The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors Rebuilding the Seats

I’m wondering if any of the “Bolters” out there have rebuilt their own seats. I’m thinking of starting right at those old rusty springs and repadding and covering the seat in my ’41. and looking for some advice and guidance. Since there is nothing left of whatever layers of stuff was on the seat. I’m in the dark about what materials to use.

I had to rebuild mine for the 48,it wasn't to bad,but then i'm not done yet,still need to drop it off to the shop to have the padding and cover put on.I started restoring the right one but it had alot of springs that needed to be replaced then I found a 54 seat that just needed frame repair.The worst you have to fix is you'l need to retie all your springs,thats why I went with the 54 seat it dos'nt have the tied springs it just has little springs that hold it together.

I did my 53, using the kit from Jim Carter. I took everything off the old seat and found two broken coils on driver's side, which a fellow Bolter kindly supplied for postage. I used my grinder and wirebrush attachment to thoroughly remove all rust from the frame and springs, then gave it a couple of coats of enamel. The seat cover went on fairly easily with my wife's help, The kit came with cotton batting to replace the original, and a piece of burlap to go between the springs and the batting. I can't remember whether a piece of foam rubber came with the kit, but I also put that under the batting. I didn't use hog rings to fasten the seat cover. Instead I used metal "U" clips. They are about 1/2 inch long and look like a little tubes cut in half lengthwise. These snap tightly over one layer of the seat material wedged into the bottom frame rail that houses the springs. You can get the clips at Home Depot in those specialty hardware drawers.

One of my last posts on my topic in big bolts shows my seat bein finished up.
It had mostly good springs and the frame was good, but the pan on the bottom was trashed. Interestingly enough I recently cleaned out a uphosltry shop that was closing it's doors so I had al the new springs I needed, plus donors from another seat. Some of the structureal rods that the springs mount to were rusted through, you can bend fresh rod to fit or use parts from another seat. once it was all together I cleaned all the metal and added a liberal coating of rust converter then a coat of black rust-stop paint. I dont know if the older seats had pans, but for mine I found a local HVAC shop that cut me off some steel for the pan and was nice enough to bend it for me too. I trimmed it to fit the frame, assembled the springs and bolted on the rails.
The original padding consisted of a layer of burlap over the springs, hog-ringed in place, I used denim I had on hand Then a layer of about 2" thick matting (looks like horse hair), I used 2" thick foam rubber myself, & should cover the whole top and roll over the front of the spring a bit. The next layer was 1/2" batting, not totaly needed, but helps fill the rolls if you get a tuck-n-roll cover. If you get a plain cover it's optional.
If you want to make a cover, some good textured black marine grade naugahyde works fine, but it's worth the $ to get it done or get a kit if you're not handy with a sewing machine. Getting the cover on square can take a couple tries, the spring clips that newer seats used made that easy (part number UP220 on Americanclassic.com), if yours uses hog rings you may want to get a few small spring clamps to get it sorted out before you perforate it. I had to take the edges off and adjust a few times, but overall for a quick custom job I think it's pretty good.My finished product.

Thanks Guys.

I think there is enough info here to get me started on mine.

I also bought a kit from Carter, came with everything we needed. Was really easy and there was extra material to help with worn springs. Way cheaper than taking to a pro