The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors 1953 seat upholstery

I'm getting close to reupholstering the seats in my '53 pickup. The kit I have has the sewn vinyl covers, burlap, cotton stuffing, and some "blanket" material maybe 1/2" thick. Where does each go? The old seats were in fair condition. The back seemed to have only burlap and the vinyl, with no cotton stuffing. The seat base had burlap on the springs, then stuffing, then the cover. I understand burlap over the springs. But then then I'm not sure where to use cotton stuffing and where to use the blanket material. Thanks for any tips!

Wouldn't the cotton stuffing lay on top of the burlap which lays on top of the springs, then the vinyl covering lays on top of the cotton stuffing?

I would think burlap, cotton stuffing, then blanket then vinyl. The stuffing sandwiched between the burlap and blanket would help keep it from shifting around or clumping.
As I recall, my seats had a layer of coarse woven material over the burlap and under the cotton stuffing. Here are a couple of pics showing what was on my seat when I pulled it apart. I reused that coarse material that was over the burlap. The kit I got from Jim Carter didn't have that coarse woven material, just some burlap, cotton stuffing and the blanket.

On second thought, if you don't have the coarse woven stuff I did, then the blanket should probably go over the burlap, then the cotton stuffing. That would help keep the cotton stuffing from squishing down among the springs.

Hope that helps.

Here are some pics of my seats when I stripped them down. I used the burlap, the blanket and then the cotton. Came out nice and feels good.

I went a step further, based on some older posts, and added a thin layer of carpet between the springs and the burlap. I bought some carpet runner from the home store. It is rubber or vinyl baked. I put that rubber layer facing the springs, in the hopes of isolating the springs from my backside, and used the hog rings to secure the carpet runner to the frame. Then I added the burlap, cotton batting and outside layer. I used the reproduction clips instead of the hog rings, as I didn't want to tear the new upholstery fabric. Included are pics of each layer, finished cushion and installed in truck, prior to removal and deconstruction of my basketcase.... I intentionally did not use regular carpet as the glue on the back of regular carpet gets dried and brittle and flakes off under the seat. My hope is that the rubber backing will provide the isolation that I'm after without the dried bits of glue falling under the seat. Hope this helps.

I did my 54 with the burlap on the springs then one layer of batting. On the seat I added a 1 inch layer of foam I got from a local shop. Don’t add anything extra to the back. I originally added the foam there too. The result was sitting on the edge of the seat so I took it apart and took the foam out and it’s ok. I used hog rings on everything and like that I know it won’t come apart in my lifetime.

I used the original style "u" clips on my seat. They were still in place after 70 years on the original, so I didn't have any worries about them coming off. I don't have hog ring pliers, and installed the "u" clips with a pair of pliers with a leather pad around the jaws to keep from scarring the upholstery from the teeth.