Hi Terry!
No question you are far more knowledgable about these things than I am!
Yes looks like you are exactly correct about the hip supports - the lateral support ends about even with my hip bones - I’m guessing probably necessary for the seat back to rotate forward (?).
Could you clear up something regarding the tapered wedges? I’m attaching a diagram that is from the coventryautocomponents.co.uk page that shows the part (#2445) that I ordered and its placement with regard to a (non-bucket) seat. Is this not an “official” or a correct diagram of the seats?
Thanks again for filling me in on this stuff!
Chet
I’m 6ft2”, and my way to cooe with the 120 and 140 OTS is to remove the soft top and about 1/3 of the stuffing in the seat cushions. I just tear out larhe chunks of that modern stuffing which gets my but further down so that I can see through the front window rather than above it. No soft top adds a good inch or two in rearward position of the seat back.
The next step is a modern pedal set such as Tilton or (I forget now). I have them both. They allow straighter legs. Not really a DIY job as it takes a bit of metal cutting.
Chet,
Just out of curiosity what are those, what appear to be, clear sun visors in your initial photo?
Alan
Hi Alan,
That was a picture I pulled from the internet of what I was trying to accomplish with the seats. However, I think those are “wind wings” that are mounted on the sides of the windshield and not sun visors.
For example:
OK Thanks, on first look it appeared to me to on top of the windshield. Now I see they are on the sides.
Alan
Chet, 2 years after the fact on this post but I was considering doing the same thing on my 140 for the same reason. I’m 5’10” so I fit fine but the lateral support or lack thereof is really awful. I don’t like sitting too straight either. What you have there looks really great as well does the car. Did you come up with a solution for increasing the back rest angle? My thoughts on that are the angle brackets on the original seat backs rest in 2 slotted tabs, deepening the slots in those tabs plus notching or shaving off the bottom surface of the angle brackets would gain you some tilt on the back rest. Indicated in blue on the drawing. Regards, Jim.
Ah, the better looking AC!
Jim:
I did what you are proposing with my 120. The extended tab that you circled is not as deep on the 120 as it appears to be in your illustration, thus deepening it would not achieve the desired effect, so I removed them. I also placed a dense foam bolster, covered in Rexine to match the interior and measuring 24"x4"x51/2" on top of the transmission tunnel. This not only increased the rake, but when seated allows that rake to increase as one leans back. I would note that this is in an XK120 DHC that was further modified to accommodate my height by the removal of the tool chest, addition of a smaller diameter Mota-Lita steering wheel plus a set of Bassett’s smaller “trick pedals”. While I recognize that the aforementioned modifications are too drastic for a lot of folks, it works for me. I must admit I had not thought of notching the seat arm itself.
Chris.
Roger, i recall you mentioning your Cobra on other posts, lovely to see it! I always liked the lean look of the small block cars over the more bulbous 427’s. I had a friend in high school who had an original 289 he drove (almost) daily while other guys had mostly muscle cars of the early and mid 60’s and have worked on both big and small block Cobras the past. A friend of my father had a beautiful original AC Ace that I also had the pleasure of working on. Cheers.
Thanks for the compliments - I never liked the FIA or 427 bodyshape. It looked like someone had attached a bicycle pump and just kept going.
Sadly (ish), the photo was taken a while back. The car was sold via Duncan Hamilton a couple of years ago. We just weren’t using it, as I didn’t like leaving it anywhere due to the lack of locks and the aluminium skin was so fragile I could get quite paranoid about it in public, as it always got a crowd around it. My wife wasn’t so keen as it is not an easy car to use for tours with a direct drive top etc. I also needed a new project, which technically is the 140DHC but in practice I bought the '37 Riley with some of the cash from the Cobra. This didn’t exactly fix the problems as my wife has flat refused to go anywhere in that, but she does like the look of the XK.
Also, how many times in one day would you be prepared to be asked the question ‘is it real?’ I would give it a gentle tap and say, ‘I don’t think I’m imagining it…’
I got really fed up with that.
I get the same response from people with the 140, when they read the information on the dash plaque (SE version) its “ Oh, this is a replica” and just walk away.
The trouble is, with a Cobra you get asked by everybody. Even those who know.
One of the most replicated car on the planet, and understandably with iconic British sports car design and American power. I only saw one XK(120) “replicar” (thankfully) a hideous giassfibre disaster.
Hi Jim,
I was never really able to adjust the rake of the seat back to my satisfaction. Also, I found the larger lateral supports made getting into and out of the seat an exercise in contortions. I could alleviate this somewhat by installing a smaller radius steering wheel but that would also mean a greater struggle with steering at slow speeds so for now I have removed the buckets and reinstalled the original “bench” seats pending a second round of effort. So I’m very interested in learning what others here have done!
Chet
Some of the tilting bucket seat backs are very flimsy, which completely defeats the purpose,…and some are not. Buy only based on a recommendation of someone who has them, or that you’ve sat in ! I’ve been to 2 concourse where XK120s were displayed with the tilting bucket seat backs. At Amelia & Tampa’s Gasparilla. I asked to sit in the cars, and the owners very graciously allowed me to do so. They were whacky flimsy, and not anything I’d want to drive my mountains up here in, for sure !! But I have heard that there are good ones as well. Cheers, K
Hi Terry
Enjoy reading your posts. Thanks for your expert contributions. I’m looking for more comfort and lower seating in my 120. Can you direct me to where I can purchase racing seats that are either original or very good authentic looking reproductions?
Many thanks,Dennis Dabney. ( I’m in southeast US)
Will get back to you shortly did you enquire anout these to roger as well?
TOTALLY agree: I hate the 427 version: it ruins the lithe and understated lines of the Ace. The 289 is a much better-looking car.
While I’m igniting that fire, let me say that having driven both the originals and the replicas, were I a wealthy man, I would like to have a 289 replica, because the originals were pretty pathetic cars!
The prettiest of the lot was the AC Ace 2.6. This had the straight-6 Ford Zephyr engine, the best power unit ever put in an Ace in my opinion for various reasons. The body shape was the pure, unadorned Ace shape, with no wheelarch extensions, but the Cobra nose treatment. They didn’t make many.
Not sure I’d say the original 289s were ‘pathetic’, though! The engine was powerful enough to give exciting performance for the day. I have had both - a transverse leafspring rack and pinion car and a Hawk coil spring car with a narrowed Jaguar IRS. They drive very differently, but I’m not sure I’d choose one over the other. The front and rear leafsprings actually work very well if in tip-top condition, giving a very compliant ride but holding the road well - just watch the video clips of Goodwood racing Cobras, the setup clearly works! For serviceability and mechanicking, the coil springs win hands down. But those are not AC Cobras.
Oops, sorry, gone even more o/t…
Cobra bucket seats excellent, Healey 3000 bucket seats flimsy. Anyone want to try my '37 Riley Sprite bucket seats? No, thought not…