Electric Vogue

This blog documents the restoration, and conversion, of a 1965 Humber (Singer) Vogue to a fully electric vehicle. The Vogue will be powered by an 11kW(modified), 3 phase industrial AC motor, controlled by an industry standard Variable Speed Drive (VSD) or Inverter. To be able to produce the 400 volts phase to phase the VSD will need about 600 VDC of batteries. A big thanks to the contributors on the AEVA forum: http://forums.aeva.asn.au/forums/

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Seat Diaphragm Choices

The Vogue seat diaphragm measures 410mm by 465mm. The holes in the seat frame are about 460mm apart front to back, and 510mm apart left to right. The Vogue seat appears to be unusual in that it is wider than it is deep. Same depth as most seats but a lot wider. Hillman (Minx, Gazelle) seats of the same era are identical.
Here's a reminder look at the Vogue seat base.
Here is one of the MGB seat diaphragms that I allready have. It measures 330mm by 430mm.
Here is one sold by a Sunbeam place in the USA for the Sunbeam Alpine. It's almost the same dimensions as the MGB one.

Finally (for now) here is one for the Triumph TR6. It measures about 330mm by 365mm. Coincidently the place that sells them is only about 6km from where I live.
The MGB and Alpine diaphragms are just too narrow.
So the TR6 diaphragm looks like the best contender.
I figure if I cut four pieces of 40mm by 3mm flat aluminium and drill holes for the TR6 links, then drill holes that line up with the 12 Vogue links down the other side (and use the old Vogue links), I would get a nice fit. The 40mm flat would stop the seat foam falling down where the rubber diaphragm doesn't fill the gaps between it and the seat frame.

For the back of the seat (I was going to use the old rubber but have read too many recommendations to always replace the rubber) I was thinking of using webbing straps.

I figure six pieces of 50mm wide seat upholstery elastic webbing. They call this Premium grade. I have sent an email asking how long it would last in the environment of a car. If I don't use this then maybe seatbelt webbing but then I would have to use tension springs instead of the wire link thingys.

Clamp the webbing ends (with the clamps pictured below) then drill a single hole through the clamp for the link.

(Last picture is from http://www.diyupholsterysupplies.com.au/ Thanks Vincent for pointing me at this site.)
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your website has helped me a lot. Thank you for posting.
I have just taken down the front passenger seat on my 1967 Hillman Gazelle, which is identical to yours. For something that is almost 50 years old, the condition is remarkable, and a credit to the manufactures. The only point of failure was the centre rear hanger point which had suffered rubber deterioration. Like you, I tried to source replacements and found that British Leyland Cars are covered, but not the Rootes group vehicles, with the wider seat fitment. I have found some seat diaphragms in good condition from an early Hillman Hunter, and will fit these.They are identical. The drivers seat in my car is completely collapsed, and this was not unusual after extended mileage.

April 1, 2015 at 6:24 PM
Johny said...

I'm really glad the blog is helpful. Did you see the latest "fix" for the driver's seat. Webbing was the answer - I really would not bother with old rubber diaphragms any more. The driver seat is still perfect with the webbing.
[url]http://electricvogue.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/drivers-seat-fixed.html[/url]

April 2, 2015 at 1:39 PM

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