Bucket seat springs and clips - shop threw it all away

[davepl]

My bucket seats have been a disaster.

If you know what I mean by that "slot" in the bottom seat cushion foam, there is then a rod in the seat cover that should fit into it. It's all there, but it's normally "pulled down" into the seat chassis with a set of springs. That gives you the appearance of "seat bolsters" on the sides instead of it being a flat seat.

The shop I used, which was awesome in years past, has apparently changed hands and all they have is the name. They don't even have a steamer, but hope to get one someday. Yep. I should have looked into it more, but that shop did my Pontiac and they used to do all the stuff for the Lamborghini, Rolls, Mercedes, and other dealerships in the area. Not anymore.

Anyway, to add insult to injury, they just threw all of that stuff away - good luck finding new ones, I'd have to buy new seats. And they just hog-ringed the rods together which does absolutely nothing. Like they'd never seen a seat before.

Before I took it to them I had originally started to take the seats apart myself, but all of the crazy springs and clips and stuff, that might be unique to trucks, scared me as too complicated never having done it before, so I took it to a "professional" shop. I honestly would have been way better off guessing, like I'm doing now. At least I'd still have the damned parts. But I'm not bitter. Much.

I can try in the parts board to find a set, which I'm sure I won't, unless they came from a wasted pair of seats. But I'm wondering how exotic the stuff they threw away is, how many there are, if there are different sizes, and so on. If by some long chance someone has a photo of them from their own teardown or whatever, I'd sure appreciate it. Maybe I could make them out of more generic springs and wires.

And yeah, I could go and ***** at the shop some more and pout, but it won't fix the issue.

Thanks,
Dave

[Userone]

PO did the same thing on my seats. I raided my closet and used all the wire hangers on both sides of the cushion. Bailing wire to hold them together and done.

and i think they are called "listing wires"

[davepl]

Now I know the name, thanks. I'm using cable ties, wire would have been a stronger idea. But I imagine the springs had a purpose, as GM wasn't about throwing in extra features. I mean the cigarette lighter was optional, they're not giving this stuff away unless it had a purpose.

The factory listing wires are also zig-zaggy, for what that's worth.

[leddzepp]

Pic

[leddzepp]

Pic 2

[mikedag]

Here is my suggestion from what I did,
Get someone with the wires to give you the dimensions or try some places that may remanufacture them for example PUI Interiors claim they are making these seats new sometime this year. Then go to the hardware store and buy some wire and start bending. Takes a couple hours and fairly easy.

Mike

[FirstOwner69]

They were spring steel wires, I'd say about 16 gauge, not springs, about 1" to 1-1/2" long with the ends turned back so they tightly overlap the wire (that's as hard for me to describe as it is for you to understand... see poor sketch below of my recollection). This wire can then snap onto the long horizontal wires and not come off when the seat is compressed. One end was hooked to a stiff spring steel wire (probably 12 gauge) in the foam's top groove. The other end was attached to a similar wire under the foam. The 2 long horizontal wires were also looped at the ends so they wouldn't move fore and aft in the foam. I really don't recall how many of the short wires were on each side of the seat, but I'd estimate 4-6. If I weren't 2000 miles from my truck I could post a picture of a short wire.

Jim

[FirstOwner69]

Regarding my post above...

I described a wire in the foam's top groove. As I think about it that wire should be attached to the upholstery (don't recall exactly how) and then gets pulled into the groove when it's attached to the bottom horizontal wire. The horizontal wires are called listing wires. Here's a link to a discussion on Chevelle forum on the topic, but they just use hog rings.

http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=271864

[davepl]

Thanks ledzepp, different springs though. I mean inside the seat.

Jim, I have one disassembly pic. If that's all they air (clips with a little give) then I'm probably OK. But if they were actual springs, I'd like to have them.

My theory is that when you go over a bump and the seat returns upwards, there's a cushion from the springs so it doesn't hit a dead stop on the way up. Maybe the clips serve that purpose. If that's the case, I'll survive.

I've recreated the listing wires (the ones they didn't just leave in the seat for no reason). The funny part is that the seat foam CAME with the wires embedded into it (for the price, the LMC foam should come with Bentley bucket seats wrapped around it, but that's another story). But they just hog-ringed the foam wire to the upholstery wire, which immediately ripped out of the foam, of course, as nothing was left to hold them down.

It'd be like rebuilding a swingset and throwing away the left chain. I just don't get it.

[FirstOwner69]

That's the clip I was trying to describe. Guess I'm not as sharp as I once was!!! No springs involved.

Jim

[davepl]

Originally Posted by FirstOwner69

That's the clip I was trying to describe. Guess I'm not as sharp as I once was!!! No springs involved.

Jim

Now I wish I could edit the flame mail I sent them wherein I complained about not having springs. Hey, at least I didn't Yelp-extort them :-)

Still, it wasn't done right, clips OR springs. And it looked like balls. At least when I'm done it'll still be wrong but it'll look right. I hope!

[davischevy]

Originally Posted by FirstOwner69

Regarding my post above...

I described a wire in the foam's top groove. As I think about it that wire should be attached to the upholstery (don't recall exactly how) and then gets pulled into the groove when it's attached to the bottom horizontal wire. The horizontal wires are called listing wires. Here's a link to a discussion on Chevelle forum on the topic, but they just use hog rings.

http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=271864

Not to hijack a thread, but FirstOwner69, do you have a Chevelle? Is it as nice as your truck?

Larry

[29od1]

The thread below doesn't show the small wires to pull the covers down, but just for reference to see how the seats go together with aftermarket foam.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=554745

[FirstOwner69]

Originally Posted by davischevy

Not to hijack a thread, but FirstOwner69, do you have a Chevelle? Is it as nice as your truck?

Larry

Thanks. I have a 58 Vette, but no Chevelle. I'd love to have a 71 or 72 SS Chevelle though. If interested, you can see the 58 here
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=656352

Jim

[special-K]

Originally Posted by davepl

Now I wish I could edit the flame mail I sent them wherein I complained about not having springs. Hey, at least I didn't Yelp-extort them :-)

Still, it wasn't done right, clips OR springs. And it looked like balls. At least when I'm done it'll still be wrong but it'll look right. I hope!

Doesn't sound like they would know the difference anyway, no matter what you call them

[Bigdav160]

You can buy all those parts for Corvettes. I'm surprised nothing is available for the truck seats. I bet many of the parts are the same

[Ironangel]

Originally Posted by Bigdav160

You can buy all those parts for Corvettes. I'm surprised nothing is available for the truck seats. I bet many of the parts are the same

They do indeed share Identical parts shown in the pic. Do you have a link? I'm in the same position as davepl. I've decided to undergo the reupholstering myself...I like the idea of using zip ties in place of those safety pin clips. Good videos and tech tips here http://www.puiinteriors.com/index.php/techtips

[Bigdav160]

The kits are available from any Corvette parts specialist to Amazon to eBay