So I removed the seats in my 1981 Fiat Spider last night. 7 of the allen key bolts came out fine. The 8th did not and it turns out the rail is rusted and I took out 1/2 the rail when I removed the passenger side seat. Should I look for replacement rails or try to fabricate something? Never done welding before so this would be something to figure out.

Also I noticed a PO riveted in metal (bright silver, is this metal, stainless, etc... not sure) in some minor sections of the floorpans. It looks good (tight and no rust). Should I leave it or maybe replace with welded metal?

Richard

alot depends on what level of repair you are willing to live with. The repair in the floorboard means the PO had big rust holes and that was their fix. On the seat rails, i would see if i could buy a set from a junk yard and pop rivit to the floorboards. need to first check the status of the floorboard under the seat rails to see if you have enough decent metal to work with.

I'll try to get a few pics tonight. I think the metal under that rail needed to be redone.

The best thing would be to replace those pieces in the floor and that part of the seatrail with welded-in steel. Even if you can't weld, if you fabricate the pieces you can have a body shop weld them in. You have to use plain steel, not stainless, not galvanized, has to be the same as what the car is made of.
If the rest of the seat tower is in good shape then I would repair it instead of replacing it.

I used these guys http://ferranteautobody.ca/ to fix this

When my floor need patching I used these guys http://ottawa.opendi.ca/547215.html

Here are the pictures of my floor area. Generally not too bad except for the right side of the passenger area.

Driver's area...


Driver's area near back of seat...


Passenger area...


Passenger area where seat rail was rotten...


Back seat area looks good though...


Passenger transmission hump looks not great but solid I think...


So generally not too bad. Just have to decide if I weld things myself, rivet new metal in or bring it to a shop. I think I'll see what I can do myself over the winter.

Richard

Do you guys think these seats are salvageable?

Drivers side... not too bad.


Passenger side... ick!


I assume the cushion is supposed to stay attached to the seat pan? On the passenger side you can just lift the cushion off.

Richard

That passenger seat will definitely need some attention. My bottom foam came out with ease as well. I prepped my seats and then POR-15'd them. They are rock solid now

I'll see what I can do. Might require some welding of new pieces into the frame.

Is POR-15 the only way to go? Everyone talks about it but just wondering if there are other alternatives just as good. If it's the only way to go anyone know where I can pick some up in Ottawa, Canada? I'm thinking Princess Auto or CAP.

There are always alternatives. I went to this location and bought the starter kit http://www.malmbergtruck.com/?page_id=6

Great. I'll check it out. I should probably get the gallon since I'm going to do seat frames and entire floor.

I actually did my seats, and my whole floor (2 coats) with this little one. It goes on like water and spreads a long way.