Seat questions - need some opinions

[bamachem]

Hi all. Been a lurker for quite a while but I finally bought a 72 K5 Blazer back in July. It's a good driver and not a show truck. I'm at a crossroads as I'm trying to decide if I want to recover the original seats and get new seat belts or if I should just replace the original seats with some more modern ones that have integrated belts with shoulder harnesses. We just use it around town and as our "beach wagon" so I'm leaning towards parchment covers since it already has new parchment door panels.

Any advise, plusses, minuses, etc you can share?

I'm also planning on swapping out the wheels and tires. Torn between some classics like turbine or rallye versus something newer, probably 17" or 18". Leaning towards some turbines with some Goodyear Duratracs.

A couple pics:






A little history on the truck. Good body and frame with no rust. Body is decent, not much bondo work so not all that smooth but looks good for 10+ year old paint. Appears to be an Oklahoma truck that found its way to north GA and is now on the AL Gulf Coast. Rockers previously replaced but that's it. PO swapped the grill to 69/70. Dash is cut for a CD player. Engine appears to be original but not 100% sure. It's a non-CST AC truck with decent options. Originally Bronze with Parchment. Doesn't need much to be a good driver, such as upolstery, new seat belts, new soft top (has original dealer option Wesco), finishing bed liner inside, and wheels/tires.

[bamachem]

Oh, one more question.... what covers are the best for OEM fit/finish. Want something that's good quality for a driver, but not break the bank. Thinking around $450-$500 range on price.

[DeadheadNM]

Welcome to the site. IMO it's hard to go wrong redoing the original seats with fresh covers. Search the site for member Truckseats - he can deliver a nice set for a reasonable price. I've used him for two of my trucks. He's supplied many members here. Good luck and post some interior pics when poss. Nice K5!

[SamMargritz00]

I vote to at least get the rear seat recovered. Its not a bad bench seat, but the front seats I'd replace with something else in my opinion. I bought some bucket seats out of an Audi for up front, then had the rear seat redone to match the front.

[bamachem]

Thanks. I decided to go with the Classic Industries front and rear kits with some good hog ring pliant and extra rings.

[bamachem]

Anyone have a recommendation for good vintage styled seat belts? I have 4 but they are brown instead of either black or off white. I found some for about $50 each with the plastic covers like the originals, but no decent pricing on retractable for the front.

[bamachem]

Has anyone ever ordered lap belts from Juliano's in CT?

http://www.julianos.com/

They have the Plastic Cover GM Logo Repro belts for $45 a set. Look pretty good in the pics but want to make sure if I can before ordering.

[bamachem]

So, my original 72 seats had 73+ upholstery on them, and then a set of cheap seat covers on top of that. Due to the different cut of the 73+ upholstery at the top of the seat backs, the foam was pretty flat. Not bad for 42 year old stuff, but it needed some help all over. It was a good base to add some med-heavy density layers and build it up.

On the seat bottom, I added about 1" of foam. The bottoms were fitting pretty loose before I did this. It gave a lot of life back into the seats.



To build up the original bolster, I actually made the cut at the natural valley and slid slices of foam behind the bolster to push it out. Worked well.



On the driver side, I got a little surprise when I pulled the upholstery. The bottom of the seat sheet metal was rusted pretty bad. So bad, that it crumbled when removing the hog rings.



Solution? Added a new unistrut lower frame. It was really simple - cut at joints, bend, weld, done.



I am very pleased with the results! The bottoms are a little "overstuffed" but are very comfortable. The bolsters are still a little loose, and I'll probably go back in and add a 1/2" of foam to them to get the covers a little bit tighter on the seat backs. Here's a pic right after I installed them.