Bench Seats, Having them Reupholstered

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by JJH Jimmy

You do great work Tina! And I appreciate you taking the time to show us how you do it and the good and the bad of the products out there. I was just about ready to order the Silverado interior kit for my build from USA1 and was wondering if you have installed any of their seat covers and what the quality was like? Thank you!

I have. And they are very good quality. I use them in a pinch. I wish they had that interior kit, back when I restored my truck. I would have used that in a heartbeat.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by dagnabbitt

I love this thread, wish I had your talent for this work.

Quick question, for the plastic inserts that the seatbelts go through on some seats, how do you affix them? Some kind of glue?

Also do you know why do some seats have those inserts, and some do not?

Only the 81-87 seats have the seatbelt cutouts. The 73-80, the belts came up between the top & bottom.
The bezels have to be installed onto the cover before the cover gets installed on the seat bottom. It has a piece that locks onto the back of the bezels, on the underside of the cover.

[TKCR]

hatzie, this post is for you. You had asked about the Spirit of 76 seat cover on the seatbelt thread, when I did the belts for that Spirit of 76 truck. Well the guy I did the belts for sent me these pics of the seat. He had an Upholstery place replicate the seat cover.

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by TKCR

hatzie, this post is for you. You had asked about the Spirit of 76 seat cover on the seatbelt thread, when I did the belts for that Spirit of 76 truck. Well the guy I did the belts for sent me these pics of the seat. He had an Upholstery place replicate the seat cover.

Little details are what makes the job.
Your upholstery jobs have arrow straight piping along the front edge of the seat foam and the stitching in the back and base upholstery line up.
Your Seat backs are filled out and the butt and back foam isn't lumpy because you know what to wrap the foams in to properly fill the seat cover and take care that the foam is in good shape.
Not to mention the fact that the covers are properly stitched so they fit as they should.
I think he would've been better off to have you do the work.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by hatzie

Little details are what makes the job.
Your upholstery jobs have arrow straight piping along the front edge of the seat foam and the stitching in the back and base upholstery line up.
Your Seat backs are filled out and the butt and back foam isn't lumpy because you know what to wrap the foams in to properly fill the seat cover and take care that the foam is in good shape.
Not to mention the fact that the covers are properly stitched so they fit as they should.
I think he would've been better off to have you do the work.

I didn’t do this particular cover. But the guy who did, did a fantastic job!

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by TKCR

I didn’t do this particular cover. But the guy who did, did a fantastic job!

It just doesn't seem that the back is filled out all the way across the way your rehabs are. The cover you put on the foam makes up for the fact that the back foam is not as thick in places as it used to be. Especially on the LH end of the seat.
The back cover looks good but it looks a bit loose at the ends and not filled out across the middle like the bottom where they likely installed new foam.
They likely don't have an inventory of decent seat backs to start with so they danced with the one that brung them and patched in upholstery foam to make up for the damage on the LH end.
They did a good job. I can see a difference in the end result.

[69Tom]

Posting this for your future info/not trying to hijack the thread. After this seat, I'd say buy upholstery from SMS but don't let them make your cover. The back fit quite well, but the bottom dimensions are so off, this is with adding 1" foam on top, and some foam in the front part of the seat. I'm sure someone with your experience could have probably done a better job, but I think you might have even struggled with it. I think as most know, adding that 1" of foam is unwanted height to the seat, especially under the steering wheel (luckily I have a tilt wheel). I should have known I was in trouble when they contacted me after 8 months and said they hadn't started on it yet because they didn't have the pattern for the cover.

Aside from that, it does look nice and the fabric is great. Hope it holds up. Once I get this truck back together and driving and save up some cash, I'll probably take the seat to an upholstery shop, buy a new bottom foam, and have them cut/fit/resew the bottom cover so I don't have to use a bunch of extra foam.

In any event, if you have the $, just have TKCR do your seat. They turn out much nicer.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by 69Tom

Posting this for your future info/not trying to hijack the thread. After this seat, I'd say buy upholstery from SMS but don't let them make your cover. The back fit quite well, but the bottom dimensions are so off, this is with adding 1" foam on top, and some foam in the front part of the seat. I'm sure someone with your experience could have probably done a better job, but I think you might have even struggled with it. I think as most know, adding that 1" of foam is unwanted height to the seat, especially under the steering wheel (luckily I have a tilt wheel). I should have known I was in trouble when they contacted me after 8 months and said they hadn't started on it yet because they didn't have the pattern for the cover.

Aside from that, it does look nice and the fabric is great. Hope it holds up. Once I get this truck back together and driving and save up some cash, I'll probably take the seat to an upholstery shop, buy a new bottom foam, and have them cut/fit/resew the bottom cover so I don't have to use a bunch of extra foam.

In any event, if you have the $, just have TKCR do your seat. They turn out much nicer.

I think it looks nice. To me, I just looks like it needed a lot of handworking. It can get frustrating, to say the least. But I will say this, putting a cover on a non tilt seat can be a bit of a handful. I’ve only done a few. I don’t even get core seats anymore, unless they tilt. No one wants them anyways.
Your seat bottom foam, is it a full foam or a poor mans foam?

[69Tom]

Originally Posted by TKCR

Your seat bottom foam, is it a full foam or a poor mans foam?

Full foam. I have a 74 Cheyenne Super. That's the correct seat cover for the truck. Which sadly, no one reproduces.

[HOTFUN]

The seat 74 style fabric looks great and actually not far off a factory fit job back in the day. Did you install new storage pockets on the lower front edge door panels or are they the originals? They sure look nice. I was wondering if anyone had used the reproduction door pockets that USA1 Industries sell in all the original colors or tried to dye original ones?

[69Tom]

Originally Posted by HOTFUN

The seat 74 style fabric looks great and actually not far off a factory fit job back in the day. Did you install new storage pockets on the lower front edge door panels or are they the originals? They sure look nice. I was wondering if anyone had used the reproduction door pockets that USA1 Industries sell in all the original colors or tried to dye original ones?

They are the USA1 Industries pockets. I can't say they're entirely worth the cost based on what they are (I think they were $80 or something like that), but they do serve their purpose and are made of the correct material and color.

[HOTFUN]

Thanks on the door panel pocket info. Im sending Tina my 73 charcoal seat belts and plan on using the same USA1 Ind charcoal dye that she uses on her builds. I question the actual original look of the USA1 pockets and I think I better try to dye an original set of pockets. Just wish I had a clean charcoal set to start with instead of saddle. lol. Thanks

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by HOTFUN

Thanks on the door panel pocket info. Im sending Tina my 73 charcoal seat belts and plan on using the same USA1 Ind charcoal dye that she uses on her builds. I question the actual original look of the USA1 pockets and I think I better try to dye an original set of pockets. Just wish I had a clean charcoal set to start with instead of saddle. lol. Thanks

I think the map pockets look nice.
https://www.usa1industries.com/1973-...anel-bags.html

[Soundmound]

So having read through this thread from start to end I can see the evolution in quality of the seat covers. Also, it appears with having someone making them for you you might have started going semi custom? The black with hounds tooth inserts being what I saw.
Have you or your supplier started offering "custom" covers? Could you PM me what purchasing a seat from you would start at? Shipping mine to you seems foolish(read crazy expensive) when you have units ready to complete. I still have so many questions lol.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by Soundmound

So having read through this thread from start to end I can see the evolution in quality of the seat covers. Also, it appears with having someone making them for you you might have started going semi custom? The black with hounds tooth inserts being what I saw.
Have you or your supplier started offering "custom" covers? Could you PM me what purchasing a seat from you would start at? Shipping mine to you seems foolish(read crazy expensive) when you have units ready to complete. I still have so many questions lol.

The Black Houndstooth is actually the previous generation truck seat fabric. So he has that fabric on hand. So yes, I guess you can say “semi custom”. But he doesn’t like doing custom covers, and honestly I don’t either. It’s just too time consuming getting the Fabrics now. And the cost of custom covers is more. I spent time for awhile trying to get people what they wanted as far as “custom”. I found that I was wasting my time. Not one person ever followed thru, and I didn’t have that kind of time spare on doing all the leg work that’s involved. It was taking time away from me of getting anything done. It’s just me, myself and I.

[TKCR]

This is a 1977-1980 Fully Restored BenchSeat. Black & White Houndstooth. It will be heading to Missouri once it’s packed up.

[TKCR]

Charcoal Velour Deluxe, fully restored. Being picked up Friday.

[JJH Jimmy]

Originally Posted by TKCR

Charcoal Velour Deluxe, fully restored. Being picked up Friday.

Looks great! I can’t wait to get this installed in my project!

[TKCR]

Built a couple of seats, and they are going to be picked up this weekend.
Charcoal Velour and a Black Vinyl

[KQQL IT]

Can you tell by the frame what the seat is?
We took the seat out our 68 the other day.
And looks suspiciously like a squarebody bench.
Only has a tilt release on the passenger side.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by KQQL IT

Can you tell by the frame what the seat is?
We took the seat out our 68 the other day.
And looks suspiciously like a squarebody bench.
Only has a tilt release on the passenger side.

I can, on most seats.
Pic #1 The 73-80 seat, if it’s a tilting seat, will have the release of both sides of the seat just behind the seat back. And then the seat slide adjust knob will on the drivers side of the seat, towards the door opening.
Pic #2 shows a better picture of the passenger side seat release.
Pic #3 is the seat slide adjust.
Pic #4 is the 81-87 seat, which tilts, but doesn’t have a release. They just tilt forward by leaning the seatback forward. Unless it’s a Suburban or CrewCab front, those are fixed and do not tilt forward. Slide adjust is in the front of the seat.
Pic #5 just shows the 81-87 bottom frame & grid. It is definitely different than the 73-80 seats.

[KQQL IT]

Thanks, when I get home later I'll see if I can identify it.

The 68 had buckets originally. Who knows what's been swapped around.

[mongocanfly]

Tina, that houndstooth seat up at 691 is very nice.!.great job on that

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Tina, that houndstooth seat up at 691 is very nice.!.great job on that

Thank you! that's one of my FAVORITES

[TKCR]

Got a couple more seats built.
77-80 Black Velour
81-87 Charcoal Velour
81-87 Blue