If there is one thing that magically makes an interior look a million times better, it is new seats. This is especially the case for Swede who received new seat covers. The ole’ Chevy looks much, MUCH better.
I got the seat covers from LMC Truck for a pretty reasonable rate of $149. I also picked up a $40 seat repair kit and thought I was all set. Well, as I have learned working on older vehicles, repairing one things takes three times as long. After tearing down the seat, I noticed several issues.
Chief among these issues was the broken rod connecting all the spring on the front of the seat running the length of the seat. This rod is critical to making the seat work and it looked like someone had welded it once upon a time.
This is also a part that simply isn’t available to purchase through the aftermarket. Fortunately, we had another Chevy seat at the family farm. Taking that seat apart revealed a perfectly good connecting rod as well as a connecting rod on the driver’s side. Looking at both seats, I determined the best course was to mix and match parts to build one good seat. After a morning of messing around with the seats, I was able to do just that.
Next, I washed and cleaned the new seat. However, this really only revealed a mix match of colors with the original black color having rubbed off. I decided the best course was to paint the seat hardware to give it a much cleaner look and, when I pulled the back of the seat forward, it would simply look better.
Once the seat was cleaned up and painted, it was next time to reassemble it with the seat covers. From the farm seat, I was able to reuse a great piece of foam and lined the bottom seat. I also lined the top with a piece of foam as well.
After yet another morning of work, I was able to get the covers on and secure them with hog pliers.
Then, I got the seat into the truck and with some assistance, I installed seat belts I had left over from another project. This seat belts work for now, but I’ll be swapping them out for longer ones in the future.
All in all, I’m really happy with how things turned out and can’t wait to get to work on the engine. It currently back fires and sputters with accelerating. A new carb kit arrived the other day and I can’t wait to rebuild it. However, I’m pretty sure there will be more to it since every time I do one thing, another issue arises!
