What to do about my seats?

OK time to do something about seats.
Don't really know where to start.
As cheap/reasonable as possible.
These are the seats I have in my '59.



Can the springs be repaired? Then recovered?
Do I need to make some plywood back/bottoms and ditch the springs?

Should I buy something like this? from
4wheelparts

Will these bolt/attach to my frames?

I've seen foam and upholstery kits posted in the past.
Are there kits with foam and pre-sewn upholstery available for this type frame?

 

They will not directly bolt on.

I would clean them up and have them reupholstered, or DIY.

My 0.02

 

I would have the rebuilt, I tryed the aftermarket ones and thay did not sit like the OEM ones.

Mine were about as bad as yours, had new foan and covering, Cost about 300. for both.
Here are pictures.





And I kept the fold and tumble fron pass seat.

Andrew

 

The only local shop around here wanted $650 for the pair, so I did them myself. The foam was still pretty good, and I got the material off eBay for around $120 I think. Came out really well.
Before:


After:


Your look like they're a little different though. I think they're the older style.

 

Whatever you do, don't toss 'em! Those seats are rare and like gold. Most of them rotted away from years of weather exposure or were tossed for "something better" like high-backs or whatever. Covers are available, but expensive. I have a set stashed for my seat that came from Beachwood Canvas, and there's a lady named Mona that's making seat covers for old Jeeps. I'm sure someone here has her info handy, I don't have it nearby. Your biggest problems will be fixing/replacing broken springs. Those are made of unobtainium. The padding materials are at any auto upholstery supply.

 

I'd be all for restoring the old ones, in theory. My '57 has the same frames as yours, but horsehair and cotton stuffing over the coil springs, which the squirrels ate. But it seems very expensive to get upholstery re-done so meanwhile I'm considering replacements. I intend to save the old frames and cushions intact.

I've been looking... $129.99 at Smittybilt and elsewhere if you search. Check on Ebay too. JC Whitney shows something ("Garage Pro") for $108 that looks the same, but not in black. I'm planning to build frames from round pipe, heated and bent, to imitate the original and preserve the tilt function.

The other way is to get seats at a junkyard and the archives here are full of suggestions, such as 80's Dodge vans, for donor cars.

Some clever entrepreneur needs to start making authentic early CJ seat covers and cushions for restorations!!! (You know who you are...) Many of us need them.

 

I think Walcks has ECJ 5 covers listed - no pictures though.
http://walcks4wd.com/seat-cover-ass...rk-gray-1957-1964-cj3b-1955-1964-cj5-cj6.html

 

Man, after looking at all these pictures, what the heck are my seats out of....

 

x2 on the recovering. For now, if needed, I'd go the U-Pull-It on half price day and get a set of "for now" seats. Or Craigslist.

 

I have the smittybuilt ones that you have pictured. They didn't match up with the seat brackets so I had to fab a bracket to mount to. The seats are fairly comfortable, but lack lumbar support. Since your seats are integrated, I would either reupholster them, or tuck them away and make some custom brackets for a more modern seat design. If I were to do it again I would choose a different seat than the smittybuilt ones, while they look closer to stock than most other seats, they lack cushion and support for longer trips.

 

I have an upholstery shop in Pioneer CA and yes, I've seen and done worse seats than that. They are still repairable but in my shop would be around $400 as mentioned. The original seats may have "pressed pleats" and can only be duplicated by sewing them in but other than that, they are doable.

 

Comment - the factory buckets that Steve is talking about are very comfortable. The seats shown by Andrew are the same construction, though the vinyl is a little different.

The Bostrom aftermarket highbacks that I had in my old CJ-6 were better than the factory seats, but they were very expensive (ca $250 each in 1975). I've seen these Jeeps fitted with buckets from Dodge and Ford vans, but the seat bolster is a little too thick and some drivers may have trouble getting their legs under the steering wheel.

 

I had the same seats in my '59 and my driver's seat was in far worse condition than yours. The upholstery shop was unable to repair the broken springs so I regrettedly had him replace the springs with foam. I was finally able to score another seat with springs in tact so I may have him change the upholstery from one to the other. Mine cost about $700 to redo but I had them two-toned, which cost more.

 

I replaced my original seats on my 69 cj5 with smittybuilt low backs had to modify passenger seat bracket and they sit higher for a $100 more I should have had my original seats redone too bad i sold my old seats for $50

 

My CJ7 has a dodge van seat on the driver side. It is terrible to get in and out of and i am not a big fan of high backs. Original seats are worth their weight in gold in a CJ5 or older jeep. I redid mine in my m38a1. I had a amish tarp shop order the material and after looking for a machine to sew them on one of my good friends gave me a sewall. I need to redo the ones in my CJ2a next. I like doing it but i have to many hobbys.