Seat frames worth saving?

[rjkoop]

The seats themselves are fine but should I try to restore these seat frames?

Driver's...


Passenger's...


Maybe with a little grinding and POR-15 they might be ok.

[azruss]

the front of the frames don't look too bad. The back is a concern. It looks like the back pivot points may be fragile. That is a place where you don't want fragile. How much support you have lost along the back will determine whether they should stay or go.

[BEEK]

in my opinion, you should be able to find better ones to start with. if those were all you can get, then you could fix them, but i feel it would be in your best interest to fine better ones to start with. unless you are like myself, and enjoy fabrication

[rjkoop]

Thanks. I may see how they look and how solid the rear area is after grinding. Maybe I could put a few straps of steel in there to reinforce the rear areas. Don't have a welder yet but maybe I could pop rivet for now.

Then I have to remove a few bolts that snapped off when I took them after. What's the best tool to remove broken bolts? I've heard a steel drill bit, heat and then a bolt extractor bit should work.

Thankfully the seat and back cushions are good and only need a good cleaning and maybe some vinyl paint.

[Warren]

I would suggest contacting Matthews Parts in Birmingham Alabama (on ebay also as matthewsparts) as they keep a stock of good used seat frame bottoms. Yours look terrible and not worth saving. Have you checked your upper seatback frame for cracks? Vicks Auto offers a rebuilt stronger frame.

[124JOE]

yes at this point i would look for a better frame

[rjkoop]

After grinding and POR-15ing, I bought a piece of sheet metal for $6 and am going to try to weld/rivet 2 strips on each where it's a bit weaker. If they still end up being weaker then I'll look at getting used ones in better shape (about $39 on ebay).

It's just always a bit of a hassle getting items up to Canada from the States. Once I ordered $30 stickers from the States and got charged $40 in a brokerage fee because they decided that the box needed to be opened at the border. Crazy. I think next time I'll get it shipped to Ogdensburg (there is a UPS store there) and pick them up myself. It's only a 45 minute drive.

[4uall]

I would always suggest using USPS whenever having items shipped to us if the option is available

Good luck with those seats

[Raze]

Dang, how come the seats pans have an open hole in them? All the ones I've seen are solid pans, I just got done swapping my bad one for a good one (no holes, no rust) and I was going to throw out my old pans that have some small holes in them...