The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors Painting Seat Springs

I am getting ready to restore my AD seat from my 1949 chevy truck. The springs are rusty but they are all there and in good shape.

I have read the forums and other sources on the internet and it seems that many people sandblast and paint these springs.

My question is doesn't this paint just flake off once the seat is actually used? I would not think any type of paint would handle that much flex without cracking and chipping off in no time.

Is there a specific type of paint that will handle the flexing? Is there a better option than painting the springs to protect them?

Thanks for the comments

I'd spray some high zinc primer [sometimes called weld-thru primer] on them and cover'em up, last your lifetime

Bill

I did something similar to what Bill mentioned. Are you restoring the seats yourself? What kit did you use? Like to see some pics on how they turned out please.

Is there something different about the high zinc primer that will keep it on the springs? Does it flex more? I suppose in the end it should be dry and not really matter if the paint flakes off but was hoping there was a good solution out there.

I have not bought a kit yet but was planning on using Jim Carters kit that I saw a few years back. I was going to put carpet over the top of the springs or some real heavy canvas, and wire the springs together. These are all tips I've seen on forums recently.

Right now I am hoping to take a load of things to the sandblaster this weekend and will just be painting the springs. It is a lot cheaper for the sandblaster do many things at once so I am just thinking of things I can take him. It will be a long while before I actually re-cover them.

I think as long as you clean them up and paint them you will be fine. Make sure they are not broke or cracked. Mine were in good condition.

As to the recovering, I had a local shop do mine. I think the kits run well over $200 and from what I saw, the material is thin and the padding is not as thick as I would like. My local shop charged me $350 and I chose the color I wanted and even had them do some tuck and roll for extra support. The material they use is marine grade and about 2 times as thick as the stuff I saw in the kits. AND the padding is better also.

Just a thought.....

Here's a picture.

seat picture

i sandblasted mine then painted them with rustolum semi gloss that was 10yrs ago they still look good

Almost any paint will work fine.
The springs do flex but the key is that any section doesn't flex very much relative to the section right next to it. Nothing except maybe epoxy hardened paint will crack.

Just brush the loose rust and dirt off and spray.

I media blasted my seat bases/springs and coated with epoxy primer. That's it, no more work for me as the epoxy primer will hold up well. Epoxy is a plastic and as such will handle the flexing of the springs fine without cracking. Jim, maybe you were thinking of Isocyanate hardened paint.

Thanks for all the tips.

The only reason I was going to go with the kit was so I could get some original looking material.

I have a 46 but I painted mine with rustolume rusty metal primer and then a top coat. I also added one more row of bottom seat springs and placed a 1/2 inch plywood base above the runner supports. Hand tied the springs. Had fabric tuck and roll done for 275.00.