Carrier seats

[Michael R.]

The Sutton harness fittings may appear on the majority of Canadian factory built C31UCW No-2 MK-II* carriers, however: the appropriate driver seat-back is not as common.

Driver seat backs for the Canadian MK-II* are interchangeable with the second model seat backs found on the Canadian MK-I* driver and gunner positions. When I say second model, that is to say it has a single mounting bar across the upper portion, and two hooks positioned in the lower portion to allow the use of the lower ‘lumbar’ adjustment. Recalling the British and early Canadian MK-I* used two mounting bars and adjusted the distance by having two hook placements on the brackets attached to the divisional wall.

A limited number of mounting bars have been reproduced and are available for purchase.

[stephen crowhurst]

I have an original plywood back for the gunners seat but that is only 3/8" thick so I take it that the two seats are made of different thicknesses of ply?

[Michael R.]

Originally Posted by stephen crowhurst

I have an original plywood back for the gunners seat but that is only 3/8" thick so I take it that the two seats are made of different thicknesses of ply?

I agree with you, Stephen.
I have been using 9mm marine grade plywood.

When sourcing the Lift-the-Dot fasteners it will be necessary to know which post style and correct length. If the board thickness does not match you could be making unnecessary work for yourself.

[Michael R.]

The Canadian seat back-boards are produced somewhat differently from the British seats. The positioning and number of Lift-the-Dot fasteners are not the same. If you use the drawings found in FUC-03 and the Chilwell manuals, it may take you in the wrong direction. Of note is the inverted mounting style of the British in comparison with the Canadian, plus the Canadian back rest has five Lift-the-Dot fasteners across the bottom.

The bottom row has five grommets that allow for the cover to be opened to insert/remove the back rest cushion.

[stephen crowhurst]

I think they were originally made of ply made of Canadian Douglas Fir which we cannot get over here any more, but I have found that a lot of doors made in the twenties and thirties over here were made of Douglas Fir so have been making any ply parts for mine from the panels of old doors, do you think this is going too far?

[Ron Pier]

I will double check the thickness again tomorrow;. I used a vernier on the drivers backrest and made it 1/2" but didn't pay as much attention as I should have to the gunners as I just assumed it would be the same. OOPS Ron

[Ron Pier]

Well I couldn't wait till the morning. I've just checked my gunners seat back with a metric vernier that was close by and it's about 9.5mm. Ron

[stephen crowhurst]

Thanks Ron, so that is 1/2" for the drivers seat and 3/8" for the gunner seat.

Cheers Stephen