Seat base spring repair

[markmdz]

Tonight I started the task of reupholstering the seat on the C20. As always, some good, some not-so-good.

First, with near no warning, I snapped the head clean off the bolt on the passenger side pivot bolt. So I still have to drill that out and tap the hole. That's for tomorrow.

Anyway, the cover came off nicely and showed me a decent foam. Some wear holes, but overall not bad. I may repair the foam or replace it. Not sure yet.

The seat back came off equally as easily as the base. I was pleasantly surprised (and a little confused) to see original red upholstery on the seat back and in pretty decent shape considering its age.

Now for the crap I have to fix:

The outer two springs and what looks like a support spring on the outer springs on the seat base are broken. Any suggestions on repairing/replacing the broken springs? Also, it looks like there's supposed to be a spring or support rod for the release lever. That's busted, so if anyone has a pic or info on what's supposed to be there, please shed some light on it for me.

As for the back, the burlap, foam and thick backing are all eaten up courtesy of a nice family of mice. So a trip to the store for some foam, backing, and maybe even some burlap and I'll be back in business.

[RManson]

Unfortunately, those broken springs need to be replaced. Here's my rebuild on the seat in my '68...

http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/additio...h-seat-part-1/

[markmdz]

that's a great link. Thanks Ryan. ...but what's the finished product look like? Any chance you still have the original base you pulled apart? By the looks of it, those front springs look like they'll work well for donors to replace the support spring shown on pic12 in your article, and may even work to replace my end springs that are broken as well.

As a different approach, has anyone tried to pull a spring from an spring mattress, or really anything from another application (couch, recliner, another auto seat, etc) and bending it up to match the stock one as best as possible?

...or buying spring stock and doing the same?

Example: http://www.diyupholsterysupply.com/u...ry-spring.html

[hooverfish]

Take a look at this Youtube video. Shows how to repair the springs using a ferrule to fuse the spring back together. Not sure how well this works but it looks good. There are a lot of other videos on youtube for this same subject.
Good luck !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EbpYJTZ_sU

P.S. let me know if it DOES work.

[markmdz]

Originally Posted by hooverfish

Take a look at this Youtube video. Shows how to repair the springs using a ferrule to fuse the spring back together. Not sure how well this works but it looks good. There are a lot of other videos on youtube for this same subject.
Good luck !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EbpYJTZ_sU

P.S. let me know if it DOES work.

Ha, I actually saw that exact video last night when trying to figure out the best way to repair this seat. I'm going to give it a shot, but honestly, I'd much rather replace the broken spring with a new/unbroken one if I can. Either way, I'll post up the progress and all attempted repairs.

[RManson]

Originally Posted by markmdz

that's a great link. Thanks Ryan. ...but what's the finished product look like?

Ah, for that you need another link...

http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/interio...10-bench-seat/

[markmdz]

alright, so I stopped by the local Home Cheapo and bought some of those ferrule's, but also stopped by the hardware isle and picked up a couple aluminum spacers that are basically the same idea as the ferrule, but only a single 'tube' instead of two.

Anyway, I got home ready to try the fix, only to find that all of the breaks were on corners. Other than one which was on a flat, but someone had tried to weld it up at some point in the past which ruined my chances of fixing that one.

So, here's the carnage. By some slim chance, do any of you guys have a good driver-side perimeter spring, and both perimeter support springs? This seat frame is too good to scrap. Even if I can only get a driver side perimeter spring, I can make up the support springs without much trouble.

Anyone?

[markmdz]

Ok, so I think I'm just going to buy a couple lengths of edge wire or no sag z-spring and make up new perimeter and support springs. My next dilemma is that both of those options are available in 9 or 11 gauge wire, and it looks like the stock springs are 10 gauge.

So I'm curious, would you guys recommend going heavier with the 9 ga or a tad lighter to the 11?

[swamp rat]

Had an appolstery shop replace my Z springs, not an exact duplicate, he used a spring similar to whats used in that VW video i would call it an S spring but i don't know the correct terminology, and curled them under and attached to top and bottom with ferrules.

[Lattimer]

The little side support springs are reproduced, so you can buy them pretty cheap. The rest you need to find from a junk seat or have made.

If you become a paying member of the forum, you can post a wanted to buy add in the classifieds. That's what I did, and I got a whole seat worth of springs for $20 from another member.

[markmdz]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Had an appolstery shop replace my Z springs, not an exact duplicate, he used a spring similar to whats used in that VW video i would call it an S spring but i don't know the correct terminology, and curled them under and attached to top and bottom with ferrules.

Yeah that's one of the options I'm looking into.

Originally Posted by Lattimer

The little side support springs are reproduced, so you can buy them pretty cheap. The rest you need to find from a junk seat or have made.

If you become a paying member of the forum, you can post a wanted to buy add in the classifieds. That's what I did, and I got a whole seat worth of springs for $20 from another member.

I'll be paying for the membership later today so I can do just that.

But, where can I find the repro springs? I have yet to find them and have been looking for a bit now. LMC has an 'end spring kit' listed, but I think that's just the support spring.

[Rochlow]

I am looking for the same springs also

[markmdz]

Well, I'm glad Rochlow brought this thread back up.

Ultimately after multiple wanted ads and some local searching all yielded nothing, I took the chance and ordered some edgewire. The first order was a colossal fail as it turned out to be absurdly thin and useless for this application.

The second order from a different site specified 9gauge wire. That worked out ok.

Here's a few pics of the comparison of the old busted spring with my homemade one.

For the helper springs, I opted to buy torsion springs to replace em.

Thoughts?

[markmdz]

Another

[markmdz]

Torsion springs

[markmdz]

D/a shot of the torsion springs. I actually went with 2 per side to reduce the stress on the one spring.

[jjzepplin]

Nice!

[sk8er32283]

I have a seat frame with plenty of donar springs if you are interested. I would have to pay up to be an official member of the sight. But that has been a long time coming anyways. So much help from this community.

[General23cmp]

Where can I find torsion springs like those? I really like that idea, and they should last.

[dfwright]

In to watch this one. I'd be interested in the answer to where to find the repop side springs mentioned earlier, or the torsion springs.

[markmdz]

Hi guys,

So I have some good and some bad news. Good news, I'll dig through my emails and find the site that i bought the torsion springs from. I also took a few pics of the seat foam once I finished it (which I decided to repair rather than replace), as well as the seat base and back after I finished those off with a nice gloss black.

I opted to tie off all the springs in the back and did some tying on the seat bottom as well. After putting on the foam, which I backed with an upholstery grade treated tweed rather than the looser-knit alternative of burlap, I was quite happy with the level of comfort and support the newly repaired seat base provided.

The bad news: I won't have anymore updates (other than the aforementioned promised pictures if I can find them) because I sold the '68 a few months back. The new owner was planning to replace the floors, give it a tune-up, then just drive it as a good daily fair-weather truck.

I'll get the pics and torsion spring info up soon.

[General23cmp]

Thanks. Did the torsion spring seem to be doing the job well after some use?

[General23cmp]

Any update on torsion springs? I haven't had much luck finding the right size.

[68 C10 Driver]

really like the idea of the torsion springs over the factory solution.

Please provide a source, I will be rebuilding my seat in the spring...it would be nice to get all those springs in-hand before that. Thanks!