I converted a S high backed recliner extending its seat back frame and recovering it in needle cord “works” fashion. I also have a Mk3 that needs the same style navigators seat. They have been sharing the seat. To avoid them squabbling I decide time had come to get another seat.

Rather than sacrifice another rare S high back (the one I used before needed a lot of repair) I thought to use a Newton commercial repro frame. I was more than a little taken aback by how different they were from the original.

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The seat base is shorter, the pivot point of the back is too high and too far forwards for starters and of course the back frame construction is nothing like the original. The plan then is to cut it to bits and reconstruct it to get the same effect as the original but using the modern tilt mechanism. To start patterns are needed for the plates that hold the tubular frame forwards of the pivot.

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It will be a matter of correcting each difference one by one and hopefully end up with something that works and looks right.

Off to by some tubing.

D

[Dearg1275]

After much delay the tubing arrived. How to bend it? I resorted to old technology and stuffed it with fine dry sand. A trial bend on the cut off proved the system so nothing for it but to crack on. I figured if I couldn’t get the back rest tube bent correctly then there was no point doing anything further with the modifications.

A rough pattern to bend the top of the hoop.

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Then reversed it to make the other corner. After that the vice and a map gas torch to get things just short of glowing red and the other bends were fairly easy to control. Spot-on it isn’t but it makes the project possible. It’s a little narrower at the top but I’m raising the height a tad so it won’t cramp the shoulders.

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I hope the sand comes out.

D

[5portsrock]

Well done David. I look foward to seeing how the seat progresses, in particular your ingenious techniques for getting things done

[Peter Laidler]

That's a pretty damn good and ingenious seat modification! I like the sand in the tube method too.

[Ronnie]

After much delay the tubing arrived. How to bend it? I resorted to old technology and stuffed it with fine dry sand. A trial bend on the cut off proved the system so nothing for it but to crack on. I figured if I couldn’t get the back rest tube bent correctly then there was no point doing anything further with the modifications.

I hope the sand comes out.

D

Well one thing is for sure, it looks better than the repro seat back!

"I hope the sand comes out." In the drydocks before they had mandrel benders they used what they termed silver sand, for that very reason. Ohhh and a few hands on the bends with hammers.

[Dearg1275]

Silver sand is what I wanted but builder’s sand had to do. The smaller diameter tube for the vertical back stays I did without the sand as the relative wall thickness was greater. I got things a bit hotter for these.

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Then the back and reclining mechanism had to come off the NC frame and the heavy return spring had to be locked off with a screw and nut.

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Continued.

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[Dearg1275]

The whole idea is to get the pivot point for the back of the seat in the same relative position as the original. There will have to be a fair bit of fine tuning of the base but I can now see that it is achievable.

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If I straighten the wonky welding of the square peg on the NC unit it’s pretty much there. Some strengthening of the back of the base is needed.

That’s for another day as the sun is shining and it’s too warm in the shed. Got to make the most of it north of the border.

D

[Dearg1275]

The sun went in later in the day so press on. The NC base was 4 cm short and the back was 1 cm too low.

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The legs also needed to move inwards to clear the mechanism as with the genuine article.

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Then extend the seat base tubing to allow room for the lilt gear.

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Just some final checks before the base can be welded up.

D

[roger mcnab]

hi d
an old friend here was an apprentice at rolls royce and he bent all sorts of tubing and if a ball bearing of the correct size went all the way through it was good if not it was scrap he had all sorts of little hammers as there was no ripples allowed
cheers roger

[Dearg1275]

So I’ve got ripples! And I thought they were kinks. At RR they would not be modifying a seat but making it correctly from the start. I do think my kinky tubes will serve though.

D

[roger mcnab]

hi d
he was making oil lines for merlin engines and some of the pipes were 2 inch dia all in copper so a lot easier to do bends all done with sand like you did
but nothing wrong with your work it is fine i would be hard pressed to do as good
it is a pain when you have to go to all this trouble to get a seat to work properly
a mate bought a complete zx9 kawasaki in boxes seems that a box is missing as there are a lot of bits not there great fun
cheers roger mcnab

[Dearg1275]

When in my teens we dug up a merlin engine that was from a crashed mosquito on the side of Great Whernside in the Yorkshire Dales. I found a beautifully shaped two inch Cooper pipe complete with brazed mounting flange. This hung on my bedroom wall for several years along side plans for a Mosquito. Sadly, later someone bounced the engine down the hill and reputedly sold it for scrap. It was useless for bits but where it had lain was great as a point of excitement to anyone coming across it. Shame it has gone.

D