how to fix rip in bench seat

[57hauler]

anyway to repair this to get at least driver quality results? Im kinda at a standstill until i make a move here. truck is definitely staying green on exterior. ive been following a saddle tan bench for sale on MP with no rips and dont mind dying plastics but also like the green on green color combo. If i can get this rip sorted out id be happy. the cheesy 70's pattern kinda grew on me. i tried searching YT with neg results.

[57hauler]

seat

[TKCR]

There’s no fixing that. Maybe with an iron on patch, but even then I doubt it would stick to the dried out material. Duck tape maybe.

[57hauler]

ehh . i figured as much. it looks like at some point a critter chewed at plastic seatbelt retractor cover. ill hunt for a local rip free bench and build an interior around it i suppose. thanks for the response.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by 57hauler

ehh . i figured as much. it looks like at some point a critter chewed at plastic seatbelt retractor cover. ill hunt for a local rip free bench and build an interior around it i suppose. thanks for the response.

Yeah I saw the seatbelt too! Wow.
The seat itself looks to be in good condition. Maybe just get one of those Saddle Blankets for the time being.

[Richard]

If you are not to picky and handy. Remove the cover yourself and take to a local upholsterer. Bet they can patch it up for you. Had some rips repaired that way on a seat a while back. Cost me $20. They can add a piece of material on back side for reinforcement. May not look perfect but will do.

[TKCR]

I would advise against taking that cover off to just take it and try to get it repaired. There is no way of patching that type of material. You’ll get more rips trying to get it off.
I have restored seats for many years, and I am very familiar with that material. It gets very dry and brittle. It will rip worse taking if off, and not just that area.
I say if you want to keep the seat, which as I said earlier, the seat itself is in great condition. It’s just the cover. So purchase a Mexican Saddle Blanket to throw over it. They don’t have to be hog ringed on, just tied on.

https://i2.wp.com/www.seatcoverman.c....jpg?strip=all

https://i0.wp.com/www.usa1industries....jpg?strip=all
https://www.usa1industries.com/image...seat-cover.jpg

[57hauler]

im torn on what to do....lol Truck is seamist ext with holly green interior. Although bench is not trashed i would have to do a little surgery to make it tilt forward. Most likely doing the dark green as exterior and tan interior. Saw a rip free saddle tan bench on MP earlier. Description states '84 silverado but i dont recognize the seat pattern, possibly a cover. So.... to circle back, the Mexican blanket theme is the way to go for now.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by 57hauler

im torn on what to do....lol Truck is seamist ext with holly green interior. Although bench is not trashed i would have to do a little surgery to make it tilt forward. Most likely doing the dark green as exterior and tan interior. Saw a rip free saddle tan bench on MP earlier. Description states '84 silverado but i dont recognize the seat pattern, possibly a cover. So.... to circle back, the Mexican blanket theme is the way to go for now.

There is no making that seat tilt either.
The 84 is not like your seat, totally different seat frame. And that why it has a different seat pattern.
If you didn’t notice at the bottom of my Signature, I restore seats. I know a lot about our seats from 73-87. In fact, I just installed a Saddle Blanket on a customers seat, because we are still waiting on the cover to be made. So in order for him to install the seat back in the truck so he can drive it this summer, I got a temporary blanket for it. His seat is also a non tilt. I tried to talk him into one of the tilt seat frames that I have, but he wanted to keep the original seat that came with the truck.

[57hauler]

1st off thank you for your insight regarding, I'm truly grateful. Only after starting this post did i notice your thread which i completely read. Im recently retired and was looking for a side hustle, nothing crazy. Your operation is exactly something that would interest me. Doesnt have to be benches, perhaps dashes or dashpad. Something to STOP seeing squarebodys rotting away or being shredded to make a pirus. I am aware that bench is bolted in fixed position. i saw a YT video where a "fabricator" put a slit in frame where upper bolt goes. u then have bolt in frame loosely where upper frame catches so its not floppy if that makes sense.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by 57hauler

1st off thank you for your insight regarding, I'm truly grateful. Only after starting this post did i notice your thread which i completely read. Im recently retired and was looking for a side hustle, nothing crazy. Your operation is exactly something that would interest me. Doesnt have to be benches, perhaps dashes or dashpad. Something to STOP seeing squarebodys rotting away or being shredded to make a pirus. I am aware that bench is bolted in fixed position. i saw a YT video where a "fabricator" put a slit in frame where upper bolt goes. u then have bolt in frame loosely where upper frame catches so its not floppy if that makes sense.

I would be curious as to see that video. I’ll see if I can find it. I can’t see where that would work on this frame.
I am stopping on restoring the seats very soon, but I’ll still be doing the seatbelts. Just can’t keep up with both.

[57hauler]

https://youtu.be/hVAd0xIPpmw

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by 57hauler

https://youtu.be/hVAd0xIPpmw

Thank you! I’ll watch that.

[TKCR]

Ok right away I noticed that is a 81-87 seat in the video. Those can be changed a lot easier than the seat frame you have.
Here are the 2 frames. First will be the 73-80 frames, non tilt. Then the next 2 are the 73-80 tilt seat frames. Last is the 81-87 frame.
The 81-87 already has the holes for both til and non tilt. See the last pic

[57hauler]

so this is a wrap, generally speaking for me since i would prefer a tilt bench. I'll weld up some legs and make a garage sofa outta of this when i find something more suitable. Neighbor's seem to enjoy loafing around at my garage when they see door open. An escape of sorts i suppose! Thank you for your in-depth tutorial regarding.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by 57hauler

so this is a wrap, generally speaking for me since i would prefer a tilt bench. I'll weld up some legs and make a garage sofa outta of this when i find something more suitable. Neighbor's seem to enjoy loafing around at my garage when they see door open. An escape of sorts i suppose! Thank you for your in-depth tutorial regarding.

Love to be able to help ya out with one (tilting seat), which I still have several. Already repaired and restored. Not sure if it’s worth the drive to Ohio though. But if you are wanting to start doing something on the side, I could sell you my stock of seat cores, to get ya started. At least it would make the trip more worthwhile.
I like the idea of turning the non tilt into a garage bench.