Salvaging a factory seat

[shifty]

My factory bench seat is soft on the drivers side. This is going to sound completely ridiculous, but when I get into the truck, If I don't jump towards the middle, I'll slide out of the truck because the springs & padding on the end of the seat are compressed so badly.

The silly part is, I'm not a fatass by any means, but my left cheek sits considerably lower than the right one, so I know something is not right inside the seat (not my seat, the truck seat )

Does anyone have links to a wepage explaining how to restore the springs and padding to the inside of a factory seat on a 67-72 pickup? I'd like to do a temporary rebuild to keep my posterior end happy and evenly on the seat.

[Alex Hayley]

I had the same problem. When I put a new cover on my seat, I cut out a section of tattered, worn-out foam and glued a new section in. The seat is MUCH better now.

[jhow66]

Springs are broke--can be fixed by uphos. shop when you have it recovered.

[shifty]

Not sure if I want to pay for reupholstery. I think the springs may be separated from the frame? I think there are som clips that hold the springs to the frame of the seat, but not sure. Might be the foam also. I'll hafta pop the cover off when I get home. I'll take pics...just in case it could turn into a good FAQ post or something.

If anyone has a link giving some tips on how to do this work (or tools), I'm still interested in that kind of thing.

[Zumo]

Yeah, surely there is someone who sell repro foam and springs. You can get new vinyl from Chevyduty or LMC.

[shifty]

There's not much to the springs. I don't think they snap - I'm pretty sure they just come loose from the metal framing inside the seat. I could be totally wrong, though.

I eventually want to get buckets put into the truck, but it has to wait a long ass time (gotta get a fuel cell, lower the truck and do 10x more to the thing).

[chickenwing]

The new seat bottom foam is in the $300 range if I remember right. Not what I would call a cheap fix. Go recreational junk-yardin and find you a seat. If you can not find the proper year group maybe you can swipe the foam outta something that comes close in size.

Far as the springs go, you gotta tear into it to see what you have to fix. Should'nt be too hard to figure out something. Good luck with it.
Rich

[Brainchild]

We used those eggcrate foam pads they put on hospital beds,and layered it up till the whole seat was even (not our seats,the truck seats ).and then used a cheap seatcover.It worked til the upholstery guy made one out of two,and recovered it.

[shifty]

chickenwing -

I'll tell you a little secret Most fabric stores sell 1"-6" foam in various firmnesses. You can use upholstery glue to glue the layers together. An electric turkey carver works great to shave down and round out the sides of the foam if you want to be a perfectionist.

It's much more cost effective to redo the foam this way, then you get to keep the original seat

The pain-in-the-ass part is taking of all those round hooks the hold the cover on and, even worse, putting them back on again. I don't have the tool for either.

AHA! As I was typing and helping one of my friends over the phone, I found this tutorial:

http://www.fourwheeler.com/howto/51159/

It doesn't show how to cut the foam, but it gives you a full howto on repairing your old truck seat. Nice!!

[Solver]

I am sure your foam is part of the problem but most likely the major problem is the outer most seat spring.
that spring mounts to seat frame on side front to back and then goes up towards the seat bottom and hooks into the front to back spring webbing. When this side spring snaps it collapses the whole side. I have recovered 3 of these bench seats so I have seen this personally on quite a few. The last seat I recovered the po had used hose clamps to try and hold that portion back together.

[Gary Lee]

Having the same thoughts shifty.. I slide against the door in mne... It is springs, but read somewhere when looking at seat covers that there 2 types, those with spring base and another that has a foam base... Never seen a all foam based car seat, but... I haven't done much interior work either...

Upholstery supplier
I don't look at making a seat cover, but I think the seat needs to be rebuilt so...

I have been looking to cross that bridge here purty soon.. out of order as there's so much to do, but I am working on scoliosis riding and hanging out the window...

and since you're not too far away Shifty, let me know...

We could probaly share some brews, share the tools, and have an extra set of hands and just do two at a time... okay we'll mess mine up first and then do yours the easy way.......

[purple gas]

The "foam based" seats often have a wire grid underneith. Both types are prone to breaking on the drivers side. I have 3 stock seats, all of them have broken springs ( some more than others). If you pull your seat & turn it over you'll be able to see how bad your situation is. Compare the springs on the drivers & passengers side, sometimes pieces break & fall out so it's hard to tell what's missing, especially the ones that support the edges. Sometimes for a temporary fix you can tie springs together with wire or shim things up for more support on the bottom then put some foam on top

[chickenwing]

Originally Posted by shifty

chickenwing -

I'll tell you a little secret Most fabric stores sell 1"-6" foam in various firmnesses. You can use upholstery glue to glue the layers together. An electric turkey carver works great to shave down and round out the sides of the foam if you want to be a perfectionist.

It's much more cost effective to redo the foam this way, then you get to keep the original seat

The pain-in-the-ass part is taking of all those round hooks the hold the cover on and, even worse, putting them back on again. I don't have the tool for either.

AHA! As I was typing and helping one of my friends over the phone, I found this tutorial:

http://www.fourwheeler.com/howto/51159/

It doesn't show how to cut the foam, but it gives you a full howto on repairing your old truck seat. Nice!!

You were asking for suggestions.... If you allready knew the cheapest route, why did you ask?

Edit: Thanks for the info on gluing seperate foams together. I did not know that could be done successfully. I still have to recover my seat and might use that tip.

[shifty]

Originally Posted by chickenwing

You were asking for suggestions.... If you allready knew the cheapest route, why did you ask?

When it comes to bench seats out of a late 60's pickup that has wire, coils and springs and all kinds of other crap I'm clueless. That's the only reason I'm asking. I have seen all too often that there's always somebody who knows a quicker and cheaper way to do something, and it's always wise to ask before you embark on such an endeavor - especially when the comfort of your ass is involved

Sorry, I assure you I wasn't trying to be offensive or rude with my reply on how to "cheaply" do the foam. It's more work to do it with a carving knife and upholstery glue, but it costs like .... a few bucks, versus a few hundred bucks.

I have moderate upholstery experience from home remodelling. That's how I know about the foam + electric turkey carver trick. They actually sell a proper "foam cutting knife" out there, but good ones are expensive and not worth it unless you plan on reupholstering a complete Suburban or something.

I've never worked with anything other than wood frames, staples, screws and foam, though. Maybe a few "wavy wires", but othe than that, I'm clueless.

[chickenwing]

OK. Wasn't tryin to be abbrasive. Just sounded like you had a pretty good grasp of it allready. I did learn something from your post too.