Stiff Wire Around Seat Trim

[GASoline71]

So now that I have secured the fact that I am back in the game of getting Creeping Death back on the road... I got a few questions.

The seat had been sitting in the bed of the truck outside with a lot of other stuff with a tarp over it. Well... you can only guess as to how well that kept moisture out of there living here in western WA.

So when I pulled the tarp last night... the seat was nothing but a big pile of mold and water. So I cut all the hog rings and removed the cover from the frame. The seat foam is in relatively good shape... but it's water logged (see pic). So I don't have a clue how I'm going to get that dried out. Granted I won't be ready for a seat until the summer (and I might even go buckets), but I am keeping the foam for now. How is the aftermarket foam? I'm sure it's expensive. Which is why I might just go to bucket seats if the cost gets crazy to redo the bench seat.

The seat cover was shot anyways. Back to the topic of the thread... there are stiff wires that are inserted into long sewn seam pockets along the trim of the seat. Do I need to cut those out and keep them? Or will a new cover come with the wire? Or will an upholstery shop put new wire in there?

Thanks!

Gary

[Grumpy old man]

Keep the old wires if they are in decent shape , give them a quick cleaning job and spray paint . if they are junk you can just use a straightened clothes hanger wire which is what most upholstery shops would replace them with . No new cover comes with new wires . They hold very little tension when installed and clothes hangers are treated to not rust under normal dry conditions like being hidden under your seat .

[swamp rat]

Absolutly keep them, thus far i have seen wire, flexable plastic and even cardboard (for lack of a better term) wires being used. Old coat hangers work but some of it needs to be pretty long.

There are two different seat foams avalable, imported crap and made in America,, current prices?? better check with some board venders, i think my American made stuff was a bit over $300 for top and bottom bench. Some venders come to mind would be Wes at Classic Heartbeat, Frank at Franks Pickemup both in olympia area or Truckseats.

[GASoline71]

Thanks G.O.M. and swampy. I've bought from both Wes and Frank and have had great service from them. I'm glad I cut the wires out of the old seat cover. They are "wavy" from the factory. I'm assuming to give the hog rings a better bite. They're rusty, but I'll clean them up and spray a coat of paint on them.

Glad I asked before I wadded them up and tossed them in the trash can.

Gary