Automotive Upholstery & Interior Restoration. Fred Mattson
Before you begin with the disassembly of an old car seat, I must remind you that it is very dirty and I strongly recommend that you wear protective eyewear and a dust mask to protect you from the dust, rust, and mouse dirt during the teardown process. Prolonged exposure to these elements can lead to long-term health problems.
Labeling and Bagging
Although car seats may be similar in basic design, they are often assembled with little differences that may create a challenge when you try to figure out how they come apart. Make notes as you disassemble the seat and take pictures as to how the hardware is attached so that you are able to correctly reassemble the seat later. Carefully label and bag small components to avoid confusion upon reassembly. Place all the parts in a container promptly after removal so that they do not get lost. The hardware will either be replaced or reconditioned before it is reinstalled on the seat.
Preserving the Cover Material
The key to making a good pattern is to preserve the old seat cover as much as possible. You can carefully remove the bottom seat cover without further damaging it by cutting the hog rings, pulling tacks, and unclipping the material from the frame.
Cutting the Hog Rings
There may be hidden or blind listings that secure bolsters to the seat frame. These are hog ringed to an anchor wire under the seat cushion and they are removed by cutting the hog rings to free the seat cover. After the cover has been cut free from the frame, lift it off and set the cover aside; you will get back to it once the frame is cleaned up. With the old seat cover removed and the seat padding exposed, you can now see the old support materials that cover the lower seat springs. These old support materials are dry-rotted, dirty, and have served their time. Replace them with fresh new materials upon reassembly.
Cut the hog rings that secure the old cotton, foam, and burlap covering the seat springs and discard all of it. All that should remain of the seat bottom are the springs; you will address them after you finish with the rest of the seat tear down.
Removing the Outside Shell
Working now with the seatback, the removal of the outside shell is done by removing the screws at the inside bottom of the seatback. If you encounter a problem with the release of the outside shell, look for additional screws or fasteners that may be hidden from view. Do not try to force the seat components apart as they may bend or break. Try pushing in and up, or sometimes a slight twisting motion frees a stuck component. If the seat has a robe cord on the outside back, it may be necessary to remove the trim bezel screws to get the back cover off. On most GM cars, you can release the robe cord by pushing the cord into the trim bezel and then giving it a quarter turn to pull it free.
After you have the seatback shell removed, cut the hog rings that are holding the listing wires of the old seat cover. Peel back the seat cover from around the seat frame and then carefully remove the seatback cover. Do not discard the old seat cover; it will be used as a pattern for the new backrest. Continue to remove the cotton and burlap that is covering the seatback springs by cutting away the hog rings that hold the old material in place. Discard all the dirty cotton padding and old, worn-out underlying burlap cover. The remaining seatback springs need to be refreshed. They are full of mouse dirt and the burlap casings are failing.
Disassembling a Seat
1 A single screw holds the center seatback bumper in place. The rubber bumpers are no longer useful and are replaced with new rubber pads. The base plate is also reconditioned and color matched to the new seat cover.
2 The hog rings are cut from underneath the seat frame, which releases the listing so that the old seat cover can be removed carefully with minimal damage to the old material. Having an original pattern allows you to re-create the new seat cover without guesswork.
3 A blind listing is revealed when the seat cover is pulled back. The hog rings holding the seat cover in place are to be cut free to allow the old seat cover to be removed from the seat frame. Use the old cover as a pattern to make a new one.
4 After 65 years of service, the foam padding and cotton in the seat has broken down completely and is no longer usable. The old padding and support materials will be removed from the seat frame and discarded.
5 The outside seatback shell is removed from the backrest by removing the small screws that hold it in place on the backrest frame. The outside shell is stripped down and reconditioned with new padding and materials.
6 Additional screws are removed from the robe cord escutcheon and trim. The screws also help hold the outer seatback shell to the backrest frame. With the screws removed, the outside shell can be lifted off the backrest frame.
7 The hog rings are cut that hold the listings of the old seat cover to the seat backrest frame. The old backrest cover can then be removed carefully from the frame. By preserving the old cover, you end up with a better pattern for the new seat cover.
8 All the old cotton padding and burlap cover must be removed from the backrest. The hog rings that hold the cheesecloth-wrapped cotton are cut away from the seat frame so that the cotton can be discarded. The underlying burlap should also be thrown away.
Coil Springs
Coil springs have been used for many years to give support and comfort to seating of all kinds. For springs to be effective, they need to work in unison to give proper support. If the springs work independently of each other, the result is lumpy and uneven support, making for a very uncomfortable seating experience. Taking the springs apart and putting them back together may seem overwhelming at first. You may feel that this is too much work and ask yourself, “What if I can’t do it, then what?” Don’t worry. I’ll walk you through the process.
It is vital to the restoration of the seat to have a good and solid foundation for the seat cover. Tearing the springs apart and putting them back together may at first look impossible, but if you take it step by step, it is not hard to do at all and will give you a lot of satisfaction. You will appreciate knowing the job is done right and was not just patched up. The coil springs are re-cased in new burlap or denim. This gives the springs the correct tension for seating comfort and the durability to last for many more years. The seatback, too, is made of rows of coil springs that are sewn into burlap pockets that compress the springs to a predetermined tension.
Seat Springs
Many different types of springs are used for seating support in car seats. The earliest cars used coil springs just like the ones used in furniture: rows of springs encased in burlap and padded with cotton. This was the technology at the time, and if it was good enough for grandma’s parlor, well, then it must be good enough for the open road.
Many variations of the coil spring exist. Some are just helical coils with the same dimension from top to bottom. Double coil springs are tapered in the middle like an hourglass, and conical springs are cone shaped with a smaller coil