T-6 seat help

[dollar65]

Hi all,

I am about to sell a T-6 seat assembly in a few days as it is needed for a restoration, and I have no idea about the price. I did a quick Google search, with no luck.

Given its condition (some corrosion, one part damaged in the bucket, a few parts missing) , do you think something in the $300.00 range would be a fair price, too expensive or a real bargain?



TIA,

Laurent

[Forgotten Field]

As long as you aren't giving it to someone building a hot rod replica, then it is a good bargain price. Price range has been from $250.00 to $1000.00 for similar seats- look on ebay. I insurance appraised a pair of phenolic seats for $550.00 each, not expecting them to be worth that much at sale, and the next week they sold for MORE than that on ebay.

[homer]

say 150-200 max

but it all depends exactly what someone would pay for it

a skilled worker could make it for less and it may not be restoreable depending on corrosion

[Forgotten Field]

...So where did you get the price $150.00 to $200.00? Also where did you get the "less than $150.00 to $200.00" for a skilled fabricator? Are you paying your Indonesians enough? Is your skilled fabricator going to have a shop with the tooling to make the rolled reinforcement edges for the seat? Does the shop have the forms for making the reinforcement stampings? And is it going to have the heat treating equipment to finish the hard points? And on and on and on...

I'll give you a hint, Homer, since you don't understand fully the equation. Go call Aircraft Spruce and Specialty Co and get a price on .032 sheets, and figure out what just the MATERIAL costs will be for the seats? I'm not talking in quantity like your large shop gets, but what is available to the average skilled fabricator, and come back with JUST a materials cost for the seats, from a recognized source to the aircraft industry.

Ohh, and if you find any $150.00 to $200.00 seats, you make sure and call me- I'll buy all of them.

[jcw]

homer
get a grip... i am a skilled sheetmetal guy.. can't be done.. the seat is not as easy as it looks... there is a guy making new units for i think $1200-$1500 each... advertises in stearman restorers... once you make all the blocks and forms then you have to make it out of 2024 "O" THEN heat treat the assembly to T-6 hardness ... just the heat treat is $400 to $500... it's a big item and takes up space in an oven.. i'm messing with one for a winter project and have easy two weeks into the tooling and not even close to putting one out yet...lets see two weeks at $20 an hour (thats REAL CHEAP LABOR) is $1600 and no seat yet hmmmmmm..

jcw

[HarvardIV]

I'm building one using CNC for my T-6, and I estimate somewhere around $1300. Homer must be quoting military surplus prices. The problem is none exists.

Chris

[HELLDIVERS]

HI A MINIMUM OF $750.00 WITH ALL THE HARDWARE AT LEAST $1350.00 THEY ARE HARD TO FIND MOST WERE USED UP IN STOCK CARS WHEN THEY WERE $10.00 EACH. I MADE THE SEAT FOR THE REAR TURRET ON THE A-25 IT IS VERY CLOSE TO WHAT YOU HAVE.AND TOOK ME SEVERAL HOURS TO COMPLETE NOT AN EASY TASK.I LOOKED FOR ALONG TIME TO FIND TWO FOR THE BT PROJECT ONE CAME FROM E-BAY AND WAS LISTED AS AN EJECTION SEAT I GOT IT FOR $75.00!!!!! BUT THATS RARE AND IT WAS MINT!!GOOD LUCK MIKE

[homer]

...So where did you get the price $150.00 to $200.00? Also where did you get the "less than $150.00 to $200.00" for a skilled fabricator? Are you paying your Indonesians enough? Is your skilled fabricator going to have a shop with the tooling to make the rolled reinforcement edges for the seat? Does the shop have the forms for making the reinforcement stampings? And is it going to have the heat treating equipment to finish the hard points? And on and on and on...

I'll give you a hint, Homer, since you don't understand fully the equation. Go call Aircraft Spruce and Specialty Co and get a price on .032 sheets, and figure out what just the MATERIAL costs will be for the seats? I'm not talking in quantity like your large shop gets, but what is available to the average skilled fabricator, and come back with JUST a materials cost for the seats, from a recognized source to the aircraft industry.

Ohh, and if you find any $150.00 to $200.00 seats, you make sure and call me- I'll buy all of them.

ok i have t-3/t-4 sheets sitting right here, its maybe 30 bucks for a sheet big enough for that, and when i say a skilled worker could make it for less i dont mean thats what they would sell it for.

[homer]

homer
get a grip... i am a skilled sheetmetal guy.. can't be done.. the seat is not as easy as it looks... there is a guy making new units for i think $1200-$1500 each... advertises in stearman restorers... once you make all the blocks and forms then you have to make it out of 2024 "O" THEN heat treat the assembly to T-6 hardness ... just the heat treat is $400 to $500... it's a big item and takes up space in an oven.. i'm messing with one for a winter project and have easy two weeks into the tooling and not even close to putting one out yet...lets see two weeks at $20 an hour (thats REAL CHEAP LABOR) is $1600 and no seat yet hmmmmmm..

jcw

slow workers, and i doubt they work at $20 per hour, i truly skilled worker would do it in a day. my local sheet metal factory could make it, theres even a guy making a spitfire flight sim and hes made the whole cockpit and he shows how he does it, very cheap and very simple pfffffffffff

[O.P.]

Give it a rest homer. Jeez. I'm beginning to think you're just trolling the board for some reason. Everybody isn't a greedy bastard. Face it, if there wasn't any money in warplanes and parts and labor, there would be very few warbirds. Going into the warbird scene looking to make money, is just a stupid idea. FF and guys like him are probably making bumpkus on the things they are doing. I'd be surprised if most of them barely broke even. They're not doing it to get rich. They're doing it because they love doing it. And if they weren't doing it, there would be a lot of unflyable planes due to lack of parts. If you can make, or have made, the stuff you claim to be able to source, please, for all of our sakes, do it. I need a chair just like that one too.

[homer]

im not giving anything a rest, you have a highly inflated sense of value for things like this, and im sure with enough morons out there ff makes a killing on the parts he "finds"

hes the kind of person that gets a part and sells each part of it for 100 bucks

[HELLDIVERS]

A 12 X 4 SHEET OF .032 T-3 IS ABOUT $160.00 THERE ARE ALOT OF PARTS TO MFG TO MAKE A SEAT ,TO THE UNTRAINED EYE IT LOOKS SIMPLE BUT IN REALITY THEY ARE A COMPLICATED ITEM. THE ORIGINALS ARE MOSTLY SPOT WELDED,HAND BUILT YOU NEED LOTS OF RIVETS.IF YOU USE T-3 WHEN YOU TRY TO ROLL THE WIRE AROUND THE EDGE IT WILL CRACK AND BRAKE OFF IT TAKES SEVERAL HOURS JUST TO CUT OUT THE PARTS,AND THERE ARE DIFFERENT THICKNESSES OF MATERIAL INVOLVED/MORE MONEY!!SO IF YOUR TAKING ORDERS ILL SEND THE $250.00 WHEN THE SEAT ARRIVES. OH MAKE THAT TWO OF THEM!! THANKS MIKE

[O.P.]

im not giving anything a rest, you have a highly inflated sense of value for things like this, and im sure with enough morons out there ff makes a killing on the parts he "finds"

hes the kind of person that gets a part and sells each part of it for 100 bucks

Now you're just trolling, either FF, or all of us. I understand if you disagree with the people here, it would hardly be a good place for information if we all agreed with each other all of the time. But slandering people, is, uncalled for. If you know were the airplane gnomes secret treasure of 25 cent chairs are, tell us. If you know a pack of wild metalurgist's who make airplane chairs as part of secret rituals, tell us.

Being contrary to everyone here, accomplishes nothing. I can unsterstand being passionate about a subject, but slander doesn't have a place here. Let me know when those inexpensive chairs are STC'ed, inspected, just built,or whatever, I'll take two.

[homer]

A 12 X 4 SHEET OF .032 T-3 IS ABOUT $160.00 THERE ARE ALOT OF PARTS TO MFG TO MAKE A SEAT ,TO THE UNTRAINED EYE IT LOOKS SIMPLE BUT IN REALITY THEY ARE A COMPLICATED ITEM. THE ORIGINALS ARE MOSTLY SPOT WELDED,HAND BUILT YOU NEED LOTS OF RIVETS.IF YOU USE T-3 WHEN YOU TRY TO ROLL THE WIRE AROUND THE EDGE IT WILL CRACK AND BRAKE OFF IT TAKES SEVERAL HOURS JUST TO CUT OUT THE PARTS,AND THERE ARE DIFFERENT THICKNESSES OF MATERIAL INVOLVED/MORE MONEY!!SO IF YOUR TAKING ORDERS ILL SEND THE $250.00 WHEN THE SEAT ARRIVES. OH MAKE THAT TWO OF THEM!! THANKS MIKE

its not that much, i bought a whole lot of it 12 months ago from hawker. it was nothing near that..tubing was the most expensive.

and anyway this seat is built and its not worth much unless your trying to scam someones hard earned cash, or you find an idiot.

it didnt cost you anything to make

[homer]

im not giving anything a rest, you have a highly inflated sense of value for things like this, and im sure with enough morons out there ff makes a killing on the parts he "finds"

hes the kind of person that gets a part and sells each part of it for 100 bucks

Now you're just trolling, either FF, or all of us. I understand if you disagree with the people here, it would hardly be a good place for information if we all agreed with each other all of the time. But slandering people, is, uncalled for. If you know were the airplane gnomes secret treasure of 25 cent chairs are, tell us. If you know a pack of wild metalurgist's who make airplane chairs as part of secret rituals, tell us.

Being contrary to everyone here, accomplishes nothing. I can unsterstand being passionate about a subject, but slander doesn't have a place here. Let me know when those inexpensive chairs are STC'ed, inspected, just built,or whatever, I'll take two.

if your trying to insult me come up with something better than "troll" its getting old.