krscholz
Well-known member
If you're looking for a project to do this winter and reupholstering your front seats is it, here are two tips that will help. The upholstery guys are going to send hate mail to me about this next comment, but oh well you need to know that recovering your seats is a piece of cake and you certainly can do itself and save lots of money. I searched the web and found a number of articles that I read to see how it’s done before I started my project. Here are some things that were not in any articles I found.
Problem: Your seat bottom steel frame is probably dented at the rear where the seat back meets the bottom seat from years of letting your seat hit the back of the frame. This is due partially to the fact that the frame was not built strong enough by GM to weather years of use.
Solution: After you have removed the seat covering, take the bottom seat frame and a brass punch or similar blunt tool and pound the frame back to its original shape. To do this, simply find a flat surface and flip the frame over (the garage floor will do fine), then pound the surface flat again. A good idea is to purchase a “seat bottom repair kit” from a supplier and bolt this to your frame as well. These are normally sold for seriously damaged seat bottoms but in this case they should maintain the integrity of your seat bottom for many years ahead.
Problem: Seat back and bottom springs no longer look like "S's" any longer and now resemble "W's" stretched across your frame. What this means is that your springs are probably stretched-out and sagging. If you’re going to spend the time and money to reupholster your seats, you may be disappointed with your results because the seats may look good but the feel when you sit on them will haunt you from the past.
Solution: Pinch your springs back into shape with a pliers and bend the springs back where they attach to the frame. Your results should see that your springs will now lay flat across the fame like they did from the factory and the feel will be like new.
Click on the following pictures.
Good Luck. If you have any other tips please share them with us.
Problem: Your seat bottom steel frame is probably dented at the rear where the seat back meets the bottom seat from years of letting your seat hit the back of the frame. This is due partially to the fact that the frame was not built strong enough by GM to weather years of use.
Solution: After you have removed the seat covering, take the bottom seat frame and a brass punch or similar blunt tool and pound the frame back to its original shape. To do this, simply find a flat surface and flip the frame over (the garage floor will do fine), then pound the surface flat again. A good idea is to purchase a “seat bottom repair kit” from a supplier and bolt this to your frame as well. These are normally sold for seriously damaged seat bottoms but in this case they should maintain the integrity of your seat bottom for many years ahead.
Problem: Seat back and bottom springs no longer look like "S's" any longer and now resemble "W's" stretched across your frame. What this means is that your springs are probably stretched-out and sagging. If you’re going to spend the time and money to reupholster your seats, you may be disappointed with your results because the seats may look good but the feel when you sit on them will haunt you from the past.
Solution: Pinch your springs back into shape with a pliers and bend the springs back where they attach to the frame. Your results should see that your springs will now lay flat across the fame like they did from the factory and the feel will be like new.
Click on the following pictures.
Good Luck. If you have any other tips please share them with us.
