Re: Restoring Rusty
 

then we gently liberate the cover from the foam, taking care not to tear it

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

then the foam can be removed from the frame, note how my foam is shot, hard to see in the pic but it looks like Godzila took a bite out of it on each side, I do have new(ish) foam for it

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

don't let the coax fool you, this is a wireless seat !

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

compared to the Titanic this frame aint even all that rusty!

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

this seemed like a good time to take a break

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

... a few beers later

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

and as the Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers used to say, welcome back to the third half of our show

at $20 bucks a pop (granted they was not all brand new) that's a few cases of beers right there I tell you what

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

when it comes to rust I'm a firm believer it takes two to Tango so abrasives and chemicals

here we are using Phosphoric acid, it is recommended you dilute it some, so being in California this is a CA blend so I like to dilute it 100% acid and 0% water, it's just acidic enough not to drink it, ha ha

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

rinse, lather, and repeat

after the acid bath I neutralize it with some baking soda water and steel wool, here is a shinny spot of what I was going for

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

here I am shooting it with primer before it flush rusts on me, I started with some red primer (on the bottom) and ranned out, sot that's primer not rust

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

It’s a lot of work. I sandblast mine, then repaint.
To answer your question, the shipping is $350. The fully restored seat, using good original foam, is $800.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Yes indeed it is.

I have three trucks so I am planning on selling this one, and so that's too much to put into it at this time, I appreciate it though.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

That’s quite alright, I understand completely. Need any tips, feel free to ask. :metal:

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

For the amount of work that goes into even one of these "simple" bench seats $450 is peanuts. $350 ain't bad for OH - CA shipping either.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

I know the shipping sucks. But they are large and heavy. I just had bucket seats and a console shipped from Oregon to Ohio, to me. The shipping was $350 also.it is what it is. I guess if someone wants something bad enough, they will pay it. I did! I wanted those Buckets bad, lol.
So all together, total for the seats and shipping, and the seats were in good restorable shape. I paid less than what most people want for torn up bucket seats.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Your shipping price is darn good for a package that size.
I would've guessed closer to $600 for shipping alone and another $600 at least for a proper seat restoration the way you're doing them.

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so with our air quality being Unhealthy to breath and Martial Law restricting us to stay indoors I thunk it was the perfect opportunity to continue werking on my bench seat

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Hahaha!

Cool, Rusty seat fix!











subliminal message. nothing to read here. keep rusty keep rusty keep rusty keep rusty

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

speaking of separation anxiety

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

I began the lift off process on the 147 springs in order to be able to tickle the rust underneath them with my trusty angle grinder since the seat frame as a whole won't fit inside the media blaster cabinet which I don't have

who knew Men's Cologne works so well to lubricate them? now if I could just find something to get the water spots off the rest of the frame!

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Just happened to be tearing down a couple of seat cores, and wanted to show you the difference in the foam.
This is the seat back foam. The one in the back is the 73-80. It’s is 2” taller, and almost 3” wider. Trying to show the width close up in the 2nd pic.
And then the next picture is the seat bottom frames for the 81-87, top. The 77-80 is the bottom. Again, the 73-80 seats are larger.
Pic #4 is the 81-87 seat bottom foam. Notice the holes along the back, those are for the seatbelts. The 73-80 foam does not have these.
Last pic is the ends springs that are always broken on the 73-80 frames.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

kinda confused about the backrest foam maybe you posted the wrong second pic by mistake, it looks like the same foam

this is money, this pic really helped

copy that, makes sense

I see that, I think mine are fine they just need to be reclipped together

Thanks so much TKCR so let me repost the donor truck pics again here so we can compare it to mine and you tell me if they are the same, maybe the dingleberries at Pick N Pull labeled that truck wrong, or maybe it had it's '85 seat replaced with an older style one like mine at some point.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

and then this happened to my trusty DeWalter White angle grinder

I guess you can't run a 24" braided wire wheel on a 4" angle grinder, who knew???

so we ordered sum replacement brushes, they should arrive today, so we should be back on the road in no time

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

The seat your showing, that is a 73-80 seat. It’s obvious because of the frame. There is a big difference between the 81-87 frame and the 73-80 frame.

On the subject of the seat back foam, no mistakes on what I posted. The foam in the back is taller and wider, it is for the 73-80 seat back. The one in the front is not as tall and not as wide. That’s for the 81-87 seat back frame. The frame and foam are different sizes. Trust me, I have done enough seats to know all the differences.

And I forgot to add a pic of the seat bottom foam for the 73-80, the underside. It has a step up in the foam, where the end springs hit. The 81-87 foam is not like that.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Ah snap I see it now, they are right behind each other, my bad, I just couldn't see the two foams, I thought there was another pic I was supposed to be looking at, but they are both in the same pic, I am blind

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Something I should probably cover also is the tracks and frames. You may have noticed I refer to the seats as 73-80, 73-76 but then sometimes 77-80.
Overall the 73-80 seat frames are the same. The difference is, the tracks have to go with the corresponding frame.
Another words, the weld nuts for the tracks are in different locations. So for them to bolt directly up to the frame, the tracks need to match the frame.
Here is a picture of all 3 tracks
73-76
77-80
81-87

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

That’s fine. If I had had an extra set of hands, I would have put a tape measure up there showing the size differences. But I was by myself when I took these photos.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

I had to find some pictures to duplicate and edit, to show how and where these tracks bolt to the bottom of the seat frames. Now had GM had the weld nuts in all these locations, then the frames could have been used with both the 73-76 AND 77-80 tracks.
1st pic is the 73-76 and their bolt locations.
2nd is the 77-80, and the top bolt is actually under the rail of the frame and under the cover.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Sunday morning we spring back into action

I am really glad I decided to wiggle the springs as at first glance they appeared in decent shape but as I gently manhandled them causing the rust to fall off exposing thinner weaker spots they told a different story. (that's one helluva run on sentence I'm quite impressed)

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here I took close up pics of how the springs are logically intertwined, later we will use common core math in hopes of assembling them in the same way

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the springs were originally held together with these clips, made of rust

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I like to wear a Band Aid to prevent the palm of my hand from scratching the springs

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and with one side completely partially disassembled a little bit I decided to go to the gym

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is this dude for real?

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Yeah that’s a little steep! I had a frame like that recently, and it’s going to the dump.
What all do you need? I can send you some springs and those clips (new clips). Clipsand fasteners.com sells the clips, that’s were I get mine. But it’s looking like you need a frame. And from pic #1 & #3, from post #6550 , your frame is a 73-76.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

so three Pick-N-Pulls and $15 bucks later we go ourselves some replacement springs in excellent condition from a 1976 Chebby with a tilt seat

Fun Fact: my '74 had 20 springs, this '76 only came with 14, thank you GM bean counters, way to save a buck

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

The spring count differences may also be options. The frame looks like it can take more springs. Cushier seat was an option.
You could pick individual options out of the books and have them delivered on lower trim levels in the 70's.

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Glad you found more good springs.
Did that trucks have the center belts? That particular style of belt, had a particular style of buckle and lap belt cap. And I need the lap belt cap. Them dang things are hard to find. If you go back, can you see if it has it? If it does, can you send me the buckle with the cap on it?
I would be indebted to you!

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Haha, got me with this one.

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my pleasure