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Posted by: pilothyer Nov 13 2009, 09:28 PM

I am looking for a nice brown seat for a '73 914.....It must not have any tears...It does not have to have the rails or seat cushion also it must not have the inner shell broken.....I have already bought one that looks really nice but the shell is broken down at the right lower corner and when you lean back it twists to the right......what a disappointment that was........Jerry

Posted by: Tom_T Nov 13 2009, 10:01 PM

Jerry, I think you can remove the upholstery & padding from the broken shell & put it onto another good shell which you may have around - esp. if that one looks good, as brown is about as hard to find as my #31 Beige!

If you're not comfortable doing it, get a good upholstery shop to do it for you. That's basically how they restore/recover the seats anyway - you're just swapping another "good skin" onto a good shell.

Is that a PA-32 or 28 in your avatar?

Posted by: pilothyer Nov 13 2009, 11:54 PM

Tom....Thanks for the reply, and the information....If I can't find one I may give that a try.
The Piper Cherokee in my avitar is a '72 model PA 28....only four places with only 2 side windows......some 28s came with 3 side windows with the rear very small.....the 32s came with 3 side windows with the rear much larger for the 2 extra rear passengers to see better......funny thing is this weighs about 500 pounds less than the 914 yet can carry about 1000#........ Jerry

Posted by: Tom_T Nov 14 2009, 12:05 AM

Amazing what those big ole Piper wings can do!

I used to fly 28/32 & 150/152 & 172 in our Flying Club back in the late 70's to early 80s, but they broke up & I had a family, so I've not been current/active since mid-80's - about the time my 914 went in the garage on blocks.

The PA28 & 32 were owned by my CFII who leased it to the club. I also had a Dentist back then who was a CFII who restored planes & had a Christen Eagle Biplane dualie with a long bubble canopy, who took me up for aerobatics over the blue Pacific.....talk about pucker factor!

I'm working on getting the 914 restored & running again, as well as looking at aircraft again, now that the kids are grown & 1 of 2 gone!

If you've got a good set of upholstery on those seats you've got, you might give that a try. George at AA has told me that his brown & tan/beige leatherette cannot match the OE materials, so you have too do a total redo!