Seat foam for 55 chevy

[Belairmike]

I am doing a restoration on a 1955 Chevrolet Belair 2 dr. H.T. I ordered the interior from CARS. I ordered the seat foam from Classic Chevy. The seat foam came yesterday. It came from Al Knoch Interiors. The instruction is one page (written instructions) on how to install the foam on the front frames. It is confusing when you read it. There is no listing on the bottom foam to attach it to the frame. Their are no pictures of how it installs. Does anyone have instructions on how to install this foam are if you have used it can advise? Thanks, MIke

[SHHR]

I just built a 57 ht for a customer. When he bought it, it had a recently installed interior kit from CARS. As I was building it he decided to change the color from white to a Kandy red so he wanted the interior redone to match. I made custom door panels and just recovered the stock seats in a wine colored ultraleather with wine tweed inserts.

Anyway, as I disassembled the seats all of the packing was new too and it was just 2" med. density foam on top of burlap laying on the springs. It had just a few hog rings aroung the perimeter of the foam just to hold it to the frame to keep it from sliding when installing the cover, it also had about 2" of cotton on top the foam.

I replaced the cotton with a piece of 1" high density foam and the seat felt great when done, also the backs of the seats had no foam at all but just burlap and cotton batting, and I think I put some 1" med density foam on that too.

One thing though on the covers I made I used 1/2" scrim with them, and that help fill them out and pad them too. If I remember the factory covers are just vinyl and cloth with no extra padding ecxept where pleats may be.
Kyle

[Belairmike]

Thanks for the reply Kyle. This foam that I ordered is molded so that it takes on the contour of the 55 seats. It says it does not require any burlap or padding on the springs. (But I put the burlap down anyway.) It is suppose to have listing on it so you can hog ring it to the springs, Mike

[SHHR]

You shouldn't need to hog ring it. Most late model seats are molded foam that just lay on the seat frame. If you're concerned about it moving you could put a few rings through the foam into the seat springs or give the edges a squirt of glue, but that would be just to hold it down while installing the cover and the cover will keep it in place pemanently. I think you did right by using the burlap because the way the seat springs are made I could see them "eating" into the foam over time. Also now is the time to check the condition of the springs and replace any bent, sagging or broken ones.

Hope this helps, if not post some pictures of what you have and we'll get it figured out.
Kyle

[Belairmike]

Kyle, This helps a great deal. I had one wire that ties the springs together at the edge of the front drivers side of the seat that was broken. I welded it back together. I lightly sandblasted and painted the seat frames while I had them striped. I noticed the front seat foam sits down and over the edge of the springs. I think this will keep it from moving once the cover is attached. Thanks, Mike.

[SHHR]

Sounds good, I hope it all works well for you. One word of caution though on welding the springs, if you're using a mig welder, that makes a hard weld that can cause a flexible spring to break right next to where you welded. I always use my tig welder when working on a seat frame, this makes a softer more flexible weld that won't break. You could also gas weld it too for the same results.
Kyle