Hey folks - So in the midst of restoring my '56 F500 I needed to get some things off the ride and bring them indoors to be worked on before the 4' of snow came and buried my truck here in Connecticut. I wanted to feel like I was actually doing something. One of those items was the seat. I want to do things right, but because I'm a major DIY'r I've become pretty good at shopping around and saving money where it can be saved. Had I outsourced, I figured between the sand blasting, welding repairs, burlap, foam and seat cover I could easily have spent a $600+ (probably being reserved) on finishing this seat. This isn't a show truck, but I still want it comfortable and to look good. And MAN is this seat comfortable!
In the end I reupholstered my seat for $125 completely on my own. I used a wire brush with lots of elbow grease to clean it, welded the broken springs myself using my flux core mig welder, brushed Duplicolor truck-bed coating (very strong stuff!) on the springs and frame and used the below items for finishing. The only problem I encountered was incorrect centering of the seat cover so the lines don't match up entirely. I should have secured both far ends of the seat first, then hog-ringed around the front and back. Oh well.


My pregnant wife wanted to test it out so I put it on the floor of the kitchen and we took an imaginary ride. She said the view would be better if the dinette set wasn't blocking her vision "out the windshield."

In case anyone else wants to do the same, I recommend these products.
I bought my burlap and high density foam from Amazon:


Burlap:

Foam:

I bought the OxGord 2-piece seat cover from Cover Shield on eBay. It is a very accurate fit. With the tightly sewn canvas edge it holds really well with the hog-rings:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/390811466156?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

Good job and thanks for the info.

 

Looks good, like a winter project should come out.

 

Gotta love Yankee ingenuity! Well done.

 

Good work. Upholstery updates are great winter/spring projects. BTW, burlap is commonly carried by fabric stores - avoiding shipping costs.

 

My wife and I decided that we buy so much from Amazon that we'd get Amazon Prime. Two-Day free shipping!

 

Does anyone else have the "horse blanket" type of seat cover in their truck? I'd like to learn more about longevity. If I get a few years out of my seat cover I'll be happy. But I'm curious to know how long others have had theirs installed and if there are fail points.

 

Excellent job! I was debating on whether to try it myself or go back to the professionals. It cost me $2,000.00 for my '58 Suburban Carryall several years ago for the 2 front seats and middle seat. A perfect job, but very expensive.

 

Fantastic! I have bookmarked this thread for when that time comes for me.

 

While Calvin's job is perfect for his needs, the kits from Cartouche and others also are great solutions. I've used a couple of them and have been very pleased with the results.

 

FortyNiner is dead on about the Cartouche covers. They even have a color scheme that would look beautiful with the Eastwood Jaded Green I'm using to paint the truck. They just weren't for me at this time...

 

I have had one in my 85 F 250 dually for about 15 years and it recently got to the point that it needs replacement.
Elmo

 

Seat looks good Calvin, nice job!

 

I'm sure the Cartouche covers are great. But $30 vs. $180 is a big deal for us no budget build type of guys.
And the mattress foam idea would cut the cost in half of the foam. Although this would take more work for sure. But my time doesn't come out of the checkbook.

 

BINGO Joe! That is exactly why I went the route I did. I was researching how others would reupholster their seat and saw some people getting quotes for over $2K. While that may be an appropriate price for professional work I'd rather do it myself and have a few bucks at the end of the day to buy a couple beers.