80 Series - Range Rover Seat Mounted Armrest Retrofit (1 Viewer)

[MooseMichaels]

Hey folks - I've gotten a lot from this forum and figured it might be time to give back a bit.

You have to really want this to go through the effort for the retrofit. Every time I would hop in the 80, I would miss the seat-mounted armrest that the 100 has - they are the best. I was reupholstering my front seats with covers from lseat.com and decided it was time to figure this thing out.

After some searching I found an armrest on eBay from an L322 Range Rover and decided the color matched enough and I would give it a second chance at life in an LC.

When it arrived, I found the armrest was made to be mounted on a slotted stud with a threaded/tapered bolt running through it. I had two options - machine this, or find one somewhere. After quite a bit of searching on parts sites, I called a rover salvage yard who was able to cut the bracket/stud out and ship it my way.

On to the photos, excuse the amateur welding and the disorganization - I'm in the midst of a Kitchen renovation, and apparently an 80 series renovation too.

Lots of grinding, cutting, step sixes along the way for this one.

If you're committed and handy, this is a great option if you want a seat mounted armrest like I did.

Weird rover mount - the large side of the thru-bore is aimed at the top of your rear tailgate roughly:

Grind the tach welds from the back of the stud and tap it out. Watch your fingers.

After step 6:

 

[MooseMichaels]

tach welded into place and then test fitted. I positioned the mount so I still have access to the bolster adjustment knob:

I was happy with it, so I boogered it up with some welds, cleaned it up and hit it with some VHT chassis paint:

And the results.To me it looks almost factory:

Cheers

 

[mudgudgeon]

Rover parts!

I can hear all your fluids dripping on your garage floor from here!!

 

[Box Rocket]

Nice job. My solution is nowhere near as elegant as yours but I totally agree having an armrest between the seat and the console is awesome! Mine is just a post with a pad that is bolted to the floor using the rear seat bolt.
Armrest by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Untitled by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

 

[MooseMichaels]

Rover parts!

I can hear all your fluids dripping on your garage floor from here!!

Right - once upon a time I had a Disco II and it would break my heart every time I had to repair it, which was often.

Although I can't claim that my 80 has zero leaks at the moment - working through those now.

Nicely done @Box Rocket, I considered something like that, but I wanted adjustability because I'll often adjust the armrest height on long trips to stay comfortable. One thing the brits thought out well was the height adjustment. It swings up/down freely, with the knob controlling the height/angle when down, which can be adjusted pretty finely.

If I did this all over again, I would position the mount for it just a bit higher, maybe .5" to 1". I put it where I did becaise i was trying to keep the bolter adjustment knob unobstructed.