Re-padding front seat...how difficult??

[Scoopy G]

Howdy fellas and fell-ettes,

The 65 Town Sedan is doing great, after a lot of sorting through a lot of stuff. So now on to the interior....the foam on the front seat has deteriorated over the last 58 years, and while the seat cover is in good shape, the foam is all butt gone (sp intentional). SO, as a die-hard do-it-yourselfer, I'm wondering if I can peel back the bottom seat cover, and insert some new foam under my butt, maybe a couple of layers of 1/2 carpet padding.

Has anyone done anything like this? I did it once on a '64 Dart, and it actually worked pretty well. Thanks!

 

[CBODY67]

You might want to re-consider. Reason is that the fabric is old and might appear to be in good shape, but I highly suspect that it might be quite a bit more fragile than you might suspect. Plus where you un-hogring the vinyl, putting it back might also cause some splits, possibly. Vinyl can get more fragile as the oils in it evaporate with time. Plus the fabric backing having "dry rot" possibilities, too.

Now, IF you remove the complete seat and check the condition of the springs supporting things, you might can replace those items individually without bothering the seat covers. THAT might be where the real issues are? You can see that heavy burlap is the first item in the build of the padding stack, so the other softer layers have support under them.

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67

 

[Knebel]

I would try it. I have done my frontseat myself and the old cover really wasn't that brittle, it had retained it shape so if you do a 1 or 2" foam you should be fine, I had a new seatcover so I wasn't worried. There should be a layer of burlap to cover the springs though. I would unhog the clamps then peel from the front bit leave the rear on. Make sure you cut the foam right!

 

[WOT440]

This may help you decide how to approach your challenge.