Options For Seat Restoration

Hello,
I'm starting to think about what to do for front seats on my '67 rebuild. The seats I have apppear to be original spring seats. They are very comfortable as Jeep seats go. The covers are shot and the foam is really starting to fall apart. I have seen many posts in the past and people normally suggest to just buy reproduction seats as it's cheapest. The issue I have though is my front passenger seat is of the double fold variety. If it's possible I would like to keep this functionality. The eventual plan is to get a soft top and I actually use the back seat.
Has anyone managed to fit a reproduction seat back and bottom to the hinge mechanism? I don't know if this is an option.
The other route of course is getting the originals recovered. I live in an area with a lot of recreational boating so companies exist. I'm sure the price would make me cry though.

 

There is no way to keep the fold-and-tumble feature with aftermarket seats, AFAIK. You're right, the factory bucket seats are very comfortable as long as you are of average adult height and build. I would have the original seats rebuilt/recovered.

 

I second the choice of getting seats reupholstering done
last set I've seen done was 300-350 each
the guy that owns the business says . to most the recovering seats is a luxury

 

Thanks for the replies. I'll have to get a couple estimates for recovering the seats and compare that to the cost of repros. I sure would like to go the recovering route.

 

Went through this myself. The original seats in my 67 were not terrible but the covers were brittle from age and cracked a little more each time they were sat in. Mine did not have the fold and tumble passenger seat. The cost of having them recovered was more than I wanted to spend on seats.

I ended up selling the original seats for most of what a pair of Smittybuilt seats cost. I mounted the Smittybuilt seats to a set of original frames and find that due to the bottoms being thicker it is a tight squeeze for me under the steering wheel. So, I plan to fabricate new frames to lower the seats. So, more trouble than I expected, but the seats look good, are well made, and are comfortable.

Original seat frames in decent condition are worth some money to people doing restorations of these Jeeps, and the fold and tumble passenger seat is worth a premium. So, if you do decide to go for reproduction seats you could probably pay for them by selling what you have.

 

FinoCJ had his recovered and added seat warmers. I saw them during the Moab trip...very nicely done!

 

Pretty much my experience too. I paid about 800 for all 3 seats.

 

I put the Smitty Bilts in mine and like them. The driver's side is a bolt in but the passenger side sits way too high on the original brackets. I fabbed my own for that. Even without a folding back it flips forward far enough to access the tool box. The passenger side sits at a slightly different angle than the driver's side but the tops are at the same hieght and it's not noticeable if you don't already know it.



Here' some photos of the custom brackets on the passenger side.

Latched:


Flipped forward:


The rear bracket is some angle iron and 1"x2" tubing:


The front brackets are angle iron with flattened pegs welded in. It fits the factory lower bracket:


All that said, I still have the originals and plan to recover them some day. These were much cheaper and quicker for me in the short term.

 

Fireball as a fabricator I can appreciate the job you did on your seat mechanism, very well done and a nice attention to detail !

 

I really appreciate the fold and tumble passenger seat and would much rather keep the stock seats.
Mine have replacement covers hog-ringed on over the original. Pretty sure they came from JcWhitney back in the day. They are thick fabric and have lasted well, but it is interesting that the original seat patterns are wearing through.
I expect to have them re-covered by a shop at some point. I have found that sometimes you can find a furniture upholstery shop that can do the job for vastly less money than a custom auto/marine outfit.

 

I had mine re done by www.jeepsterguru.com I bought the fabric from SMS Auto Interiors out of Oregon.

I recommend the jeepsterguru guys price was very fair and cheaper then anyone could do locally even with the shipping.

1970 Cj5 Seat Re-done
A link to my thread about it.

 

Ken, I had mine done at Pete's Seats on Allen road in Taylor between North Line and Goddard Road, they do good work on Antique Seats. I have the Split Bench Tuxedo Park seats, they put all new everything in them. Good Luck, Rick

 

Rick, thanks for the suggestion. I'll definitely call them once it's time to get the work done. Would much prefer to keep it local if i can.

 

If you can afford it, having the original seats redone is the best way to go, especially with that fold and tumble passenger seat frame.

I went the other way on mine and installed Smittybuilt seats. These are nice seats and they are comfortable, but they do require some fabrication for the frames. The driver seat will bolt up to the original frame but it is thicker than an original seat and that reduces room between driver and steering wheel. I am going to make new frames which will sit a little lower. I am wishing I had not sold the original seats.

 

I agree 100% with Oldpappy's assessment. I likewise went with Smittybilt seats initially, but found them to be a bit too high / thick. Luckily I'd saved my original seats, and eventually had them reupholstered. The seat panel of the originals probably sits about 1-1/2" lower than that of the Smittybilt seats.

 

I rebuilt my original seats on my 1969 CJ5 build. It was a lot less work than you might have expected. My brother does it for a living and I share everything he told me. I did have access to his industrial sewing machine.

The seat work starts deep into page 15 of the following post:

MD Juan Tub Kit 1969 CJ5 4CLY (7/2016)

Good luck!

 

I noticed that Walcks sells covers for my 61, has anyone used them? He also has foam for a cj2 seat, how different are they? Could that foam be modiifed to fit?

 

My front seat does not have a latch, but my rear seat has the same latch and latch plate as your passenger seat. I don't see plugs or holes for that plate in my bed. Was that an aftermarket add?

My plan is to fabricate rear seat brackets that match the original and moved the current rear seat latch/latch plate from the rear to the passenger seat.