1971 Stepper!!

[pbjsammich]

Had a day this weekend to work on the bench seat swap out. Thought I'd include a little write-up with it.

Decided on the mexican blanket look...goes well with the direction this truck is heading in. Picked one up at a mexican market in San Antonio for $20. FYI, this style is actually called a "serape." Largest one I could find. I didn't actually take a tape measure to it but it should be somewhere around 8' x 6' and JUST enough to cover the bench.

I laid the blanket out and centered it up, giving a little extra on the bottom and where the crease is in the middle. I took a 1" dia piece of PVC pipe I had laying around and stuffed in in the crease to keep things tight in the middle.

I had read on this forum of another guy using zip ties to keep it in place, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I folded the blanket over on the edges and/or wadded it up a bit and used an ice pick to poke holes and thread my zip ties through. Made some folds on the sides and just worked my way around. Made some cuts for my seat belts and made the swap.

Blanket seems to stay put pretty well. I installed it slightly stretched so we'll see how she looks after some use. These blankets are pretty sturdy, but we'll see just how well the zip tie method works out. I figure if I get some slack in it I'll install some springs around that PVC pipe I have in the crease.

I'm pretty happy with the results: