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With the right material and help from Ben Rambow, I am replacing all my front lower seat springs and edgewire. My edgewire was rusted and broken in about 5 pieces with some of it missing. About half my springs were rusted almost through, or broken. It took around 65 feet to replace all. If you only need to replace a few, do it and avoid doing all.
Tools: I made 2 paddles to get a good bend. You can do this with Channel locks, but for the number I did I found it easier to have the paddles. I made a hooked pry tool to bend the tabs up that hold the springs. Other pliers, vise grips etc. were used. I also bought a medium bolt cutter to cut the spring wire. A cut off tool will work, found the bolt cutter easier.
Methods- I set the frame off the floor about 12/18 inches or so. Worked on it in a mechanics seat, rolling around it as I worked.
I found that to straighten the wire as it came off the roll, feeding it through a large vise bending it by hand as I went.
To make the bends it was easier to put one of the paddles in the vise and use the other to make the bend.
To get the end of the spring bent back, I clamped a vise grip in a vise to hold the spring and bent the end back.
Count your loops to get the overall length and length between the bends.
To crimp the connectors supplied by Ben, look at it closely. One side is made to fold under the other. Crimp it slightly against one wire, squeeze the wires together and then fold over the outer side.
I had to adjust and tweak the springs as i went to get a uniform shape, and again after all were installed. Get them as flat as you can across the top.
I think there are many places you can purchase all these seat spring repair sections of all different shapes and sizes along with clips to attach everything together without trying to make all that stuff manually.
Go Pat Go! Just saw this thread! Wait till you guys see the finished product! He has really gone the extra mile to make it right.
I love the bending paddles you made. I'm going to a big swapmeet tomorrow and i'm going to pickup several sets of used screwdrivers so that I can make up some like you did.
Originally Posted by chequenman
I think there are many places you can purchase all these seat spring repair sections of all different shapes and sizes along with clips to attach everything together without trying to make all that stuff manually.
Send along some links if you have them.... ;-)
The fact is, unless you have GM Strato Bucket seats, or Camaro bucket seats, you are SOL trying to find pre-made repair pieces for GM seats. Even finding the correct sized spring itself is incredibly difficult. Its taken me a couple years to secure a source- and I have to buy it by the pallet in order to get it...
What Pat is doing is exactly what a good upholstery shop would do.
Its a lot quicker to fab up the springs than it is to go hunting for another donor seat that may or may not be any better than his first one.
Go Pat Go! Just saw this thread! Wait till you guys see the finished product! He has really gone the extra mile to make it right.
I love the bending paddles you made. I'm going to a big swapmeet tomorrow and i'm going to pickup several sets of used screwdrivers so that I can make up some like you did.
Send along some links if you have them.... ;-)
The fact is, unless you have GM Strato Bucket seats, or Camaro bucket seats, you are SOL trying to find pre-made repair pieces for GM seats. Even finding the correct sized spring itself is incredibly difficult. Its taken me a couple years to secure a source- and I have to buy it by the pallet in order to get it...
What Pat is doing is exactly what a good upholstery shop would do.
Its a lot quicker to fab up the springs than it is to go hunting for another donor seat that may or may not be any better than his first one.
Keep up the good work Pat!
When I was buying all my seat foam at CARSINC in North Detroit Mi. the sales guy said it was available and my Upholstery guy had lot of sections pre made with clips in boxes and another guy near where I live said it's not a problem to put in new Seat Spring sections if my seats had any issues.
This is the second time I am attempting this. I found very little info and suppliers on line. I bought spring wire and clips from a supplier and was told I could make it work. After much work I failed to achieve a result that worked. The E-clips supplied were also too wide to get crimped correctly
Admittedly, I had no clue of what I was trying to do. This is a big car bench seat, not a A body or bucket.
You also evidently had an upholstery guy, someone that has a business doing this. I am just a guy trying to do 95% of a rebuild by myself on a car that many would have parted out. With a goal of having 10 K total.
That is what this hobby is for me, not just getting the work done by someone and then driving and showing the car. I am not saying there is anything wrong with that, but it isn't that part of the old car hobby that interests me.
By all means, if you have a link to a place that offers pre-bent, stretched springs for C-body Olds, put it up.
When I was buying all my seat foam at CARSINC in North Detroit Mi. the sales guy said it was available and my Upholstery guy had lot of sections pre made with clips in boxes and another guy near where I live said it's not a problem to put in new Seat Spring sections if my seats had any issues.
Was not intending to get into a pissing match about it, this is Pat's thread to show off the work he's doing.
If Cars Inc or your upholstery guy has them, then they are missing the boat by not advertising them for sale. I've looked. a lot.... and i'm not the only one. I get calls from people all over looking for this stuff to repair their seats.
I have seen NOS boxes of individual seat springs for specific Ford seats on ebay from time to time... I'm sure some GM ones appear time to time as well for specific seats- maybe its more common around the detroit area because of GMs presence over the years... but NOS stuff would get pretty pricey pretty quick if you were doing more than one repair at a time.
Most likely what they, and what most upholstery shops do is the exact thing Pat is doing- taking new raw spring and bending it to fit.
As the guy at cars told you- "Its not a problem" ... IF you have the right materials on hand.
Was not intending to get into a pissing match about it, this is Pat's thread to show off the work he's doing.
If Cars Inc or your upholstery guy has them, then they are missing the boat by not advertising them for sale. I've looked. a lot.... and i'm not the only one. I get calls from people all over looking for this stuff to repair their seats.
I have seen NOS boxes of individual seat springs for specific Ford seats on ebay from time to time... I'm sure some GM ones appear time to time as well for specific seats- maybe its more common around the detroit area because of GMs presence over the years... but NOS stuff would get pretty pricey pretty quick if you were doing more than one repair at a time.
Most likely what they, and what most upholstery shops do is the exact thing Pat is doing- taking new raw spring and bending it to fit.
As the guy at cars told you- "Its not a problem" ... IF you have the right materials on hand.
-Ben
I don't want to buy spring sections and clip them together when there are talented Upholstery guy's that can do the repairs to my seats as needed. I'm also working on a FULL SIZE OLDS so I do know what I would need for any repairs and there are shops. That is why they are still in business because they have the pieces that can make the seats what they should be. I'm just making comment because you don't need to be ripping your Hands apart when you just need to find the shops that are still doing these repairs and have, or can get what you need, on an ongoing business!!
the big portland swapmeet. Race track & expo center.
Hopefully the crappy weather hasn't made everyone stay home. I really enjoy looking through stuff even if i don't buy much.
Speaking of hands, I got mine in a pair of Kevlar impregnated cotton gloves. Fantastic gloves. Got them a few months ago from my grandson who works in a window factory. They use them when handling glass and installing glass to frames. You cannot cut them with a razor knife, but can manipulate tools easily.
