Seat upholstery; what have folks done?

[td]

Good morning 427blackpearl, that's a great looking interior you've got there!

When you say that we should upgrade the seat if we don't like the old fashioned, springy feel, do you mean upgrade the seat guts (springs and foam) or update to a more modern bench seat from another truck? Or either/both?

I hadn't really considered swapping in a seat from a newer truck, since I like to keep it classic and original-ish. But I've read that lots of Ford seats will bolt right in.

Thanks!
-Robroy

anything up until 96 will bolt in to our trucks. you can use a mid 90's bench that has the removable headrest and take them out when you have it recovered and retain a pretty original look.

pearls seat looks great brad!!

[427blackpearl]

Good morning 427blackpearl, that's a great looking interior you've got there!

When you say that we should upgrade the seat if we don't like the old fashioned, springy feel, do you mean upgrade the seat guts (springs and foam) or update to a more modern bench seat from another truck? Or either/both?

I hadn't really considered swapping in a seat from a newer truck, since I like to keep it classic and original-ish. But I've read that lots of Ford seats will bolt right in.

Thanks!
-Robroy

anything up until 96 will bolt in to our trucks. you can use a mid 90's bench that has the removable headrest and take them out when you have it recovered and retain a pretty original look.

pearls seat looks great brad!!

use the 90s seat and have it covered with a cover for a 60s

[robroy]

use the 90s seat and have it covered with a cover for a 60s

Are the 90's seats intrinsically better? I've never sat in (or even looked in) a modern Ford truck so I wouldn't know.

Thanks!
-Robroy

[td]

generaly their better setting seats, not to say you can't find a good setting seat of a older year model. the good thing is you can try one out before you buy. so mabe its a good idea to shop around a little before you have yours redone. only thing is if you buy one that needs redoing you'll have purchace price to add to the bill, where is now you'd only have to pay to have yours redone.

[robroy]

Hi Td, thanks for the advice. I may see if I can find some 90's Fords to check out and see what I think.

Thanks again,
-Robroy

[Banjo]

if it's a money thing, I think your best bet is to find a used bench from a junkyard you pull yourself. I tramped through about 30 trucks on Friday when I was really interested, with a 5 gallon bucket full of tools, and every single bench had something wrong with it, so I gave up. What would be cool, if you want the new style, is to get one from a full size ext cab with the king cab and full size opening rear doors. Because, those seats will have INTEGRAL shoulder belts, at least the newer ones. What kept me from doing that is my concern the seat would hit the stock gas tank in cab that I don't want to relocate right now. If you could find a decent used bench in junkyard, prices would likely be anywhere from $10-$50 on older trucks and likely more on newer. Banjo.

[robroy]

'Evening Banjo, thanks for the advice! If I choose to look for a newer seat I'll keep that in mind--those integral shoulder belts sound pretty neat. There's nothing wrong with a little modern technology in the safety department!

Thanks again,
-Robroy

[zack]

anybody have pics of a newer seat with a new, old style factory type seat material.....Id like to do that on my crew cab...I now have a seat from a 90 f 150 in the front and I like it but I want the classic look to match the rest of the interior

[westernkansas]

what is the price of going with a kit? and will it come with the thin padding that is just under the current material? there is a custom shop here in town that shot me the price of 300 to do it back to orginal and he said it will just take him one day to do it. still up in the air to which way to go, I would also like to have the door panels redone. the seat itself is only worn on the drivers side, the door panels are just dirty crude and would really stand out if i did just the seat itself. I did have the seat out once and the burlap on the unerside was in mint condition, proof that there was no mice living in the truck came when i found a magazine dated august 1972 tucked up in the springs from the original owner( and no it was no playboy, it was some law inforcement mag) still trying to trck down the orginal owner and let him know his baby is still kicking.

[1971ford]

Good morning,

I pulled the seat out of my truck last weekend and it looked pretty chewed up on the backside. Plus it was never all that comfortable; it seemed excessively springy.

The seat was bolted up in the back in some way that locked the back in place, so I hadn't seen the backside of the seat in over ten years. Here it is when I discovered it:



I'm going to take it to an upholstery shop in Palo Alto, California to have it re-done. Since I like how easy to clean vinyl is I'm probably going to go that route, but I'm not certain about that. In any event I'm thinking of re-doing it with a bright yellow color (which probably means vinyl, since cloth that color would look horrible in a year)!

What have other folks done with their bench seats? I'm curious to see examples to give me more ideas.

Thanks!
-Robroy

I spy a factory build sheet in there, too bad its a gonner , those are cool to have

anybody have pics of a newer seat with a new, old style factory type seat material.....Id like to do that on my crew cab...I now have a seat from a 90 f 150 in the front and I like it but I want the classic look to match the rest of the interior

I will be doing this with my seat. I have a custom split bench made for bump's, but its a old cloth material. So i plan to take it to a upholstery shop with some pictures of factory benches and make it look likeit could of came with it (It's got a fold down center with storage and cupholders).

[thebannister8]

i made a trip to santa ana calif...upholstry mecha of the southland ( and only 10 miles away )....got me some green vinyl and had an absolute blast doing it myself....ran across a roll that was virtualy identical to my original seat...but i opted for a softer material though.....they want 250-275 to do a whole bench at most of the places there....

[thebannister8]

just checking...those seat belts don't say gm in the center there do they

[FordHam]

I just had a seat redone. Asking the guy about the "springiness" of the seats, he said it mostly had to do with the density of the foam. Some was due to the seat springs themselves. I found that a 73 up seat had a more solid seat frame and the foam out of it seemed quite a bit denser. He said the only way to get the dense foam like in today's vehicles would be to cut it out of a block of that type of foam. He didn't seem too interested in that. The 73 seat I used also had a nice back panel to dress it up a little bit. I'll post some pics soon.

[SteveC]

i got a seat out of a 87 ford truck i some how got lucky and had one that was blue and it will go perfectly into my blue 72 im restoring.

[Supermike]

I just had a seat redone. Asking the guy about the "springiness" of the seats, he said it mostly had to do with the density of the foam. Some was due to the seat springs themselves. I found that a 73 up seat had a more solid seat frame and the foam out of it seemed quite a bit denser. He said the only way to get the dense foam like in today's vehicles would be to cut it out of a block of that type of foam. He didn't seem too interested in that. The 73 seat I used also had a nice back panel to dress it up a little bit. I'll post some pics soon.

Interesting... if you can't get the upholstery shop to cut the foam, I know NPD lists replacement seat foam for 73 and up... can't remember the price, though...