Sinking feeling (seats)

[Rufton]

I have no luck farming out repair work; maybe karma who knows.

Had 66 bench "repaired" and covered.
Talked to owner at length about sagging springs in drivers seat.
Owner assured me he would fix the springs.
I asked if he can repair seat so it would accommodate a heavy person; he said he will repair seat good enough for heavy driver.
I asked him about spring repair three times; he assured me each time.

Good news: seat cover looks good.

Bad news: first time I sat in seat (not in truck yet) I got that sinking feeling. I looked under seat and found a broken spring. Owner said tech didn't weld it good. Owner welded spring and sent me on my way. At house, I installed seat then noticed a spring is trying to poke a hole in skirt. I removed some clips, lifted skirt and found another broken (unwelded) spring. I then noticed some driver's side coil springs are shot and not touching foam.

Choices:

A: Order some zig zag springs and coil springs and repair myself.

B. Return to shop in July and see if shop can/will correct broken and saggy drivers side springs.

C. Ask someone above what I've done to offend the repair shop gods.

[McCoyAZ]

A and C

Never seems to fail that when you are emphatic about asking for something to be done correctly.....it usually gets screwed up.

[aerotruk63]

Just how heavy are you? Welding the spring doesn't make sense as the heat would ruin the spring capabilities. Did your seat have fabric or vinyl on it before the work was done?

[Rufton]

I'm a whopping 165.
Seats were OEM vinyl with a big vent hole to foam under driver's cheeks.
Probably all the beans consumed over the last 4 decades blew out the vinyl.
I'm not crazy about welding springs either. Really disappointed they didn't even weld at least two.
I'll likely call shop and ask if there is any chance they can replace obviously broken and worn springs w/ new. Probably needs roughly 6 to 12 springs. If they can only weld then I'll know MoCoy speaks the truth.

[rcrahn]

Sorry for your troubles. I would replace all springs with new ones. Forget welding any old metal springs. It's a waste of time in my opinion.
Here's my experience. I have a 1969 Firebird and to maintain the original look of the interior I went with all new base springs, foam and covers. Guess what? At times it has a sinking like feeling if you sit a particular way in the seat or you take a hard turn.
Applying what I've learned when it comes to my current truck project the only seat that is going in it is a modern seat. Built with sculpted high density foam. A Teas Design bench seat to be exact. The difference in comfort between this construction and an original seat is like night and day. Just my .02.....

[jayoldschool]

You can't weld seat springs, they are spring steel, they will break. You have to replace broken springs. After replacing broken springs, a good technique is to tie the springs together, this greatly stiffens the seats. You can also add denser foam on top of the burlap that goes on top of the springs to help distribute the load.

My motto: pay someone to get it done. Do it yourself to get it done right.

[Rufton]

I understand modern seats are better but I think I can live w/ 66 seats.
I've sources all the springs, dense foam, burlap, clips and pliers.
The expensive part are the pliers.
I'm trying to figure out if I can use any of the clips w/o specialty pliers; there's BW clip pliers and 3-prong clip pliers.

Some random upholstery supplies in pics.

[aerotruk63]

When you do get into the seat project, I'm sure members would like some pictures as you go along. Should be interesting to see.

[Rufton]

I've got other fires now. I think I'd enjoy seat project if time allows.
I've changed my schedule so I can take seat back to shop on Monday.
I'll be officially shocked if they don't have a pile of good used zig zag and coil springs.

[Rufton]

Got seat back. Close enough for horse shoes.

[kieth]

WHEN WE REBUILT MY 66 GMC SEAT WE FOUND NEW SPRINGS AND REPLACED THEM AS NEEDED BUT I AM A LITTLE HEAVIER THAN MOST SO WE FOUND A PRODUCT CALLED "SEAT-O-LATORS" THIS IS A REPLACEMENT FOR THE STRANDS OF WIRE FOUND IN THE FOAM RUBBER ON TOP OF OUR SEATS. NEXT WE ADDED BURLAP MATERIAL (TRUNK SOUND INSULATION) . THEN WE ADDED WEDGES OF DENSE FOAM COVEREDED WITH BLACK TRUNK MATERIAL. THESE WEDGES OF FOAM ARE JUST LIKE ADDIND MORE SPRINGS ALL THE WAY AROUND THE FRONT EDGE OF THE SEAT AND THE SIDES. OUR SEAT IS COMFY BAT FIRM. HERE IS A LINK TO SOME PICTURES====

http://kieth.smugmug.com/Trucks/66-G...2092&k=2cL4d9S

JUST CLICK ON THE THUMBNAILS TO THE LEFT TO SEE INDIVIDUAL PICTURES.

[Rufton]

Kieth, your OEM seat was exactly the same vinyl cover.
Your repaired seat looks really good.